EACN Executive Board Members

Bruno Grandjean

General Manager
Pôle Véhicule du Futur, France

since 01.2021

Bruno Grandjean is General Manager of the cluster Pôle Véhicule du Futur, overseeing the activities of its 22 full-time employees on its 5 sites and serving its 500 members, in order to :

• provide day-to-day support to industrial companies in the automotive sector all over the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté and Grand Est regions to improve their productivity
• support innovation projects in the automotive / ground transportation / new mobility sectors (nearly 500 projects supported to date)
• animate thematic ecosystems on its territory for the development of future technologies (e.g. the hydrogen sector)

He graduated from French engineering schools Ecole Polytechnique in Paris and Ecole des Mines de Nancy. After holding various positions in the automotive industry, he took part in regional clustering efforts in 2001, which led to the national recognition of Pôle Véhicule du Futur as « pôle de compétitivité » in 2005. He was then Programs Manager of the cluster until 2021, in charge of interactions between the vehicle and its environment: alternative mobility services, integration of intelligent transport systems (vehicle-vehicle and vehicle-infrastructure communication, autonomous vehicles), and interactions between electric vehicles and the grid.

Paul Butler

CEO
North East Automotive Alliance Limited, UK

since 01.2021

Paul Butler has led the North East Automotive Alliance (NEAA) as Chief Executive Officer since its launch in March 2015. Today, with over 300 member companies it is the leading automotive cluster in the UK and provides members with an unparalleled collaborative network where companies find benefit from leadership and co-ordination of activities of mutual benefit.
Paul represents the regions automotive sector on the UK’s Automotive Council (Supply Chain Group, Digitalisation Group and Regional Economic Forum), the North East LEP (Business Growth Board and Skills Advisory Panel), a member of the BEIS External Expert Supply Chain Group and is a board member of the European Automotive Clusters Network and leads the I4.0 working group. Paul is also the only UK based Cluster Benchmarking Expert for the European Secretariat for Cluster Analysis (ESCA).
Paul has been an active participant in the UK’s I4.0 strategy through various activities including the Made Smarter programme and is actively engaged in the Manufacturing Made Smarter Smart Factory and the Made Smarter Adoption programmes across the North East of England.
Paul has extensive knowledge of the business support environment at both regional, national and international level, and holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Durham.

Alberto Cominges

Cluster Manager
CEAGA, Spain

since 01.2021

Alberto Cominges is Managing Director for the Galician Automotive Cluster (CEAGA’s Foundation) since 2002. He is responsible for deploying the Cluster´s Strategic Plan and for coordinating its overall performance towards excellence.

CEAGA has been a founding member of initiatives such as the Spanish Alliance of Automotive Clusters (ACREA) and the Spanish Clusters Association (CLUSTERS.es). Recently, CEAGA was appointed as President of CEEG (European Cluster Excellence Experts Group) and Vice-President of EACN (European Auto Cluster Network), the steering committees at the Galician Technological Center (CTAG), and is part of the Academic Commission at the Automotive Master Program at Vigo University, where he also participates as a teacher.

His previous experience includes activities as key account manager at the full logistics provider STEF, or Marketing Manager and New Products Manager at Grupo Copo. He also worked as project manager at Copo Ibérica and was a Founding partner of an award-winning startup named Verticalia.com.

Alberto Cominges has an international educational experience with a bachelor degree in Enterprise Management (Cum Laude) with a double minor in Management and Marketing from Suffolk University and Penn University.

Libor Dobeš

Cluster Manager
Moravskoslezský automobilový klastr, Czech Republic

since 01.2022

Libor Dobeš is Managing Director at the Moravskoslezský automobilový klastr z.s.(Autoklastr) since May 2021. He manages the local cluster office in Ostrava and represents the cluster in the regional (Moravian Silesian Region), national ( Czech governmental ministries and agencies, NCA-National Cluster Association) and  international environment.

Libor obtained Master Degree in Economics in VŠB TUO Ostrava and has over 25 years of experience in the automotive sector in the lighting and climate systems area , working in the managing positions in sales, materials planning & logistics and procurement functions in Autopal, Ford Motor ACD, Visteon sro Czech plants with a strong interface to the corporate partners in EU and US regions. He collaborated with all of the major OEMs in Europe and US.

8 years of experience in managerial roles in the precise machinery industry in the areas of Supply Chain , Procurement, EU Distribution and plant management in the CZ plant of Edwards/Atlas Copco with a strong interface to the partners in the EU, SE Asia and US. 

Łukasz Górecki

Director
Silesia Automotive & Advanced Manufacturing Cluster, Poland

since 01.2021

For over 16 years Łukasz Górecki has been professionally engaged with Katowice Special Economic Zone, where firstly he has been working with domestic and foreign investors. Currently, he is Director of the Silesia Automotive & Advanced Manufacturing Cluster (SA&AM). Within this role, he is responsible for building a cooperation network between the automotive industry, suppliers of new technology for industry, scientific and research institutions and the education sector.

He is a Vice-president of the Polish Cluster Association, member of the board of the European Automotive Cluster Network – EACN and member of the Council of the Krakow Technological Institute Łukasiewicz Research Network, as well as a coordinator of many national and international projects. In his free time he is motorcyclist and enjoys motorization and motor sports.

Jackie Sánchez-Molero Fernández

Gerente
AVIA, Spain

since 06.2023

Jackie is the new director of the Valncian Automotive and Mobility Cluster AVIA since May 2023. Jackie is an engineer and directed Mobility Innovation Valencia, the innovation area of AVIA since May 2021. She has a long professional career, especially related to innovation and international projects.

In this new stage in AVIA’s management, her intention is to expand the cluster’s activities related to smart and sustainable mobility and to collaborate with European companies and entities to achieve it

Carlos de Lopes Gonçalves

Secretary-General
Mobinov, Portugal

since 06.2023

Carlos pursued his passion for engineering by completing his education in Mechanical Engineering. Equipped with a strong foundation in the principles of mechanics, he developed a keen interest in the automotive sector. Eager to expand his knowledge and skill set, Carlos decided to pursue a post-graduation in Business Intelligence and Analytics, recognizing the growing importance of data-driven decision-making in the industry. Carlos began his journey in the automotive sector in 2015, gaining valuable experience by working for various Portuguese automotive industries. During this time, he immersed himself in the intricacies of the industry, developing a deep understanding of its operations and dynamics. These early experiences provided him with a solid foundation and an extensive knowledge base in the automotive domain.In October 2022, Carlos joined Mobinov a renowned Portuguese automotive Cluster as Project Leader for National and International Projects and since 1st of June, he currently holds the position of interim General Manager. Mobinov is a platform for aggregating knowledge and competence within the automotive industry, with the aim of promoting an increasing enhancement of competitiveness and internationalization of the sector. On the other hand, it aims to contribute to turning Portugal into a reference in research, innovation, design, development, manufacturing and testing of products and services in the automotive industry.

Josep Nadal

Cluster Manager
CIAC, Spain

since 01.2021

Josep Nadal Puigvert is the cluster manager of CIAC, a position that he holds since 2018. He has experience in other companies in the automotive sector, although he has worked in a broad variety of sectors: Brake Discs, Alternavida SA, Gryyp Line SL and DOGA. In the latter, he was Product Manager at the forefront of the strategy for launching new products, as well as he focused on the integral management of projects and tailored solutions for clients.

Josep Nadal had previously been, for over two years, a part of the Project Management team of CIAC, leading CIAC’s own collaborative projects, promoted by the companies that are members of the entity. During that time, he contributed with solutions to boost CIAC’s and its members’ activity through the creation of work dynamization tools, like the new digital project platform of the CIAC that fosters synergies between these companies.

Lyubomir Stanislavov

CEO and Member of the Board
AC Bulgaria, Bulgaria

since 01.2023

Lyubomir Stanislavov is one of the founders of Automotive Cluster Bulgaria, created in 2012. Since 2015 he has been its Executive Director, attracting various international automotive companies to Bulgaria, such as Bosch Engineering Center Sofia, Visteon, Next e.GO Bulgaria, and many others. Today, he continuously supports over 250 Cluster members in Bulgaria, who are active in every field of the automotive industry – from component manufacturers to automotive software companies and R&D centres.  As CEO of Automotive Cluster Bulgaria, he has gained extensive experience in managing various industry projects, such as a Digital innovation Hub and the development of an Automotive & Aerospace R&D centre. Lyubomir has broad knowledge of the industry, both on national and international level, which has helped him to advise numerous international investors on their entry into the Bulgarian market, as well as support companies present in Bulgaria enter international markets and innovate their current practices in the spirit of Industry 4.0.

Thomas Röhr

Secretary General   
European Automotive Cluster Network

Thomas Röhr obtained a diploma in mechanical engineering at RWTH Aachen in the 1990. He then worked at University of Kassel and with BMW in Berlin and Munich in the domains of traffic management and planning and mobility in general.

In 2011 he entered ESTA School of Business & Technology. Since May 2016 he started working part-time for Pôle Véhicule du Futur where he is in charge of the development of European R&D activities.

In this role, he was one of the initiators of the European Automotive Cluster Network EACN and has been assigned Secretary General by the Executive Board in early 2021.