DANIEL GAUTHIER ANNOUNCED AS THE NEW CHAIRPERSON OF THE SPIRE HORIZON 2020 CPPP

The Sustainable Process Industry through Resource and Energy Efficiency (SPIRE) contractual Public-Private Partnership (cPPP) has announced that Mr Daniel Gauthier has been elected as the new Chairperson of the cPPP’s Board of Directors.

The appointment of Mr Gauthier followed a selection process and a unanimous recommendation from A.SPIRE’s Board of Directors in early September. A.SPIRE is the entity that manages and implements the SPIRE cPPP. The board’s recommendation has now been endorsed by members of A.SPIRE’s General Assembly and Mr Gauthier will assume the Chairperson’s duties with immediate effect.

Mr Gauthier takes over the role from Dr Klaus Sommer of Bayer, who is stepping down after seven years of service to the SPIRE community during which it has grown from a conceptual idea to a thriving sustainable cross-sectorial research and innovation community.

Mr Daniel H. J. Gauthier has had a long and illustrious career in the cement sector with more than 30 years’ experience in various operational positions. He currently serves as President of CBR S.A. (the Belgian subsidiary of HeidelbergCement) and has held many senior roles within the HeidelbergCement Group including membership of the Managing Board. He remains an advisor to the CEO of HeidelbergCement

Mr Gauthier is Chairman of the European Cement Research Association (ECRA) and was Chairman of CEMBUREAU (The European Cement Association) from June 2015 to June 2017. He is also a Member of Board of Carmeuse Holding S.A., Genlis-Metal and Adial, and a Member of the Board of the University of Mons. He is Chairman of the Strategic Committee of the Faculté Polytechnique de Mons and Chairman of Ingénieurs sans frontiers.

Mr. Gauthier graduated from the Department of Mining Engineering of Mons Polytechnic University in 1981 and gained a Master’s Degree in Management in Brussels in 1982. He was certified as a Civil Engineer in Liège in 1985.

Mr Gauthier was born in 1957, is a Belgian citizen and is married with three children.

About A.SPIRE and the SPIRE cPPP

A.SPIRE is the European Association which is committed to manage and implement the SPIRE Public-Private Partnership. It represents innovative process industries, 20% of the total European manufacturing sector in employment and turnover, and more than 130 industrial and research process stakeholders from over a dozen countries spread throughout Europe. SPIRE brings together the cement, ceramics, chemicals, engineering, minerals and ores, non-ferrous metals, steel and water sectors in Europe.

The Sustainable Process Industry through Resource and Energy Efficiency (SPIRE) is a contractual Public-Private Partnership (cPPP) dedicated to innovation in resource and energy efficiency enabled by the process industries. The SPIRE Partnership is based on Article 19 of the EU Research and Innovation Framework Programme, Horizon 2020, Regulation and has been established through a contractual arrangement between the European Commission and A.SPIRE aisbl.

SPIRE is being implemented through competitive calls included in the Horizon 2020 work programmes. The objective of the SPIRE cPPP is to develop the enabling technologies and value-chain solutions required to reach long-term sustainability for Europe in terms of global competitiveness, ecology and employment.