00:08I'm in the company of Dr. Rob Stephen. Welcome.
00:11Thank you very much.
00:12First of all, congrats for your Seagree Medal. What does this medal represent for you?
00:18Well, it is for me a great honor. It is the highest Seagree Award.
00:24And it is, as I said when I was president, I said for those who get the medal, you almost
00:32need to walk on water.
00:33I don't think I'm anywhere near there. So for me, it was an enormous honor to receive this medal,
00:41obviously nominated from my colleagues.
00:44What does Seagree represent for you along your life, professional and personal life?
00:51Oh, well, I think Seagree is one of the best training areas ever.
00:55I think that if I wasn't involved in Seagree, I wouldn't have done one tenth of what I achieved in
01:01my career technically and so on.
01:03And I often say that without Seagree, you're almost operating blind.
01:08You have no vision to find out where the solutions are to your problems. You have no help.
01:16And Seagree opens a world of knowledge to you. So you can then quite easily contact your colleagues, your network
01:24and find out the solutions or bounce ideas of your Seagree community.
01:29How important is it to be to take part of events in Paris like this Paris session this year?
01:38And maybe what could you say to the young generation to come and join?
01:42Yes, I think the Seagree session is, of course, very important, but it is the tip of the iceberg for
01:52as far as Seagree is concerned.
01:54The working groups and involvement in development of brochures is really where you learn.
02:02In my case, I did my master's and I was quite young at about 30, early 30s.
02:10And I went to the working group and sitting around the table was everybody that I had referenced in my
02:16thesis.
02:17So to actually sit and talk to them was an absolute honor.
02:21It was something which I never expected.
02:23And I found that they were quite approachable and could assist me in my queries and my studies.
02:30And from there, I think if the young people wish to get involved, the best way is through working groups
02:38and attend study committee meetings, write papers, join contributions to journals and technical brochures.
02:46And then, of course, come to Seagree and make contributions to the papers and the questions.
02:52Don't just sit in the audience and listen. It is part of participation.
02:57And the Seagree community is a great one to assist you in your development and expansion of your technical knowledge.
03:05Regarding your own experience with Seagree, do you feel nowadays that Seagree can be a game changer in the energy
03:13transition?
03:13Oh, yes. If there's any organization in the world that can do that, it's Seagree.
03:20The benefit of Seagree is that it is open.
03:23So you get free exchange of information.
03:26With a free exchange of information, you get the maximum information relating to technical knowledge.
03:32So any developments, any new developments I immediately picked up, ideas are shared and solutions are found.
03:41As I said, if you go to any study committee, for example, on overhead lines or cables, someone in that
03:48room has a solution to your problem.
03:50If they haven't got it, they are working on it. And you just need to find that person and work
03:55with them to find the solution.
03:56So the energy transition, I think, will be handled. I think Seagree will be the forefront organization to solve those
04:05issues.
04:05Thank you. Thank you, sir, for coming by.
04:09Thank you so much.
