Meet The Board

Achim Dries

Achim Dries

President

CEO & Managing Director – ‎Paul Vahle GmbH & Co. KG Achim Dries joined the VAHLE Group in 2013 as CEO. He served prior to VAHLE in several international Senior Executive positions, at last as a member of the Global Board of ESAB Welding & Cutting. He holds a Master Degree of Science in Mechanical Engineering and is a member of the Advisory Board of the Ruhr University Bochum in Germany.

Jens Koerting

Jens Koerting

Vice President

Jens Koerting joined Terex in 2021 and is currently the Sales Director for Terex Deutschland GmbH.  Prior to this, Jens worked for 16 years in the container handling equipment industry and 10 years in the construction equipment industry. He is a graduate engineer.

Jon Sojo

Jon Sojo

Vice President

Export Director, Jon Sojo has been the Export Director for Tratos Ltd. since 2013 and is responsible for the Port and Maritime Sector of the Group. Prior to joining the PEMA Board, Jon was the PEMA Special Events, Programmes & Education Committee Chair.

Rino Bedeschi

Rino Bedeschi

Board Member

President & CEO of BEDESCHI Spa. Rino holds a Master in Business Administration (MBA) degree from INSEAD Fontainebleau, France. He serves as 4th generation Managing Director at the family owned company established in 1908, leader worldwide for bulk material handling and mining equipment in several industries such as cement, marine logistics fertilizers, power, steel, grain and cereals.

Leopold Berthold

Leopold Berthold

Board Member

Leopold holds a business education from Commercial Academy Bludenz. Currently, he is the Managing Director of Sales and Customer Service Liebherr Maritime Division. Before assuming this role, he was Managing Director Maritime Cranes Liebherr-Werk Nenzing GmbH. Also, he was Economic spokesperson and Member of State Parliament. He completed his military service between 1988/89.

Lisette Stinis

Lisette Stinis

Board Member

Lisette Stinis took over as Head of the Family Business, Stinis, in 2021, having previously worked in Corporate Planning for the company for over 10 years. Lisette has an extensive education in areas such as Economics, International Business, Accounting and Finance.

Aqwa Chen

Aqwa Chen

Board Member

Aqwa Chen is a Deputy General Manager at ZPMC Port Machinery Group where he has worked for almost 20 years as part of the Industrial Machinery and Equipment Industry.

Board Member and Head of Technology

Pat O’Leary

Pat O’Leary

PEMA Head of Technology

Pat’s core tasks will be to support and co-ordinate the work of PEMA’s three technical committees: Safety & Environment, Automation & Control Technologies, and Equipment Design & Infrastructure. By working closely with the committees’ respective chairs and members, Pat will add his extensive experience to the wide-ranging knowledge that already exists within the Association.

Secretariat

Laura Codd

Laura Codd

PEMA Account Lead - Head of Administration

Jean O’Connell

Jean O’Connell

Managing Director, O'Connell Marketing

Automation & Control Technologies Committee

“Container ports and terminals are facing a continuous challenge to improve efficiency in their operations, which in part, is driven by the steady increase in vessel size. At the same time, there is also a high demand for improved safety and better sustainability in ports and terminals worldwide. Automation has played a key role in meeting these challenges during the last two decades, and there remains no end in sight for this development, especially in the current landscape of new and emerging technologies.”

Kari Rintanen

Kari Rintanen

Chair

Manager, Port Technology Research, Konecranes

Dipl. Ing. (FH) Alois Recktenwald

Dipl. Ing. (FH) Alois Recktenwald

Vice Chair

Senior Key Expert Siemens Global Business Segment Cranes

Founded in August 2010, the PEMA Automation & Control Technologies Committee (formerly the Technology Committee) is dedicated to increasing awareness and understanding of the role of automation, information and communication technologies in modern port and terminal operations.

Formed of PEMA members and other experts in the manufacture and supply of advanced software, hardware and systems, the Committee promotes innovation, thought leadership, best practice awareness in the development and use of equipment drives, controls and robotics, process automation, automated identification, sensing, location and navigation, communications and data management technologies, operations software, systems integration and associated ICT in ports and terminals. As part of its remit, the Committee also develops and promotes industry guidelines and standards.

Equipment Design & Infrastructure Committee

“Clarity on port equipment design standards and a better understanding of the interfaces between cranes, other equipment and infrastructure are critical to safe, sustainable and productive port operations in an increasingly complex technological environment.”

Pietro de Michieli

Pietro de Michieli

Chair

Managing Director presso AUMUND FOERDERTECHNIK GmbH.

Gerhard Fischer

Gerhard Fischer

Vice Chair

Head of Sales, Siemens AG

The mission of the PEMA Equipment Design and Infrastructure Committee is to provide neutral information, education and advice on standards and their application to the design of port equipment, together with guidance on issues related to equipment design and equipment interfaces with port infrastructure.

There are many national and international standards that cover the design of port equipment. Some of these standards overlap and may have nebulous relationships to each other. There are also gaps between standards and it is not always clear what standards are applicable in different countries. A key goal of the committee is to clarify the relationships among port equipment standards, in particular, those related to container handling cranes.

There is also often still a gap between port planning and civil engineering on the one hand and equipment design and operation on the other. And with the rapidly changing world of automated terminal operations, these gaps are even more prevalent. Fostering better understanding and standardisation of the increasingly complex requirements and unique physical interfaces between cranes, other equipment, and infrastructure is, therefore, a second main focus for the Committee.

Please email info@pema.org for more information on the work of the Equipment Design & Infrastructure Committee.

Safety & Environment Committee

“Injuries, loss of life and avoidable damage to the environment are still commonplace in port and terminal operations worldwide. We believe this is unacceptable because technologies exist that can dramatically improve safety and facilitate the development of greener ports. Our common aim as port equipment and technology experts is to help reduce injuries, damages and enable better risk management as well to minimize environmental impact.”

Lars Meurling

Lars Meurling

Chair

VP Marketing and Product Business Development, Bromma

Jim Andriotis

Jim Andriotis

Vice Chair

Head of Innovation, Cavotec

In recognition of their common aims, the PEMA Environment Committee and the PEMA Safety Committee were merged to form The PEMA Safety & Environment Committee in 2015.

The mission of the PEMA Safety & Environment Committee is to provide a neutral information and education platform on the development and use of safer and greener technologies in the port and terminal industries. As part of this effort, the Committee works with other port and cargo handling associations, as well as individual companies, to keep abreast of the latest trends and initiatives, and inform PEMA members and the wider community accordingly.

The Safety & Environment Committee brings together an exceptionally wide variety of experience and knowledge from the global port equipment and technology communities. Because of this scope, it is well-positioned to introduce the practical elements of its work to a broad range of ports, manufacturers and other stakeholders concerned with achieving excellence in port and terminal safety and sustainability.

Port Bulk Handling Committee

Andrea Prevedello

Andrea Prevedello

Chair

Beumer Group Austria GmbH

Andrea Vitturi

Andrea Vitturi

Vice Chair

Chief R&D and Engineering Officer Bedeschi SpA

The Port Bulk Handling Committee is a newly formed committee as a result of the growing number of members joining PEMA from the Port Bulk segment of the business. PEMA represents the interests of equipment and technology suppliers on a worldwide basis, providing a platform to inform, educate, and promote best practice within the industry it serves and externally with port and terminal operators and other key stakeholders.

The new Technical Committee will add to the current work of PEMA’s existing Technical Committees and will look into producing industry-wide Information Papers and tackle some of the pressing issues within the business. PEMA continues to build its unique role in establishing dialogue and promoting best practice in the seaport, marine, and intermodal terminal space worldwide