Keynote Speakers

Pioneers Shaping the Global Hydrogen Future

Advanced Solid-State Hydrogen Storage

Director of the Centre of Hydrogen Science

Jianxin Zou is a Distinguished Professor at the School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and Deputy Director of the Shanghai Key Laboratory of Hydrogen Science. Recognized as a National High-Level Scholar by the Ministry of Education of China, he has built an outstanding career at the intersection of advanced materials, hydrogen technologies, and industrial innovation. His research focuses on the development and application of magnesium-based energy materials, with particular emphasis on their role in hydrogen production and storage. Through his work, he has contributed significantly to advancing both the scientific understanding and the industrial deployment of next-generation energy materials. Zou has authored more than 200 peer-reviewed publications in leading journals, including Science, Energy & Environmental Science, Advanced Materials, Advanced Energy Materials, and Nano-Micro Letters, establishing a strong international presence in the field of energy materials. He is an elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC), the International Association of Advanced Materials (FIAAM), and the Institute of Chemical Engineers (FIChemE), reflecting his global recognition and leadership in the field. His contributions have been recognized with multiple prestigious awards, including the First Prize of the Technology Invention Award from the China Nonferrous Metals Industry (2023), the “Innovative Product of the Year” (2021) and “Person of the Year” (2024) awards from the International Magnesium Society, the IMA Future Technologies Award (2023), and the IEA Hydrogen TCP Award (2024). Recognized for his ability to bridge fundamental research and industrial application, he brings a strategic and forward-looking perspective on the role of advanced materials in enabling a hydrogen-based energy future.

Research Innovation

Light-weight Hydrides: Development of high-capacity Mg-based systems for mobile and stationary applications.
Nanostructure Engineering: Breakthroughs in catalysis and interfacial science to enhance hydrogen reaction rates.
Industrial Integration: Bridging fundamental material science with the next generation of fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs).

Solid-State Storage Advanced Metallurgy

Integrating Green Hydrogen into Industry

Senior Researcher in Sustainable Energy Systems

María Luisa Ojeda Almonacid is a Chilean energy policy leader and chemical civil engineer from the University of Magallanes, holding a Master’s degree in Environmental Management and Technology from the School of Industrial Organization (EOI), Madrid, Spain. With over three decades of experience, she has built a distinguished career at the intersection of energy systems, environmental governance, and sustainable development. She currently serves as a project manager and researcher at the Center for Energy Resources Studies (CERE) at the University of Magallanes and as an adjunct professor in its Faculty of Engineering. Her work has been instrumental in positioning southern Chile as a strategic territory for the global energy transition. María Luisa Ojeda has played a pivotal role in Chile’s energy transformation through her leadership as Regional Minister of Energy (SEREMI) for Magallanes and Antarctica, where she led the regional deployment of the National Green Hydrogen Strategy. Under her leadership, Magallanes has emerged as one of the world’s most promising hubs for large-scale green hydrogen production, driven by exceptional renewable resources and a strong institutional framework. Her contributions span the design of policy frameworks for the hydrogen economy, the articulation of public–private partnerships, and the integration of sustainability, territorial development, and social inclusion into large-scale energy projects. She has also been a strong advocate for gender equity and human capital development in the clean energy sector. Recognized for her great capacity to bridge academia, government, and industry, Dr. Ojeda brings a unique perspective on how regions can lead the global transition toward a hydrogen-based economy.

Strategic Impact

Power-to-Gas Pathways: Optimization of large-scale electrolyzer integration into national power grids.
Thermal Management: Advanced cooling and heat recovery solutions for high-efficiency hydrogen production.
Cluster Development: Design of regional hydrogen hubs to minimize infrastructure costs and maximize impact.

Energy Transition Industrial Clusters

Thermodynamic Analysis of the Hydrogen Economy

Expert in Energy Systems Efficiency

Jimena Incer Valverde is a leading chemical engineer from the University of Costa Rica and an internationally recognized expert in hydrogen-based energy systems and large-scale energy integration. She obtained her M.Sc. in Process Energy and Environmental Systems Engineering, as well as her Ph.D. and postdoctoral training, at the Technical University of Berlin (Germany), where she specialized in advanced energy storage and system-level optimization. Over the past decade, Dr. Incer Valverde has established herself at the forefront of the global energy transition, with a distinctive expertise in exergy analysis, exergoeconomics, and techno-economic optimization of complex energy systems. Her work focuses on enabling hydrogen as a scalable and geographically flexible energy carrier, bridging fundamental research with real-world implementation. She has contributed to the design and assessment of Power-to-X pathways, including the production of green fuels such as ammonia and methanol, as well as the development of large-scale hydrogen value chains. Her research portfolio includes advanced topics such as cryogenic energy storage systems (up to 100 MW scale), liquid hydrogen technologies, and hydrogen–natural gas integration, positioning her among the few researchers in Latin America with expertise across the full hydrogen value chain. With over 20 peer-reviewed publications and a strong citation record, her work has been featured in leading journals in the energy field. Currently, she leads a flagship green hydrogen initiative at the University of Costa Rica, playing a key role in shaping Costa Rica's national hydrogen agenda through science-based policy dialogue and strategic research. She was also actively involved in organizing Costa Rica's first Green Hydrogen Week in 2025, fostering collaboration between academia, industry, and government. Recognized for her great capacity to bridge thermodynamics, system design, and national energy strategy, Dr. Incer Valverde represents a new generation of leaders driving the deployment of hydrogen technologies for deep decarbonization and sustainable development worldwide.

Key Contributions

Exergy Destruction Analysis: Pinpointing thermodynamic inefficiencies in Alkaline and PEM electrolysis.
Economic Modeling: Coupling physical laws with financial metrics to predict the LCOH (Levelized Cost of Hydrogen).
Renewable Synergy: Researching the interaction between variable renewable energy (VRE) and hydrogen production stability.

Exergy Economic Efficiency