Speaker line-up includes who’s who of solar energy industry
The plenary speaker line-up for the ISES Solar World Congress 2009 includes international experts in various fields of solar and renewable energy. Internationally renowned Greek architect, Alexandros Tombazis, is one of more than a dozen high profile keynote speakers that will give presentations during the plenary sessions at the ISES Solar World Congress in Johannesburg from 11 – 14 October.
In his presentation titled, The Sacred Cow, Tombazis will discuss architecture and its intimate relationship to humans and their needs. He will also address the function and climatic conditions that need to be considered.
Tombazis refers to buildings as being alive as any other living organism. The questions that he will address is: ’Do we architects, together with that beautiful abstraction that is architecture itself, consider everyday reality and the full and real practical needs of the user? Do we not, deep in our heart, deal with architecture as a sacred cow, too sacred to be touched by human hands?
Another prominent speaker is Yogi Goswami, Professor in the Chemical Engineering Department and Co-Director of the Clean Energy Research Center at the University of South Florida. He will present the Farrington Daniels Award Lecture on Future Watch, Emerging Solar Energy Technologies.
The South African government is very supportive towards the ISES Solar World Congress 2009, and none other than the Minister of Energy, Ms Dipuo Peters, will give the opening keynote address on 11 October.
Other popular plenary session speakers that are experts in their respective fields are:
- Dr Herman Scheer, President of World Council for Renewable Energy (WCRE)
- Prof Eicke Weber, Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE and Professor of Physics and Applied Sciences at the Albert-Ludwig University of Freiburg, Germany
- Dr Harry Lehmann, Federal Environment Agency - Head of Division I: Environmental Planning and Sustainable Strategies
- Prof Hartmut Grassl, Director emeritus at the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, Hamburg, and retired Professor of the University
- Richard Worthington, Manager: Climate Change Programme at WWF-SA
- Prof Vivian Alberts, Full Professor of the Department of Physics at UJ / Managing Director PTIP (Pty)Ltd
- Peet du Plooy, WWF Trade and Investment Programme
Other presentations
The ISES SWC2009 will offer a platform for a total of 142 speakers from 49 countries, delivering 177 oral and 108 poster presentations in five themes. 46 out of 285 papers have been submitted by South Africans and another 11 from other African countries. Germany, China and Australia are also well represented and together, are responsible for 62 papers and posters.
The complete Congress Programme is now available on www.swc2009.co.za. Consult the full programme and plan your attendance in advance.
‘The ISES Solar World Congress 2009 and the Renewable Energy Expo offer a unique opportunity to experience the best and latest developments in the field of renewable energy resources under one roof over three days. Anyone involved in renewable energy or who intend making it their business, are advised to use this opportunity to gather information about the latest developments and establish networks for future collaboration, joint ventures and opportunities for sustainable projects,’ said Congress Chairman, Jon Adams. [View Programme]
