Agenda

Simon is CRU’s Director of Energy Transition. He is responsible for driving and communicating CRU’s strategy and insights around the technologies and materials that drive decarbonisation. Initially an electrical engineer in the steel industry, Simon spent several years in the US as a business and technology analyst, consultant and CEO of a publicly traded software company. He began his renewable energy career in 2008, co-founding a solar cell technology startup. Two years later he co-founded a solar manufacturing facility design and integration business. In 2015, Simon established Exawatt to provide cost, performance and market forecasting in sectors including solar energy, battery storage, electric vehicles and power transmission. Simon joined CRU in early 2023 when the company acquired Exawatt.

Luiz Simão holds a BSc in Chemistry, an MSc in Industrial Engineering, and an MBA in Finance, with more than 30 years of experience across the aluminum, carbon, and silicon industries. He joined Elkem in 2005 and has held several senior leadership roles, including EBS, Finance, Plant Manager, and SVP of two divisions. In 2003, he published the book “Lean Production in Continuous Process”, sharing practical lessons from implementing lean manufacturing in process industries.

Jim currently, is a co-founder, Director and Executive VP for Silicon Markets of Sinova Global Inc. as well as Chairman, President and/or CEO of three multi-functional (trading, engineering, export import) companies in the silicon metal, solar silicon, solar energy businesses.

Jim is a proven results getter with many diverse accomplishments leading to substantial bottom line impacts for his companies or employers. He has over 15 U.S patents to his credit. His companies have developed and implemented various solar energy projects in the USA including supplying process technology, commissioning and startup services.

His educational credentials include completing the MBA program for Senior Executives in MIT’s (Sloan Business School) in 1989, an MS in Metallurgical Engineering from the University of Michigan in 1972 and a BS in Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science from the General Motors Institute in 1971.

He has been noted for his ability to correctly evaluate developing companies and to react quickly and effectively to crises and short-lived opportunities for profit. A strong team builder, he has formed lasting, mutually beneficial relationships with customers and suppliers.

He is a sought-after speaker. He has presented at over 100 international conferences on the global silicon and solar industries over the last 30 years.

Well traveled, he has been to over 100 countries including working on silicon projects in China, Brazil, Germany, Norway, Australia, Japan, U.A.E., Saudi Arabia, Bolivia, France, Italy, Austria, Russia, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, Spain, Portugal, Holland, Switzerland, Bahrain, Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines, Chile, and Argentina. He has conversational fluency in Mandarin Chinese and several other languages in the countries he has worked.

Richard Rast is President and CEO of Highland Materials, a US based polysilicon manufacturer. Richard leads the Highland team and partners who are focused on product validation, engineering/construction, plant operations, supply and offtake, and financing/funding. Highland is developing an innovative polysilicon production facility in Northeast Tennessee that provides significant reductions in capital and operating cost vs. incumbent processes. Importantly, the Highland process also offers the opportunity to recycle silicon saw kerf generated during the wafering process, using the purified polysilicon that is wasted in this process. Prior to Highland, Richard started, developed, and subsequently sold three successful businesses in the industrial facilities development space. His technical expertise includes planning, design, construction, and operation of large-scale manufacturing, industrial and commercial facilities; facility decarbonization, renewable energy development; environmental compliance and remediation. Financial expertise includes debt, tax equity, incentives, venture and private equity. He is a graduate of Georgia Tech.

Mr. Vicintin is the Chairman & CEO of Rima Industrial S/A and the Chairman of Mississippi Silicon. He graduated in 1973 as a Ferrous and Non-Ferrous Metallurgical Engineer from Armando Alvares Penteado Foundation in Sao Paulo – Brazil.

Today, RIMA is the 2nd largest independent Silicon Metal producer in the world and the only primary magnesium producer in the Western world and Southern Hemisphere.

Mr. Vicintin has devoted a lot of time and attention to bring economic development to underprivileged areas in Brazil through the Vicintin Foundation.

In conclusion, Mr. Vicintin’s extensive experience and entrepreneurial spirit grew a company from 4 employees to 5,600 in a 55-year period

Arnoud Willems is a Partner in the International Trade Team of King & Spalding. Arnoud advises clients on all aspects of trade law, including trade remedies, customs, trade compliance, and trade agreements. With over 30 years of experience, he is a trusted adviser to entrepreneurs, executives, and diplomats with an unparalleled network. Arnoud deeply understands how trade rules shape global flows of capital, investment, goods, technology, and services, especially with respect to competitiveness, and the application of trade rules to various sectors. He helps clients navigate complex rules, manage their risks, and become more successful in their long-term strategy. Arnoud has assisted complainants, respondents, associations, governments, importers, and users in more than 200 high-profile anti-dumping, anti-subsidy, safeguard, and anti-circumvention investigations. Along with representing clients in such cases before the European Commission, national and EU courts, he has worked on several third-country cases (Russia, China, Türkiye, Philippines, Indonesia, Brazil). Arnoud’s cases often involve pan-European strategies with simultaneous litigation in several countries. Regarding customs matters, Arnoud has broad experience in advising clients on EU customs issues, including entry, classification, valuation, origin, tariff suspensions, authorizations, audits, refunds/remissions and fraud allegations, notably OLAF and EPPO. A key aspect of his practice concerns working with EU and national authorities to help clients unlock customs issues or assist with resolving differences in approach between various EU member states.

Regarding trade agreements, Arnoud advises clients on leveraging market access and enforcement tools provided by trade rules in the WTO, free trade, investment, and other agreements. With these tools, Arnoud has helped companies address key trade and regulatory barriers affecting their ability to move, sell and protect goods, services, and intellectual property across borders. To conclude, Arnoud has assisted governments and companies in negotiating trade agreements, especially in making them concrete, and by creating so-called gold standards by leveraging best practices.

Simon is CRU’s Director of Energy Transition. He is responsible for driving and communicating CRU’s strategy and insights around the technologies and materials that drive decarbonisation.

Initially an electrical engineer in the steel industry, Simon spent several years in the US as a business and technology analyst, consultant and CEO of a publicly traded software company. He began his renewable energy career in 2008, co-founding a solar cell technology startup. Two years later he co-founded a solar manufacturing facility design and integration business.

In 2015, Simon established Exawatt to provide cost, performance and market forecasting in sectors including solar energy, battery storage, electric vehicles and power transmission. Simon joined CRU in early 2023 when the company acquired Exawatt.

Franco Dalpiaz has been working at Raffmetal Spa, European leader in the production of recycled aluminium alloys, since 1988. He has spent his entire career in the raw materials purchasing department and since 2014 has led the scrap and silicon metal purchasing team.

Valdiney Domingos de Oliveira is an internationally recognised executive and technology leader with more than 25 years of experience across the global silicon industry. His career spans the complete silicon value chain—from quartz beneficiation and metallurgical silicon production to polysilicon, crystal growth, photovoltaics, semiconductors, advanced materials such as silicon anodes for battery application and circular silicon technologies.

Throughout his career, Valdiney has held senior technical and executive positions with internationally recognised organisations including RIMA Industrial, Centrotherm Photovoltaics, Viridis (co-founder), Tokai Cobex, GCL, Reliance Industries and Si&MEx Solutions GmbH.

He has led multidisciplinary international teams in Europe, Asia, the Americas and the Middle East, supporting major greenfield and brownfield projects from feasibility studies through engineering, commissioning and operational optimisation. His expertise combines process technology, operational excellence, project development and industrial strategy, with extensive experience in: • Ferrosilicon and Metallurgical Silicon (MG-Si) • Solar Grade Silicon (UMG) • Polysilicon (Siemens and FBR routes) • Crystal Growth (CZ, MCZ, FZ and DSS) • Wafer Manufacturing • Semiconductor Materials • Raw materials and Carbon Industries • Circular Silicon Economy and Silicon Recycling • Large-scale industrial engineering and technology transfer Valdiney has led technology development and engineering programmes exceeding US$10 billion in investment value, including the development of vertically integrated photovoltaic manufacturing complexes and advanced silicon production facilities. His recent work has focused on decarbonisation, circular economy, recycling technologies, advanced silicon materials and strategic development of resilient silicon supply chains.

As Founder and CEO of Si&MEx Solutions GmbH, he advises governments, investors, technology providers and industrial companies on silicon production, semiconductor supply chains, renewable energy materials and critical raw materials. His work integrates engineering, ESG principles, operational excellence and digital transformation to support the next generation of sustainable silicon manufacturing.

An internationally recognised speaker, Valdiney regularly contributes to major industry conferences and technical forums including CRU, Fastmarkets, PVSEC, FerroAlloysNet, SMM and PV Magazine, where he shares insights on silicon markets, technology innovation and future industrial trends.

Viktor Myrvågnes got his MSc from NTNU in 1999 (Chemical Engineering) and his PhD from the same university in 2008 (Material Science and Engineering). He has been working in Elkem since 2001 where the main responsibilities has been related to raw materials, external environment, sustainability, supplier development and research projects. Viktor is also part of the board in the Norwegian Ferroalloy Producers Research Organisation (FFF)

Dr. Wolfgang Herbst is Co-Founder and Executive Director of Viridis.iQ, an international engineering and consulting firm focused on the photovoltaic and silicon industries. He has more than 25 years of experience in photovoltaics, with a strong business and technical background across the entire PV value chain—from silicon metal and polysilicon production through to solar module manufacturing. His expertise spans international business development, technology assessment, and strategy, with extensive experience in due diligence, financial modeling, and large-scale industrial project development. In addition, his earlier work in market research and technology evaluation has provided him with a solid analytical foundation that continues to inform his strategic and investment decisions in the industry.

Thea Stabbforsmo is a PhD candidate at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, working with biocarbon in silicon production as a part of FME ZeMe. She holds a MSc in chemistry from NTNU.

Armel Perrotin holds a MSc in Green Chemistry from the university of Poitiers (France). His master thesis was on the preparation and characterization of catalysts for aircraft air purification. He is currently working on the characterization of feedstock for additive manufacturing as part of his PhD at the Dept. of Materials Sciences and Engineering at NTNU within the SFI PhysMet (Centre for Sustainable and Competitive Metallurgical and Manufacturing Industry).

Marc-Olivier Victorin is an Engineer from IMT Mines Albi Graduate School of Engineering, where he graduated in 2007. He has 19 years of industrial experience, including 14 years at Elkem across different divisions and international environments. He is currently a Silicon Specialist at Elkem, based in Trondheim (NO). He is supporting polysilicon customers using Direct Chlorination (DC) and Hydrochlorination (HC) processes, focusing on product development, product qualification, and sustainable silicon solutions.

Caroline Sindland is an Industrial PhD candidate and Research Engineer at Elkem ASA, working on silicon carbide behaviour in industrial silicon furnaces in collaboration with NTNU. She holds an MSc from NTNU and has experience from Elkem as both a laboratory apprentice and a Process Engineer.

Harald Wegge holds an M.Sc. in Process Metallurgy from NTH and has over 40 years of experience in metallurgical process development. He has worked extensively with silicon and ferrosilicon processes in industrial and pilot-scale environments. He is currently leading the development of the silicon reactor step in the Elkem Sicalo® project.