NBN Expert Awards 2024 presented
Last updated:
9/12/2024
On November 28, 2024, NBN held its annual Thank You Event where we highlight the work of the many experts active in standards development. The highlight is invariably the presentation of our NBN Expert Awards. No easy undertaking to choose from such an outstanding selection of experts, but these three individuals have certainly earned their NBN Awards.
Mercedes works as Senior Program Manager within the Industry Standards Program Office at HP Belgium BV. She focuses on European standardization policy and standards development for emerging technologies, through involvement in European and international standards organizations.
Mercedes is an expert in several European standards committees of CEN and CENELEC. Since 2022, she has chaired the Belgian mirror committee of the international ISO/IEC JTC 1 on information technology.
Prior to joining HP, Mercedes worked at CEN and CENELEC. There she was responsible for maintaining and fostering relationships between industry, the European Commission and other stakeholders to deliver timely and successful solutions that meet their needs.
Since early 2023, Raf has been Vice President of Engineering at Apryse (formerly known as PDFTron). He is a leader in software engineering within the digital document industry, with a focus on PDF technology.
In 2012, Raf joined iText Software, a Ghent-based startup focused on PDF technology. He immediately championed early support for the standard they were developing, to bring implementations to market and drive adoption.
A year later, he took his first steps into the world of standardization by joining ISO/TC 171/SC 2, "Document file formats, EDMS systems and authenticity of information," through the NBN mirror committee.
A highlight of that standards committee was the publication of ISO 32000-2 in 2017, the first ISO standard for PDF to be developed entirely in a vendor-neutral manner following the ISO standardization process.
In 2021, Raf became president of the PDF Association, a membership organization of stakeholders in the PDF industry. He aims to bring the Association more closely into the standardization process so that the industry and other stakeholders are better involved and represented in the standardization process.
Caterina has been working in particle therapy for cancer treatment since 2001, both in basic research in Italy and Germany and in applied development at IBA.
She was introduced to standards development in 2009, when IEC launched a project on particle therapy as part of the IEC 60601 standards.
Since then, she has been promoting the use of standards within IBA to comply with regulations.
Caterina leads a multidisciplinary team of experts in standards and technical regulations in support of development and processes. She also manages IBA's in-house accredited CTF laboratory within the IECEE scheme.
Caterina also shared with us she is in her 5th year engraving at the Academy of Art in Wavre. She is also a passionate mountain climber!
Our partner BEC also awarded three Belgian experts for their exceptional technical contribution to the development of an IEC work project. This year's IEC 1906 Award went to:
- Bachir Bella, Director of Sustainability and Product Safety at Copeland. Member of TC 61.
- Didier Liémans, Responsible Engineering - R&D at Nexans Benelux. Member of TC 20.
- Pierre-André Monfils, former Senior Expert at General Electric. Participant in TC 38.
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