With 30 years’ experience in utilities, oil & gas, transport and other sectors, John is one of the most widely known experts in integrated asset management projects for some of the largest companies in the world.
John is a Founder and Life Fellow of the IAM; he has written 4 books, chaired the development of BSI PAS55 and represents the UK on the ISO55000 committee.
He also led the international MACRO and SALVO collaboration projects in optimised asset management decision-making.
Maria Ryytty is an Asset Manager at Stegra Boden (2025–) with a strong track record in maintenance and asset management leadership. She is the recipient of both the Swedish Maintenance Manager Award (2022) and the EuroMaintenance Manager Award (2024), recognising her contributions to the field.
From 2020 to 2025, she served as Chairman of CIAM – the Centre of Intelligent Asset Management at Luleå University of Technology, supporting the advancement of intelligent and data-driven asset management practices.
Alongside her professional work, Maria has a long-standing commitment to community leadership through martial arts. She has been Chairman of Kiruna Kyokushin Karate 2018–2025 and has served as an instructor since 2016, teaching Kyokushin Karate to children, youths, and adults.
Martin Lundqvist is CEO of Arundo Analytics, an AI software company focused on enabling asset-heavy industries to unlock value from data.
Across his career, he has worked at the intersection of industry and advanced analytics, helping organizations scale data-driven solutions to improve maintenance, reliability, and process performance.
Prior to Arundo, Martin was a Partner at McKinsey & Company, where he led digital and analytics initiatives across sectors including industrials, telecom, banking, and the public sector. He brings a combination of strategic insight and hands-on technology experience, with a focus on translating operational challenges into scalable, high-impact digital solutions.
Martin holds an MSc in Industrial Engineering and Management from Linköping University and Computer Science from ETH Zürich.
PhD in Computer Engineering and Industrial Production
With 37 years at Ford Motor Company in diverse roles, Eduardo Garcia Magraner began his career as a maintenance operator and now serves as Manufacturing Manager for Assembly and Battery. His experience spans hands-on maintenance, process engineering, and operational leadership. His work is supported by 47 publications and technical documents, as well as the supervision of six PhD theses. He has also contributed to four books: Machine Health Failure and Diagnosis; Shaping ESAFORM International Materials; International IT in Control, Automation and Robotics; and AEM Spanish Maintenance Association.
Among his recognitions and awards, the most prestigious is the Henry Ford Technical Award (2019) for the IIoT Real-Time Predictive Maintenance Support System (Miniterms 4.0). He also received the Best Industrial Paper Award (ICINCO 2020), Global Manufacturing Technical Excellence Awards (2020), the President’s Health & Safety Global Winner Award (2022), and the Angel Herrera Award (2024) for Best National Research Team.
As a PhD co-director, he has supervised four industrial doctoral students. His work integrates leadership in manufacturing with a strong research portfolio, driving reliability, safety, and innovation in automotive production.
Maroua Ouerghemmi is a Regional Asset Care and Reliability Leader, working across the UK and Nordic regions to improve asset performance and drive long-term reliability.
With a background in maintenance engineering and condition-based maintenance, she has led initiatives across multiple sites, helping organisations move from local improvements to more structured and sustainable ways of working. Her experience focuses on aligning teams, improving decision-making, and building consistency across different environments.
Maroua is also a Director at WIRAM Europe (Women in Reliability and Asset Management), where she supports the development and visibility of women in the field.
She is particularly interested in the role of leadership in reliability and is passionate about building modern, resilient organisations and supporting a more inclusive future for the maintenance and asset management industry.
Jan has more than 30 years of experience from industrial operations, having worked both as a project manager and a line manager, with a strong focus on logistics.
Jan has delivered decision support for LKAB’s transition from STAX 25 to STAX 30 tonnes and has contributed to the implementation through several project deliveries as well as in his role as line manager for the logistics operations.
Jan has also contributed to the pilot tests of STAX 32.5 tonnes conducted in collaboration with Trafikverket and Bane NOR. In addition to the pilot tests, Jan has participated in several capacity studies and investigations covering both technical issues and governance structures for operations and maintenance on the Ore-line.
Today, Jan is responsible for the development of LKAB’s future logistics system, balancing the requirements from production and the market with the transport capacity of the Ore-line.
Jan holds an MSc in Industrial Engineering and Management from Luleå University of Technology.
Jens Hardell is a Professor of Machine Elements and serves as Vice Dean for the Faculty of Science and Technology. His research specializes in tribology, with a particular focus on high-temperature tribology, wear, and friction in dry contacts. His work spans tribomaterials, surface coatings and treatments for friction and wear control, boundary lubrication, tribological testing, sheet metal forming, machining processes, and additive manufacturing.
He is also an experienced leader and manager with responsibility for personnel, work environment, financial oversight, and strategic leadership.
Min Xie has been a Chair Professor of Industrial Engineering at City University of Hong Kong since 2011. Before that, he was a full professor at the National University of Singapore. Prof. Xie began his studies at the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) in 1978 and had the opportunity to move to Sweden in 1979 to complete his undergraduate education. He earned a direct Master of Science from the Royal Institute of Technology in 1984 and a PhD from Linköping University, Sweden, in 1987.
Prof. Xie has conducted extensive research in industrial and systems engineering, focusing on quality and reliability engineering as well as industrial statistics. He has published over 300 journal articles and authored 10 books. He has successfully completed numerous projects funded by both government and industry. He has supervised more than 70 PhD students, many of whom are now working in academia or industry across various continents.
From 2015 to 2018, Prof. Xie served as Associate Dean of the College of Engineering and has been an editor or editorial board member for over 10 leading international journals. He was elected a Fellow of the IEEE in 2005 and a member of the International Statistical Institute (ISI) in 2010. In 2022, he was inducted into the European Academy of Sciences and Arts.
Prof. Xie has also held distinguished visiting professorships at Tsinghua University and served as a guest professor at Zhejiang University and Shanghai Jiao Tong University. He has served as Vice-President (Asian Region) of the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE) and Chair of the IEEE Technology and Engineering Management Society (TEMS) Fellow Evaluation Committee. Additionally, he is a Vice-President of the USTC Hong Kong Alumni Association and a board member of the Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce in Sweden.
José Antonio Marcos is a Ph.D. candidate in Mechanical Engineering and holds a Master's degree in Data Science and AI, a Master's degree in Business Administration, and a Master's degree in Railway Systems. With 27 years of experience at Talgo in various roles within the Maintenance Department, he currently serves as Head of Smart Maintenance Engineering and New Projects.
In this role, José Antonio leads advanced developments in digital maintenance, condition monitoring, artificial intelligence, digital twins, and robotics within the railway sector. He is driving Talgo's transformation towards a fully data-driven maintenance model based on Real-Time Monitoring (RTM), Condition-Based Maintenance (CBM), Reliability-Centered Maintenance (RCM), Digital Twins, Generative AI, and autonomous inspection systems.
His work focuses on the development of digital solutions that leverage real-time monitoring supported by more than 10,000 sensors per train, digital twins for predictive maintenance and simulation, computer vision and automatic inspection systems, AI-driven fleet planning and maintenance optimization, generative AI assistants for maintenance support, and autonomous robots for safety-critical inspections.
These initiatives have delivered practical results in availability, reliability, safety, efficiency, and sustainability, demonstrating how a modern railway operator and maintainer can successfully apply advanced digital technologies to maintenance and operations.
In addition to his work at Talgo, José Antonio is a Professor and Director of the Master's Programmes in Industry 4.0 and Digital Twins at Alfonso X El Sabio University.
