MAN0108HIL – Technology pathways for green iron and low-carbon steelmaking

Dr Gerald Wimmer
Vice President Converter Steelmaking, Primetals Technologies

Dr Gerald Wimmer is Vice President Converter Steelmaking at Primetals Technologies, where he leads work on green steelmaking, smelter development and advanced solutions for the steel industry. He has been with Primetals Technologies since 2012, previously serving as Head of Technology Converter Steelmaking, and earlier worked in mechatronics and simulations for converter steelmaking at Siemens VAI. Prior to that, he was a scientific researcher at Vienna University of Technology, Austria.

Gerald’s expertise spans the development, implementation and optimisation of new processes and products; customised plant revamps; and simulation-based verification and optimisation of steelmaking processes and equipment. Gerald holds a PhD in Mechanical Engineering and Simulations and a Master’s in International Business Administration.

Gerhard Terblanche
Business Development Manager, Metix (SMS Group)

Gerhard Terblanche graduated from the North-West University, South Africa, with a B. Eng (Chemical). He started his career at Xstrata Alloys (now Glencore) in 2001 as an Engineer-in-Training. Throughout his career, he has gained invaluable experience in all aspects of the smelting industry, having worked for Glencore, ASA Metals and Samancor Chrome. He has extensive knowledge and thorough understanding of ferrochrome production and related activities, ore beneficiation, wide pre-reduction and pre-oxidation process understanding, seasoned AC and DC furnace operations experience.

Professional and competent in all aspects of smelter management, Gerhard joined Metix in 2023 as the Metallurgical Product Manager and has since been appointed to lead the company’s business development department.

Dr Markus Dorndorf
Senior Business Development Director UPS, Tenova

Dr Markus Dorndorf is Senior Business Development Director UPS at Tenova, with extensive experience across iron and steelmaking, electric steelmaking, secondary metallurgy, vacuum degassing technologies and business development. Before taking up his current role in 2025, Markus served as Vice President Iron & Steelmaking at Tenova Germany, following senior roles in vacuum degassing technologies and product management/business development with Tenova. His former positions included R&D leadership in electric steelmaking and secondary metallurgy at Siemens VAI.

Markus started his academic career by studying mechanical engineering with a focus on mechatronics and automation technology at the Technical University of Freiberg and the Fraunhofer Institute and subsequently worked in research and project management at Helmut Schmidt University and at SMS Siemag as part of his PhD.

Andre Esterhuizen
General Manager – Sales and Marketing, Tenova Pyromet

Andre Esterhuizen is General Manager – Sales and Marketing at Tenova Pyromet, where he leads commercial strategy and client engagement for pyrometallurgical technologies. He has more than 20 years’ experience with Tenova, spanning sales, marketing, project engineering and design roles, with a focus on ferroalloys and metals processing.

Andre’s work draws on deep technical and market knowledge of smelting technologies, including high-capacity AC and DC furnaces, complete smelting plants, furnace preheating and related technologies for ferroalloys, platinum group metals and base metals. Before joining Tenova, he worked with Anglo Platinum as a Junior Engineer/Bursar. Andre holds a Bachelor of Engineering from the University of Johannesburg.

Dr Alessandro Della Rocca
Business Development Manager, Tenova

Dr Alessandro Della Rocca is Business Development Manager at Tenova, where he develops energy transition opportunities for the steel and metals industry, with a focus on decarbonisation, industrial feasibility and low-emissions technologies. His work spans feasibility studies, partnerships, techno-economic analysis and value propositions for metals processing technologies, including the decarbonisation of heating furnaces.

Alessandro has more than 15 years’ experience with Tenova across business development, R&D and engineering roles, including the development of low-NOx, high-efficiency combustion systems, digital solutions for industrial energy transition, and modelling and simulation for industrial applications. He is a Board Member of the Italian Section of The Combustion Institute and holds a PhD in Mathematical Models and Methods in Engineering and an MSc in Mechanical Engineering from Politecnico di Milano.

Simon Nitschke
Managing Director for Technologies, Hatch

As Managing Director for Technologies, Simon leads a group of approximately 300 professionals globally that focus on the development and commercialisation of technologies in support of each of Hatch’s business sectors. He has extensive experience in the engineering management of both greenfield project scope as well as modifications to existing plant equipment and assessment of alternative engineering options, focused within the furnace and smelting areas. His project work has included detailed thermal and mechanical design of furnace technology systems using 2D and 3D finite element analysis techniques in addition to experience in the recording, compilation and analysis of field measurements, preparation of cost estimates, and drafting of specifications for proposed design concepts.

Simon’s on-site experience includes long-term support engineering, technical supervision and management during equipment construction, pre-operational testing and commissioning in several metallurgical plant areas including smelter, and off-gas and acid plant facilities. This support has included the planning and execution of shut-down projects in addition to construction supervision of furnace rebuild work and assistance with commissioning and training during plant start-up.

Gus Nathan
Managing Director for Technologies, Hatch

Prof. Gus Nathan is a Professor in Mechanical Engineering at Adelaide University, a Fellow of the Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, the Combustion Institute and Engineers Australia, a recipient of a Discovery Outstanding Researcher Award from the Australian Research Council and an ATSE KH Sutherland medallist. He was the bid leader for and is now the Research Director of HILT CRC. This builds on his leadership of an ARENA-funded program to develop technology with strong potential to provide energy to the Bayer alumina process with concentrated solar thermal heat in partnership with Alcoa and Hatch, together with his co-leadership of program to develop innovative hydrogen production technologies within the Future Fuels Cooperative Research Centre.

Gus has led the development of six technology platforms, three of which are in ongoing commercial use and include the flame for Sydney Olympic Relay Torch, while three are currently being upscaled to decarbonise heavy industry. Gus has published more than 300 papers in international journals, 250 in peer reviewed conferences, 50 commissioned reports and 13 patents. He is also the founding chair of the High Temperature Minerals Processing (HiTeMP) Forum and co-founder of the Hydrogen Production Technologies (HyPT) forums, both of which attract some 170 delegates from more than 13 countries, drawn equally from industry, research and government agencies. He is also a joint founder of the international ISF Workshop for the Measurement and Computation of Reacting Flows With Carbon Nanoparticles, which engages some 100 researchers from around the world and is aligned with his own speciality in optical diagnostic methods to de-risk emerging technologies in hydrogen production and heavy industrial processes.