We are delighted to welcome back Peter Hobday as Chairman of this year’s World Crane and Transport Summit.

One of the best loved voices in radio, Peter Hobday was a long serving presenter on Today, the BBC's flagship current affairs radio programme in the UK - required breakfast listening for the political classes, business people and opinion formers.

Peter has hosted a wide range of BBC radio and television. He anchored The Money Programme, helped launch Newsnight, presented a raft of interviews and hosted his own show on Radio 3. Fluent in French and proficient in Italian, he is also a regular contributor to international media.

Peter is a Visiting Professor at De Montfort University in the UK. He is also a media trainer and author of Managing the Message. In the corporate event arena, his particular skill lies in mixing charm and authority to stimulate audience involvement in Q&A sessions.

Joel Dandrea, Executive Vice President, Specialized Carriers & Rigging Association (SC&RA), brings over 24 years of experience to the Association in management, regulatory and legislative affairs, program and product development, coalition management, communications and marketing.

Following 15 years of policy, government, membership and business development experience with the American Trucking Associations, Alexandria, Virginia, Mr. Dandrea joined the Specialized Carriers & Rigging Association in September 2000.

Presently, Mr. Dandrea's primary areas of concentration for the SC&RA include:

• Overall management of the Association and its related Foundation
• Strategic planning, partnerships and research
• Communications
• Financial and investment management and oversight
• Member/industry/media relations
• Government and public relations
• Fund raising and generation of sponsorships
• Business development and marketing

SC&RA effectively serves a current global membership of some 1400 companies with consistent annual growth and membership retention.

Mr. Dandrea earned a bachelor's degree in communications and marketing from the University of Maryland and a master's degree in safety and environmental management from West Virginia University.

Christian-Jacques Vernazza was born in Marseilles in 1948.
He started his professional career in the family forwarding company.

He created Mediaco Levage in 1973 with 4 cranes, including a 80 tons crane, which was the biggest telescopic crane at that time.

MEDIACO became the N°1 lifting and cranes rental company in France with 600 cranes until 1000 tons capacity, 50 agencies et 1500 people.
Mediaco has been awarded 2 times in 2010 and 2011 for the best European job of the year, with its crawler cranes.

He is President and Chief Executive of Mediaco Vrac, a leading worldwide brand specialised in crude grape seed oil, sunflower oil and also in tartric acid.

C.J. Vernazza is also the President of ESTA, European Association for cranes and special transport, and Vice President of UFL, the French association for cranes.

Dominic Swords has a background in the City working in Economic Intelligence at the Bank of England during the 80s and has worked in Business Schools for some 20 years including London Business School and Henley Business School. His primary research and consulting covers:

• Business Economics
• Strategic Management
• Innovation

He is a regular contributor to a number of TV and Radio programmes including the the BBC's Financial World Tonight, World Business Report, News 24 and the Money Programme and CNBC's ‘Strictly Money'. Recent subjects have included commentary on topical issues such as economic prospects for the EU and UK, the re-structuring of the European airline industry, financial planning and inheritance, OPEC oil price decisions and the impact of oil prices on industry growth and profitability.
He has over 15 years of international experience having run client projects in the EU, the US, the Far East - in Hong Kong, mainland China, Malaysia and Japan - and Australia.

I have worked for Shell in various regions around the world such as  Europe, Africa,   the Middle East and the Far East.

My key role involves the development of economic execution strategies with a strong  focus on construction safety. We look at various options such as  stick build versus modular concept, and we determine the largest modular size possible and how it can be transported to site and lifted to its final position.

This involves providing  strategic and tactical advice on how to carry out abnormal load  transportation and heavy lifts in compliance with Group Standards such as our  HSE Control Framework for Lifting and Hoisting Standard.

Once an option is selected my support then extends to drafting scopes of work for the tender, reviewing the technical submissions, assisting with HSSE audits for mobilisation, pre lift and contract reviews to ensure standards required are met ,and in a few regrettable  incidents supporting accident investigations etc.

Safety is my key business driver to reduce incidents to “Goal Zero” in the lifting and hoisting industry. In order to achieve this, I am involved in various working committees and actively participating with ESTA (The European Association of abnormal road transport and mobile cranes ) to ensure a safer work practice.

Previously I had 19 years of experience as specialist heavy transport project manager working first for Lastra, followed by Mammoet in the Netherlands, Walter Wright Mammoet in Singapore, prior to becoming the Director of International Projects with ALE.

I am married and have 2 children. For relaxation I walk and cycle on my mountainbike.

Klaus Meissner began working in the crane industry at Demag in Zweibrücken, Germany – now known as Terex Demag GmbH – in 1988. From 2002 he was heading R&D for telescopic and crawler cranes at this location; since January 2008, he has been responsible for product safety coordination and intellectual property management as Director, Product Integrity, at Terex Cranes taking care for all prodcuts.

Mr Meissner is also an appointed expert for mobile crane approval by German health and safety authority; and works with different European standards committees on crane safety standards. He is convenor of the working group developing EN13000 the European safety standard for mobile cranes and is currently president of the product group for mobile cranes within FEM, the organisation of the European lifting industry.

For the past 19 years, Robert Weiss has been Vice-President of Cranes, Inc., a company that was founded almost 70 years ago with a small fleet of Link-Belt truck cranes and has grown to become one of the largest and most diverse rental houses in the New York City Metropolitan Area. In this capacity he oversees the daily operations of the company, whose fleet covers a broad spectrum from carry-decks to tower cranes and includes some of the largest-capacity crawler and all-terrain hydraulic cranes in the Northeast.

As Vice-President of A.J. McNulty and Co., Inc., Mr. Weiss serves a steel and precast erection company that has been a family business for over fifty years and has erected many of the major buildings in New York City, including the new Terminal 4 at J.F.K. Airport and the award-winning Hayden Planetarium at the Museum of Natural History. His responsibilities include overseeing the estimating and sales departments and the creation and implementation of his company’s safety programs.

Mr. Weiss attended Amherst College and has a graduate degree in Building Construction Management and Technology from New York University. He is currently an officer of the Subcontractor’s Trade Association, which represents the interests of New York City specialty contractors, as well as chairman of SC&RA’s EN13000 taskforce. Mr. Weiss was one of only 23 industry professionals chosen by OSHA to sit on the Crane and Derrick Negotiated Rulemaking Committee (C-DAC), which was tasked with re-writing Federal crane standards. In this capacity, he represented the Allied Building Metal Industries, a trade association of New York City’s steel erection contractors. Mr. Weiss is also a certified mobile crane inspector.

Dr. Andreas Schwer joined Manitowoc in 2008, and currently serves as the chief technology officer and executive vice president of engineering. His responsibilities include all innovation and engineering activities across all crane product lines – from upstream R&D down to sustaining engineering.

Schwer is an accomplished engineering manager. Prior to his time at Manitowoc, he held various leadership positions with EADS helicopter space and defence divisions, as well as the European Space Agency.

Dr. Schwer has a Ph.D. and two Master of Science in engineering.

Alexander Hoffmann, Product Manager, RUD Group, Germany

Alexander Hoffmann has been product manager for lashing means at the RUD Group for seven years. He is a member of several ISO, EN and national standardization working groups on the topic of load securement. With others, he took part in the development of the VDI 2700-13 Securing of loads on road vehicles - heavy- and special-transports. He was a member of the German delegation of the revision working group of EN 12195-1 Calculation of lashing forces and of the working group of ISO 15818 Earth-moving machinery - Lifting and tying-down attachment points.

Chip Pocock, Safety & Risk Manager, Buckner Companies

Chip Pocock, the Safety & Risk Manager for Buckner Companies, has over 25 years of experience in construction, safety management, crane and rigging operations and management, and insurance and risk management issues. He is a past President of the Steel Erectors Association of America (SEAA), and he has served as Safety Committee Chair since 1995. He was named SEAA’s Man of the Year in 2004 for work done on the OSHA Subpart R Steel Erection Training Program. Additionally, he represented SEAA on the OSHA Crane and Derrick Advisory Committee, which rewrote the federal standards for cranes and derricks used in the construction industry. Chip also is a member of the Associated General Contractors of America National Safety and Health Committee and a Certified Crane Operator and Practical Examiner for the National Commission for the Certification of Crane Operators (NCCCO

Graham J. Brent has been Executive Director of the National Commission for the Certification of Crane Operators (NCCCO) since 1996. He is responsible for the management of all aspects of the administration and development of NCCCO's national crane-related personnel certification programs.

Prior to joining NCCCO, Mr Brent served as an NCCCO Commissioner, and instructed operators, inspectors and management on hazard recognition and equipment safety, as well as OSHA/ANSI standards compliance.

He is a member of the Personnel Certification Accreditation Committee (PCAC) of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), and the International Conformity Assessment Committee (ICAC).

Previous professional appointments include: OSHA Construction Safety and Health Advisory Committee, Subpart N Work Group; the Cal-OSHA Committee on Crane Operator Qualifications; the Veterans’ Corporation Professional Certification Advisory Board (PCAB); the Board of the Coalition for Professional Certification (CPC); and the Constructor Certification Committee of the American Institute of Constructors (AIC).

Mr Brent has previously served as the Editor of several crane-related publications, including Cranes Today (1979-86), Lifting & Transportation International (1987-89); The Crane Report (1990-94); The Crane Safety Report (1994-96); and the Exxon Crane Guide (1997).

Hans-Dieter Willim, Design Engineer, Liebherr Ehingen

Born 27.03.1953 in Reutlingen, Germany
Married, 2 sons, 23 und 26 years old
Technisches Gymnasium in Reutlingen Study in Stuttgart, degree of a master
Since 1978 designing mobile cranes
Since 1980 manager design for harbour mobile cranes and lattice boom cranes
Since 1985 general manager for crawler cranes, slewing platforms and boom systems
Just now 62 design engineers
German delegate for EN 13000
Approved by German BG as authorized inspector for mobile cranes

I’ve spent nearly 30 years doing everything from operating cranes and laying out complicated lifts to buying and selling companies, ultimately becoming CEO of a company operating over 500 cranes.  During that time, I was involved with purchasing from nearly every manufacturer and worked through many issues, including technology, availability, operator comfort, road-ability, pricing and reliability issues with each of them.  There are several common concerns that the owners and operators of crane rental companies share, but can’t always get resolved. Unfortunately,  there are times when  the OEM’s sometimes have conflicting goals, especially when it comes to liability, stocking parts and 24-7 response.

As manufacturers, we must listen,  understand and respond to the needs of the customers while balancing the production schedules and factory floors.  In today’s environment, as well as the next 5-10 years, the industry must be more adaptable and responsive to economic and environmental issues than ever before.  This presentation will address those needs and help to strengthen the relationships on an OEM to OEM level as well as the OEM to Customer level.

Mr. Stefan Fuchs (born 1964) studied Business Administration at the University of Applied Sciences in Kempten with the main focus on logistics. After various management positions in machine building companies, he has been responsible for managing Goldhofer since early 1999.

Ronald Schad has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Essex since 2000. Prior to joining Essex, Mr. Schad spent over 15 years with Manitowoc Crane Group and was most recently its Executive Vice President and General Manager, where he was responsible for over $350 million in sales. Prior to that position, Mr. Schad held various service and sales related positions with Manitowoc. Mr. Schad also held engineering and management positions with responsibility for nuclear device handling cranes at Reynolds Electrical and Engineering Co., the prime contractor for the Nevada Nuclear Test Site. Mr. Schad graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a BS in Engineering.

David Collett, Managing Director, Collett & Sons, President, ESTA Transport Section

R.Collett & Sons (Transport) is a family business that began trading in the early 1960s. David Collett joined the company as a traffic clerk in 1978. Over the next 15 years he progressed through the transport office, accounts department and sales department before becoming transport manager. In 1995 he was appointed managing director of Collett Transport. From 2001 to 2008 Collett was chairman of the Heavy Transport Association in the UK and, since 2006, has been on the board of ESTA as president for transport.

Doug Ball, Vice President, Transportation, Specialized Carriers & Rigging Association (SC&RA)

Douglas Ball is vice president of the Specialized Carriers & Rigging Association. He has responsibility for all transportation matters, including the educational presentations of the Specialized Transportation Symposium. He is responsible for the liaison between the specialized transport industry and state and federal transportation officials and actively works with state trucking executives to initiate, support, or modify transportation regulatory changes. Previously, Ball held positions in the Federal Bureau of Investigation in investigative, administrative, and executive management assignments.

Ball was in the U.S. Army in Europe and Vietnam as a company commander. He attended the Army School of Transportation and was briefly assigned to the Army Material Command. He holds a Master of Science degree in Public Administration from California Lutheran University, and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Montana.

Liu Quan, male, 48, EMBA, with a construction engineer backgrround, has been acting as executive director of Zoomlion since 1999, once held posts such as deputy general manager of Zoomlion Concrete Machinery Co., Ltd., chief engineer of Zoomlion Corporation and deputy general manager of Zoomlion Construction Crane Co., Ltd., and worked concurrently as director of Zoomlion Financial Leasing Co., Ltd. and chairman of Zoomlion Hydraulic Co., Ltd.

Social position: Chairman of the National Technical Committee on Construction Machinery and Equipment Standardization (SAC/TC328), chairman of the National Technical Committee on Mobile Crane Standardization (SAC/TC227/SC2), and president of the Road and Compaction Machinery Branch of China Construction Machinery Association.

Søren Jansen has spent more than 30 years in the crane industry. In Denmark Jansen gained a degree in engineering from University of Odense Teknikum, and a degree in foreign trade from Copenhagen Business School. He worked as a manager responsible for sales and after sales service of mobile cranes for what was at the time Demag Baumaschinen.

Following several years as senior consultantat at PA Consulting Group, Søren Jansen returned to the world of mobile cranes and large mining shovels, employed by Mannesmann Demag Construction Machinery Division in Chicago, USA as vice president and general manager, responsible for the North American market.

On his return to Denmark 10 years later, Jansen joined crane rental company BMS as president and CEO, a position he held until he semi-retired in 2009. Today Jansen owns a consulting business from which he works as ESTA general secretary and he serves as member of the supervisory boards on a number of Danish and international companies.

Mr. Liang Dong, Vice General Manager of SANY Group and General Manager of SANY Crawler Crane overseas operations.

Liang Dong plays a key role for global sales, service as well as distributor network worldwide for Sany Heavy. Before he serves as the GM of Sany crawler crane – the fast developing division in Sany Group, he worked as the GM of Sany North Africa, Middle east, Sany Overseas and the chief executive officer of Sany India.

With 8 years overseas working experience plus the 3 years experience working in Sany headquarter, all together with his different cultural mentality, company development principle, well established international relationship, he is always ready to talk with you, learn from you, establish constructive and friendly relationship with you for mutual benefits, sustainable development.

Mr. LI Yuning is Vice President of Guangxi LiuGong Machinery Co., Ltd. Since 2008, Mr. Li has served as President and General Manager of Anhui LiuGong Crane Company Co., Ltd.

Prior to his current position, Mr. Li served as General Manager of LiuGong Spare Part Division from 1998 to 2007 and was responsible for the formation and management of LiuGong’s global spare parts distribution network. Prior to this, Mr. Li served as Engineer and Production Manager from 1986 to 1998 in LiuGong transmission division.

Mr. Li graduated from Taiyuan University of Science and Technology, Shanxi, China in 1986, majoring in Engineering Machinery. During his service in LiuGong, Mr. Li has attended Executive Education in CEIBS (Shanghai), management courses at the School of Economics and Management of Tsinghua University (Beijing) and MBA course in Huazhong University of Science and Technology (Wuhan).

Ton Klijn is managing director of Wagenborg Nedlift B.V. in the Netherlands.

Klijn trained as an automotive engineer and entered the heavy transport industry in 1977 after his military service. He has more than 30 years of experience, from operating cranes and transport equipment to supervising operations and managing fleet maintenance.

For part of his career he worked in the Middle East. After working as an operations manager in Europe for several years he was appointed as managing director of Dutch heavy transport company Mammoet in 1997. In 2003 he joined the Wagenborg group as managing director of its heavy transport company Nedlift.

Klijn joined the executive committee of the Dutch Crane rental association VVT in 1995 and has been vice president administration at ESTA since 2006.

Jens Kotzurek. Sales manager MK cranes, Liebherr-Werk Biberach GmbH
Born 01.07.1975 in Heilbronn, Gemany
Gymnasium Weinsberg, Study in Passau, Master of Business and administration
Since 2004 Sales department of Liebherr-Werk Biberach GmbH
From 2006 - 2010 Product management MK cranes
Since 2011 Sales manager MK cranes

Jeff Brundell, CraneSafe National Director

Jeff has been involved in the Crane Industry Council of Australia since its amalgamation with the Australian Crane Marketers Association in 1990 and is a past president of CICA. He has previously been awarded the Con Popov Award for his contribution to the Crane Industry in Australia and at the 2011 CICA Conference; he was made a life member of CICA. In addition to his work with CICA, Jeff has had a long involvement as a supplier of construction equipment in Australia and his last real job before retiring was as the Managing Director of Manitowoc Crane Group in Australia.

Rob Cooper has a background in Mining and Construction industries holding an honours degree in Building Engineering and Diploma in Mining Engineering. He worked in nationalised and provate industry prior to joining the UK's workplace safety authority, the Health and Safety Exectutive (HSE).

Following a number of years as a field inspector he is currently the Operational Policy Lead on the Lifting and Lifting Operations Regulations (LOLER) in the UK. In this capacity he deals with a wide range of industry stakeholders involved in lifting.

Rob also takes the lead on application of the Machinery Directive to lifting equipment including cranes.

He is currently chairman of an EU Commission Task Force developing a cross boarders approach to risk assessment of non-compliant products and is part of the team working on cross border accrediation of engineering surveyors.