EUROPEAN FORUM: RESILIENT FUTURE FOR MARITIME INNOVATION ECOSYSTEMS

Radenka Marić is a Chair Professor in Sustainable Energy in University of Connecticut’s Departments of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, and Materials Science and Engineering. She had served as UConn’s Vice President for research, innovation, and entrepreneurship since 2017, and in September 2022, she became the 17th President of the University of Connecticut, where she also holds the rank of Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor. With numerous national and international recognitions and accolades, she is a world leader in technologies for clean energy and sustainability. The hallmark of her research includes the efficient and sustainable use of precious metals and innovative manufacturing processes involved in fuel cell technologies, storage materials, and electrochemical sensors for health applications, leading to higher-performance, commercially viable clean energy systems.

Carlo Ratti is a Professor of Practice of Urban Technologies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston, where he directs the Senseable City Lab. He is also a Full Professor at the Department of Architecture, Built Environment, and Construction Engineering at Politecnico di Milano. A trained architect and engineer, and one of the top ten most-cited scholars in urban planning, he works on the future of cities and the built environment. He is a founding partner of the international architecture and innovation office CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati and has established several tech start-ups in the US and Europe. His works have been exhibited worldwide at venues including New York City’s MoMA, the Venice Biennale, the Science Museum in London, Expo 2015 Milan, and Expo 2020 Dubai. In December 2023, he was named the Curator of the Venice Biennale Architettura 2025.

Snježana Prijić-Samaržija is the Rector of the University of Rijeka and a Full Professor of Philosophy at the Department of Philosophy of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Rijeka. She is a member of the Council of Europe’s Steering Committee for Education (CDEDU) Bureau, a member of the GUNi Advisory Board of the Higher Education Leadership & Management Hub, a member of the YUFE Strategy Board, a former YERUN president, and a current president of the Rectors’ Forum of Southeast Europe and Western Balkans (SEE-WB). She is a recipient of many awards and accolades, the latest including the French Chevalier dans l’Ordre National du Mérite (2023) and the Croatian ”Woman of the Year” Award (2022).

Peter Lürssen is a naval architect, Managing Director, and CEO at Lürssen Werft GmbH & Co.KG, a well-known company specializing in naval ships and special vessels and one of the leading builders of custom yachts. He studied shipbuilding and industrial engineering in Germany and business administration in the United States. Before joining the family business in 1987, he gathered considerable professional experience working in the commercial shipbuilding industry, including one year spent as a construction inspector at different Japanese shipyards.

Teuta Duletić is a shipbuilding engineer and executive director at Lürssen Design Center Kvarner, the Rijeka branch of the well-known Lürssen Group. She graduated from the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Rijeka and received professional training at University College London and Instituto Superior Técnico in Portugal. She is interested in natural sciences and innovation, and she built her career working in the American Metal Shark and Brodosplit, where she worked as a product manager for a foreign off-shore company.

Ana Odak is a Board member at Gitone Kvarner, where she holds the position of director for strategic investments and incentives. She is also the President of the Maritime Innovation Cluster. She studied at the Faculty of Economics and the Faculty of Political Sciences in Zagreb and received professional training at Harvard University and the London School of Public Relations. During her career, she held various positions at the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry of Regional Development and EU Funds.

Justus Reinke is the Managing Director of Fr. Lürssen Werft GmbH & Co. KG. As economics expert with a PhD, Reinke is responsible for all market and customer-facing activities at Lürssen, including sales and marketing, technical project planning, contracting, as well as re-fitting, interior outfitting, and guarantee management. Before his position at Lürssen, he was the Head of Corporate Development and Strategy at Boston Consulting Group and the Project Leader in the same company.

Manuel Orazi is a historian of architecture. He works as an editor for the Italian publishing house Quodlibet, based in Macerata, and teaches at the Academy of Architecture USI in Mendrisio, Switzerland. He published, together with Yona Friedman, The Dilution of Architecture (Zurich, Park Books 2015), and dited the book by Rem Koolhaas, Études sur (ce qui s’appelait autrefois) la ville (Paris, Payot 2017). Since 2020, he has been doing research on the Adriatic together with Marco Vanucci (South Bank University of London) and their collaboration resulted in a joint essay The Adriatic: An Ancient Door to a New World Order, published in The Last Grand Tour: Contemporary Phenomena and Strategies of Living in Italy (Zurich, Park Books 2023), edited by Michael Obrist and Antonietta Putzu. Orazi also writes for the ‘Log’, ‘Domus’, and the ‘Volume’.

Manfred Kainz is the Founder and first CEO of TCM International Tool Consulting & Management GmbH, a company based in Austria. He is a seasoned leader with a passion for automotive and vehicle manufacturing and a proven track record of success. After 36 years at the helm of the company, he retired from management in 2022 and now serves as the Chairman of the shareholders’ meeting. He previously worked at the State Parliament of Styria as a Member of the Styrian Parliament. He is the honorary consul of Poland in Styria.

Vjekoslav Jukić is the Head of Energy Policy and Planning Sector at the Croatian Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development. His work, among other things, includes EU funds programming, preparation and implementation of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NPOO), Modernization Fund, etc. He is particularly engaged in the topic of the hydrogen-based economy and the development of new technologies related to decarbonization and the green transition. Jukić is also a member of the Management Council of Energy Institute ‘Hrvoje Požar’.

Ivana Katurić is the Director of Urbanex, an independent think tank, advisory, and research organization specializing in sustainable urban development policies and research. Katurić serves as an expert for the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission on the New European Bauhaus and an ICOMOS expert on UNESCO World Heritage Sites and climate change. She holds a PhD from the University of Milan, Bicocca with a completed ESPD at KU Leuven. She is an Assistant Professor of Urban Studies at the University of Rijeka. In collaboration with PBL Netherlands and BBSR Germany, she researched zero net land take policies in the EU. Her research focuses specifically on maritime spatial planning and port cities, with projects developed for the World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and various other institutions.