Corina Pacher is Education Project Manager at the RIC Leoben. At RIC, she is mainly responsible for 1) project management of European projects, 2) support in the development and expansion of further education offers of the RIC Education Competence Center, and 3) development of didactic concepts. She completed her PhD with distinction in further education at the University of Graz in 2024. During and after her studies, she gained work experience, e.g., as the head of educational programs and as Education Project Manager at Graz University of Technology. She mainly focuses on raising awareness for engineering education 5.0 by connecting research, education, and society.
Scarlett finished her magistra iuris at the Karl-Franzens University in Graz. After graduating she was able to build up her skills and in-depth expertise at the Leoben Regional Court. There, Scarlett was also able to test and deepen her knowledge. After her year in court, Scarlett worked for an international company in Leoben, where she was able to contribute her knowledge and gain many years of professional experience.
Since April 2024 she can now apply her in-depth knowledge at the Resources Innovation Center. In addition to project controlling, her areas of responsibility include personnel and financial management. Scarlett enjoys working on projects together with her colleagues. In addition to the pleasant and friendly working atmosphere, Scarlett particularly appreciates the wide range of tasks working at RIC.
We are very glad that Robert Obenaus-Emler was officially appointed Head of the Resources Innovation Center by the Rectorate of the Montanuniversität Leoben on 14 March 2024.
At the same time, the RIC Leoben was confirmed as one of the seven “Clusters of Excellence” at the research centre of the University.
End of March 2018, Hanno Bertignoll started as Project Manager at the RIC Leoben. His activities include coordination, application and development of EIT RM projects, as well as projects covering other raw material relevant topics. He serves as the interface between the RIC Leoben, the university institutes and the EIT RM, and networks to connect relevant partners. Additionally, he supports selected projects as project expert and coordinates the RIC marketing activities. Hanno is a graduated mining engineer with long-time industry experience, working in various roles in business development, sales and marketing for mining and recycling equipment manufacturers.
Educated at the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences (study of environment and bioresource management, in the faculty of climate), the research topic of sustainable production and consumption brought Alex to Leoben. Due to his expertise in environmental footprints and holistic life cycle assessment, he leads SDG 12 (sustainable production and consumption) in the Austria-wide sustainability flagship project UniNEtZ, where he also acts as elected committee chair. His core area of interest is to capture, describe and evaluate sustainability in a holistic way.
In his spare time Alex is currently writing his PhD thesis: “Sustainability of products, the great unknown.”
A holistic assessment of steel should provide transparency about the impact of the product and help decision makers to make sustainable decisions.
Anna is a Research and Project Manager at the RIC Leoben. Her field of activity includes networking, project applications and developments within the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals. Anna Meyer represents the Montanuniversität Leoben and the RIC Leoben in the Alliance of Sustainable Universities in Austria and the climate change Center Austria. Her task there is to transform Austrian universities to more sustainability, together with other alliance universities. She transfers the exchange of experience and the results of this activity to Montanuniversität Leoben. In addition, she supports the cooperation with the EIT RM partners in Eastern and South-Eastern Europe.
Anna Meyer is currently working on her PhD with the working title: “Writing for future generations – A corpus and critical discourse analysis of sustainability and its communication in the raw material sector”.
Manuel joined RIC Leoben in January 2019. He successfully manages the MiReBooks project, “Mixed Reality Handbooks for Mining Education”, a 14 partner pan-European education project, with a budget of 3 Mio EUR. The project is funded by EIT RawMaterials Academy and tackles current needs and gaps in mining education regarding digitalisation of contents and concepts.
Manuel obtained an MSc in mining engineering from León Mining University, Spain. After graduating from university he worked in the oil and gas service industry for many years.
He opted for Leoben because he felt like it was time to return to his mining roots.
Manuel is currently preparing his PhD in the area of a digital teaching platform.
Marinella is the Climate Portfolio Manager and Researcher at RIC Leoben, coordinating the expansion and management of the climate change projects portfolio. The aim of these climate actions is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and dealing with climate change effects mainly in relation to raw material circularity but also plastics, waste and energy.
She obtained an International PhD in Innovation Science and Technology devoted to Systems and Methods for Environmental Protection at the University of Cagliari (Italy) in collaboration with the University of Auckland (New Zealand). She worked as a member of the steering group of the non-profit organization INORE (International Network on Offshore Renewable Energy) managing projects, fundraising, organizing international networking events and conferences for two years. She is also specialized in renewable energy obtaining a Master of Science in Marine Renewable Energy at Plymouth University (UK), where she gained experience on energy resources, stakeholders’ engagement and sustainability.
Mariaelena joined RIC Leoben in October 2019, as the Education Portfolio Manager. She holds a Master degree in Business Ethics and Social Responsibility. She worked as a Senior Lecturer at the Hanze University of Applied Sciences (NL) for 17 years specialising in the Management discipline, also with a focus on cultural competences through the development and involvement in learning labs. Currently, her focus is on further developing the RIC Education Competence Center and managing the team’s portfolio of EIT and Erasmus projects. One the main responsibilities is to (co)create and maintain partnerships and projects that implement new teaching & learning pathways that foster a trans-disciplinary approach in connecting research, education, business and society for the future of T-shaped raw material engineers.
Robert leads our activities in the area of research, development and innovation management with a focus on direct research cooperation with industry.
The coordination of individual chairs within the university is essential when dealing with questions from industrial partners to combine the expert knowledge of all relevant disciplines of the MUL in the highest quality.
Currently, the focus is on supporting the quickest and most environmentally compatible implementation towards a commercial scale of the sustainable production of hydrogen and carbon, the efficient use of waste and residual materials with a low ecological footprint, the evaluation and development of technologies in the field of CO2 capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS), the further development of sustainable building materials, and the increased integration of life cycle analyses already in the phase of developing new technical processes on a laboratory scale.
Robert studied rock metallurgy in Leoben, with stays abroad at the Colorado School of Mines (USA) as well as the Ecole Polytechnique de Montréal and McGill University (Canada) and was already active in industry-related research projects during his studies.
Anja Vujaković joined RIC Leoben in September 2021 as Education Project Manager. She studied at the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna and the Vienna University of Technology and will soon obtain her title as MSc in Environmental Technology and International Affairs. Anja has collected over 5 years of working experience in the field of international communication and sustainable development. She worked in the Environment Department of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization where she was tasked with linking the ‘Minamata Convention on Mercury’ to the Sustainable Development Goals and Circular Economy. Before joining the Education Team at RIC Leoben, she spent one year at the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency where she was responsible for the drafting of daily reports to the Director General on a variety of topics from the field of nuclear science and security.