CENELEC

Mr Bernhard Thies (DKE, Germany) - President

 

Dr Bernhard Thies is Chairman of the Board of Directors of DKE – the German Commission for Electrical, Electronic & Information Technologies of DIN and VDE, German National Committee of IEC and CENELEC. Moreover he is Vice-Chairman of the EEBus Initiative, a network of leading companies, associations and stakeholders in the German and international energy, telecommunications and electrical industry in order to open up the new market of smart connectivity. Dr Thies is Vice-President of the Asian Management Association (China), the international institute engaged in providing professional training and consulting services for the organizations and the individuals in China. Since many years he also gives lectures at the Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen (RWTH Aachen). Dr Thies studied at the RWTH Aachen where he also obtained his doctorate. His last position in industry (1999) was President of the ABB Traffo BB Gmbh, specialized in power, distribution and transformers. His standardization career in VDE started in 1999. Mr Thies was elected CENELEC President Elect in June 2014.

Mr Wim De Kesel (Legrand Group) - Vice-President Policy

After eighteen years in senior management positions with Niko and the Group Legrand, Wim De Kesel is since 2010 ‘Group Vice-President Standardization’ of the Group Legrand. He is fully dedicated to national, regional and international standardization activities. Wim De Kesel is a Member of the Board of Directors of the Belgian Electrotechnical Commission. He is Chairman of different Belgian Technical Committees and represents the European Committee of Electrical Installation Equipment Manufacturers (CECAPI) in the CENELEC Technical Board. Wim de Kesel is also active in IEC as secretary of IEC TC 23 – Electrical Accessories, and as convenor in the international Working Group dealing with LVDC. He holds a master degree in Electrical Engineering of the University of Ghent (1989). In 2011 he received the IEC Thomas Edison Award and in 2013 the CENELEC Technical Body Award. Mr Wim De Kesel was elected CENELEC Board Member and Vice-President Policy in June 2014.

Mr Maurice Buckley (NSAI, Ireland) - Vice-President Technical

Mr Maurice Buckley was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI) in 2007. He previously managed a specialist printing company with plants in Ireland, Germany, and the United Kingdom, and has also worked for a large firm of management consultants. Mr Buckley is a Chartered Director and a Chartered Engineer, with Master degrees in Engineering (from University College Dublin) and Business Administration (from INSEAD, France). In June 2015, he was elected as a member of the CENELEC Administrative Board and also as Vice-President Technical.

Mr Bogdan Topič (SIST, Slovenia) - Vice-President Finance

Bogdan Topič (SIST, Slovenia) is President of the Slovenian Institute for Standardization (SIST), and represents SIST in the framework of CEN,
CENELEC, ETSI, ISO, IEC, and ITU-T. He has a PhD from the Universityof Ljubljana and an MBA from Bled Business School. Dr Topič has
extensive experience of standardization, metrology and accreditation, and also spent many years serving in top management (CEO) positions
in various companies. Mr Topič was elected CENELEC Board Member in June 2012 and Vice-President Finance in June 2013.

Ing. Francis P. Farrugia (MCCAA, Malta) - Board Member

Francis P. Farrugia is Director General at the Standards and Metrology Institute (SMI) of the Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority (MCCAA), which is a member of CEN, CENELEC, ISO and IEC. Previously, he was Director of Standardization at the Malta Standards Authority, which became part of the SMI when the MCCAA was established in 2011. Mr Farrugia studied electrical engineering at the University of Malta and is a member of the Maltese Chamber of Engineers. He has an MBA from Henley Business School, and was elected to the CENELEC Administrative Board in June 2015.

 

Mr Werner Fischer (Siemens AG, Austria) - Board Member

Mr Werner Fischer is Head of Standardization and Regulation Management at Siemens AG Austria. He is in an electrotechnical engineer with broad experience in the field of Information and Communication Technology, Standardization and Electrotechnical Regulation within the Siemens company. Mr Fischer is President of the Austrian National Committee of CENELEC and IEC, a Member of the Board of Directors at the OVE - the Austrian Electrotechnical Association - and a Member of the Electrotechnical Advisory Council of the Austrian ministry of economics. Mr Fischer was elected CENELEC Board Member in June 2012.

 

Mr Francisco Javier Garcia Diaz (AENOR, Spain) - Board Member

Mr Javier Garcia Diaz has been Standards Director of AENOR, the Spanish Association for Standardization and Certification since 2012. Previously he was Pre-Accession Advisor of the European Commission to Bulgaria in the field of Free Movement of Goods and member of the CEN and the CENELEC Technical Boards (BT). From 2008 to 2013 he acted as Chairman of the Technical Committee Management Group of the CEN/BT. Mr Garcia Diaz serves as a member of the IEC Standardization Management Board, chairs the CEN Strategic Advisory Group on Services. Mr Garcia Diaz is a chemical engineer from the Complutense University in Madrid and holds Post-Graduates in Business Administration and Marketing Management. He followed Diplomatic Studies at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mr Javier Garcia Diaz was elected CENELEC Board Member in June 2015.

 

Mr Asen Georgiev (BDS, Bulgaria) - Board Member

Mr Asen Georgiev is Senior Quality Manager of TESY Ltd, a home comfort appliances company, where he was previously Business Unit Manager for heating appliances. After graduating from the Technical University of Varna, Mr Georgiev worked in various industries in Bulgaria, Austria and Hong Kong. He is a Board Member of the Bulgarian Institute for Standardization (BDS) and has contributed to the work of CENELEC Technical Committees (59X and 61). Mr Asen Georgiev was elected CENELEC Board Member in June 2013.

 

Mr Michael Howard Graham (BSI, UK) - Board Member

Mr Graham served as Secretary to the British Electrotechnical Committee from1999 to 2012 gaining extensive knowledge of international and European standardization. During this period he was a Permanent Delegate to the CENELEC Technical Board and a member of the IEC Standardization Management Board. He is a member of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (MIET) and a Member of the Chartered Quality Institute (MCQI CQP). Mr Graham was elected CENELEC Board Member in June 2012.

 

Mr Thierry Lefèbvre (AFNOR - Système français de normalisation - UTE, France) - Board Member

Mr Thierry Lefebvre is Director Grid Infrastructure in the Research and Development Centre of EDF (Electricité de France). A graduate of the French Ecole Supérieure d’Electricité, he has participated in several Working Groups of CENELEC, IEC and CIGRE (Conseil international des grands réseaux électriques). Mr Lefebvre is Chairman of IEC -TC 57 and CLC/TC 57 (Power systems management), and a member of the IEC Advisory Committee for Transmission and Distribution (IEC-ACTAD). Mr Thierry Lefèbvre was elected as CENELEC Board Member in June 2013

Mr René Nielsen (DS, Danemark) - Board Member

 

Mr René Nielsen is head of the International Affairs of the Danish Standards Association. He is responsible for a number of IEC and CENELEC Technical Committees. Prior to his career in DS, he was working with R&D at LK A/S, and as Project Manager at the Danish cable company NKT A/S. Mr Nielsen holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and an MBA in HR and International Trade.
Mr. Nielsen was elected CENELEC Board Member in June 2012.

Mrs Cristina Timo (CEI, Italy) - Board Member

Mrs Cristina Timò has served as Technical Director of the Italian Electrotechnical Committee (CEI) since 2007. After graduating from Milan Polytechnic with a Master’s Degree in Electronic Engineering, she started working for CEI in 1986 as a Technical Officer. Mrs Timò has contributed to various standardization and certification bodies, and served as Secretary of a European Technical Committee (CENELEC TC 218). She has represented CEI in the CENELEC Technical Board and in the IEC Standardization Management Board, and was elected to the CENELEC Administrative Board in June 2015.

 

Mrs Ewa Zielinska (PKN, Poland) - Board Member

Ms Ewa Zielińska was appointed as the Director of the External Relations Department of the Polish Committee for Standardization (PKN) in 2012. She has been working in the secretariat of PKN since 2000, and was appointed as Permanent Delegate to the CENELEC Technical Board in 2010.
Ms Zielińska holds a Master’s degree in Sociology from Warsaw University and has also completed postgraduate studies in European Integration. She is a CENELEC Board Member since June 2014.