CONSORTIUM ADVISORY GROUP (CAG)
The consortium advisory group is the advisory body to the Research Program Consortia (RPC) . The Consortium Advisory Group (CAG) provides clearly defined quality control function in theimplementation of the RPC, in addition the CAG advises the RPC Director on strategy taking an overview of the shape, direction and implementation of the RPC to meet its objectives and address the priority knowledge needs of poor people. Profiles for the members fo the CAG are shown below.
Sheila Oparaocha, ENERGIA International Coordinator
Sheila Oparaocha has twelve years of working experience in problems of energy and developing countries, specializing in energy, poverty and gender issues, especially in household and rural energy; and in rural electrification and rural development. She holds a BSc from the University of Zambia and a MSc from the Asian Institute of Technology.
Ms Oparaocha is currently a senior consultant at ETC Foundation in the Netherlands and holds the position of programme manager and International Coordinator of the ENERGIA International Network on Gender and Sustainable Energy. While in this position, Ms Oparaocha leads a team of project offices and senior technical advisors at the ENERGIA International Secretariat (IS) and the Regional Network Secretariat (RS) in Asia and Africa. Under her leadership, the IS and RS manage a multi-country and multi-partner projects portfolio spanning 26 countries in Asia and Africa. In keeping with ETC’s Quality Control Management, she is responsible for quality control, reporting and liaising with ENERGIA’s donors. As a senior gender and energy expert, Ms Oparaocha provides direct technical support to the ENERGIA’s activities on international policy advocacy, audits of energy policies, technical advice to energy projects, training of trainers and practitioners, research and case study development, network building and knowledge management. As its International Coordinator, she is responsible for maintaining the strategic partnerships ENERGIA has with a wide range of partners in the energy sector, such as with governmental organisations, NGOs, financial institutions, universities, donor agencies, local and international enterprises and community based organisations.
Ms Oparaocha is a core member of the Gender Committee of the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves and the Gender Coordinator for the Alliance’s Monitoring and Evaluation Group. She also serves as a member of the Steering Committee of the Women as a Major Group for the UN Commission on Sustainable Development, the main contact point for ENERGIA which is a member of the Partnership of Clean Indoor Air pollution and a partner in the Campaign for the UN’s International Year of Sustainable Energy for All in 2012.
Loek Boonekamp, Consultant, retired a Senior Agriculture Counsellor, OECD
Loek Boonekamp started his career in 1972 with the Dutch Ministry for Agriculture, where he was responsible for the analyses of the economic and structural problems of the livestock industry and the formulation of policy proposals.
In 1977 he became an economist and later principal economist with the OECD Directorate for Agriculture, initially as an agricultural market and policy analyst. Later he became Head of the Agricultural Statistics Section and in 1995 Head of the Medium Term Outlook Section.
From 1998 until June 2008 he was Head of the Agri-food Trade and Markets division in the OECD’s Directorate for Trade and Agriculture. In this function he had overall responsibility for a broad programme of work in the field of food and agricultural commodities, covering medium projections, market and policy issues, trade policy reform, changes in the food economy and the market and trade impacts and the policy implications of increased production of bio fuels.
From June 2008 until December 2009 he was a Senior Agriculture Counsellor in the Director’s office co-ordinating the advice to the OECD’s Secretary General on various economic and policy issues that are in the realm of the OECD’s Directorate for Trade and Agriculture. A major focus of his advisory work has been on the impacts on developing countries of changing conditions in global agricultural commodity markets.
Mr. Boonekamp retired from the OECD in December 2009. Since then he is working as a private consultant in his areas of expertise. He is a member of the Advisory Group of the PISCES Consortium (Policy Innovation Systems for Clean Energy Security) under the auspices of the UK Department for International Development; he is also a member of the Economics Committee of the International Meat Secretariat and of the Editorial Board of Outlook on Agriculture, a publication of IP Publishing Ltd.
Prof. Hemantha Wickramatillake, Professor, Occupational and Environmental Medicine University of Brunei darussalam
Prof Wickramatillake, a medical graduate with two postgraduate degrees in Occupational and Environmental Medicine (University of Adelaide and Singapore) is currently the Head of O&E Medicine at University of Brunei Darussalam. Of his 37 years of postgraduate career, he has spent almost 35 years in the field, holding responsible posts like the Director General of NIOSH in Sri Lanka, as a specialist in O&E with the WHO in Europe Office, as a Senior Env. Health Scientist with the MRC of UK, as a practising Occupational health Physician and as a Researcher and a Consultant Project workers for the United Nations. He is also a Visiting Professor in O&E Health at the Drexel University, USA.
Dr. Janssen, Rainer, Unit Head Biomass, WIP – Renewable Energies (WIP – KG)
Dr. Rainer Janssen is Head of the Biomass Department at WIP and Senior Expert in the Biomass field. His work addresses production, distribution and market penetration of bioenergy (solid biomass, biogas) and biofuels for transport (e.g. bioethanol, biodiesel, vegetable oil). Dr. Janssen is involved in several FP7 projects concerned with international cooperation in the field of bioethanol production from ligno-cellulosic feedstock (BIOLYFE, Global-Bio-Pact, BioTop).
Dr. Narendra S. Rathore, Professor (RES) & DEAN
Worked as a Principal Investigator in the ICAR sponsored AICRP on Solar Energy Component, Project Coordinator in Technical Backup-Unit on Improved Cook stoves and Project Coordinator of Regional Bio-gas Manure Management Centre and Bio- Energy.
Dr. Rathore has undertaken 40 R&D projects related to Renewable Energy Sources and presently he is having nine different R&D projects on renewable energy, rural development and food processing etc. There are number of prototype development to his credit in the field of Solar thermal (Solar Tunnel Dryer & Built-in Masonry Solar Cooker) & PV based system (Solar Refrigerator), Biogas plant (Chetak Model), Biomass based Stirling engine, Durable Improved Cook Stoves (Chetak/ Single pot and Udairaj / Double pot Model), Aonla Shredder & Picker Unit, Custor Apple based Ice cream mix & Stevia leaves dryer etc.
Dr. Rathore has organized 18 International Training, 35 National training, Seminar, Workshop and Conference, 23 State training and 12 ISTE sponsored Summer School on different aspects of Renewable Energy. He has authored 190 research papers for National and International journals and published 32 books, 33 training manuals on various aspects of Agricultural Engineering, Renewable Energy, Environment Studies and Dairy & Food Technology.
There are total 81 reports, proceeding, 13 prototype developments, 71 Popular Articles on Renewable Energy and Rural Development activities to his credit. Twenty Six Postgraduate (M.E.), Thirteen M.Sc. (Home Science), Twelve Ph.D. students have completed thesis, presently three M.Sc. (H.Sc.) Students, two M.E. (RES) and three Ph.D. students are working under his supervision.
Simon Collings, Chief Operations Officer at GVEP International
Currently Simon works for GVEP international as their Chief Operations Officer. GVEP International works on issues of energy access in developing countries through supporting market based solutions by working at various levels from policy influencing to providing practical business training and advice
Simon’s previous experience include working as CEO of Resource Alliance, a specialist charity providing training in fundraising for non-profit organisations around the world. Prior to joining RA he was at Oxfam GB for 16 years, the last six as Fundraising Director.
His main areas of specialism are non-profit marketing, communications and fundraising, with a particular knowledge acquired in recent years of non-profit marketing in 'emerging markets' in Asia, central Europe and Latin America.
Harsha Wickramasinghe C Eng MIE (SL), BSc Eng (Hons), Deputy Director General, SEA
Former general manager of the Energy Conservation fund Harsha Wickramasinghe is currently Deputy Director General (Operations) for Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority (SEA). His main responsibilities include strategic planning of the new organisation and setting the primary direction of the sustainable energy initiative of the Government. All the activities relate to the two directorates of Economic Affairs and Knowledge Management. This includes Economic Policy, Fund Management, Stakeholder Relations, Policy & Planning, Outreach / Capacity Development and Technology Development aspects of the new authority.
Ray Holland, Manager Project Management Unit, EUEI PDF, GIZ
Ray Holland is currently managing the EUEI Partnership Dialogue Facility, based at GTZ in Germany. PDF is multi-donor (7 EU member states and the European Commission) fund that supports policy and strategy development for energy access, primarily in Africa. Ray is an electrical/electronics engineer who has specialised in the management of technical change; institution building; capacity building in renewable energy and energy infrastructure policy and strategy. He has 25 years experience of technology development/adaptation, and transfer for local production of affordable equipment for use in Africa, Asia and Latin America. His work has included project design and management and team leadership in research and development; technical assistance consultancy in energy for international development organisations; work on energy access policy and strategy and practical work on participative planning of rural infrastructure. He was responsible for technology transfer and establishment of innovative long term micro hydro programmes in Peru, Nepal, Sri Lanka, the development and technology transfer of innovative water turbines, electronic load control and induction generator control systems, and development and commercialisation of the Glowstar solar lantern designed for African Market which won the UK Engineering Council Environment Award, 2001.
Has led teams to advise regulators on methods to provide incentives for private sector provision of energy and telecom services and has presented papers at several international conferences and seminars, on decentralised rural electrification, micro hydro-electric plants, on solar PV systems, on financing technology transfer to small enterprises in Africa, on small enterprise development. He is currently working on the road map for the EU-Africa Energy Partnership.
Professor Ralph Sims, Senior Analyst in Renewable Energy and Climate Change at the International Energy Agency, Paris
Professor Ralph Sims is currently a Senior Analyst in Renewable Energy and Climate Change at the International Energy Agency, Paris whilst maintaining the position of Professor of Sustainable Energy at Massey University, New Zealand where he began his energy research career over three decades ago. He was the Co-ordinating Lead Author of the "Energy Supply" chapter for the 4th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize recipient and a Lead Author of the focus group for the forthcoming IPCC Special Report on Renewable Energy. He has acted as a consultant to many energy companies and is a chartered engineer and Companion of the Royal Society of New Zealand.