For Immediate Release

Global Innovator Chris Luebkeman of Arup Group to Speak on The Future of Design and Development at the 2007 British American Business Council’s Transatlantic Conference in Los Angeles
www.babc2007.com
            LOS ANGELES, Calif. – May 4, 2007 – With a title like Director for Global Foresight and Innovation at Arup Group, one of the world’s leading design firms, Chris Luebkeman’s keynote speech at the British American Business Council’s annual conference this month is sure to be far-reaching in scope.
            The need for companies to be “in league with the future” is a mantra of sorts for Luebkeman, who has lead more than 60 workshops worldwide that explore the way leading drivers of change affect business everywhere. That powerful message will be shared at one of the most important transatlantic business development and networking events of the year, organized by the BABC-LA. Registration is open to the public.
            The two-day conference called FUTURE NOW will bring together prominent business leaders from the United Kingdom and the United States to discuss how the digital revolution is changing the entertainment industry, joint efforts to combat climate change, the outlook for renewable resources and homeland security. The conference will be held in Los Angeles May 17-18 at the Marina Del Rey Marriott.    
            Educated as a geologist, structural engineer and architect, Luebkeman works with some of the world’s largest companies to develop scenarios to better understand the opportunities that change is creating for them in the built environment. He was listed among 10 future speculators and shapers who “will change the way we live” by Wallpaper, an authoritative and influential international design magazine.  
            Luebkeman encourages his staff, clients and group participants to challenge the “official” future and how it relates to their industry and to the global environment. He has served as an advisor to the UK Government’s Environmental and Physical Sciences Research Council, sits on the Innovative Manufacturing Centres Evaluation Panel and is guiding the Five-Yearly National Research Review. In 2004, he was named a Senior Fellow of the Design Futures Council, a global network of design community professionals exploring trends and opportunities in the industry.
            Luebkeman will deliver the keynote address at a luncheon on the second day of the conference, which is devoted to the issues of climate change, renewable resources and homeland security. Another representative from Arup, Chief Operating Officer of the Americas Region Andy Howard will speak earlier on Shaping a Better World by Design.
Other topics that will be addressed May 18 by prominent leaders in their fields include:
Friday, May 18, 2007
Shaping a Better World by Design - Arup
Andy Howard, Chief Operating Officer, Americas Region, Arup
James C. Hankla, President, Board of Harbor Commissioners – Long Beach
Chad Troutwine, Developer of a $260 Million Clean Energy Campus in Kansas City, MO and representative of the Biodiesel Board and the Renewal Fuels Association

A Race Against Time – Can Our Utilities Cope?
Pedro Pizarro, Sr. Vice President, Power Procurement Southern California Edison
Donald Furman, Sr. Vice President PPM Energy, Inc.
John England, Managing Partner, Global Energy Markets, Deloitte & Touche LLP
Edwin A. Guiles, Executive Vice President Corporate Development, Sempra Energy
Moderator: Chris Nicholson, Global Managing Partner, Energy & Resources, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu

Wind, Sun, Sea & Biofuels – the Future Now
Jonathan Briggs, Director, Carson Hydrogen Power, BP Alternative Energy
Des McGinnis, Head of Business Development, Ocean Power Deliver
Dr. Richard Hamilton, CEO, CERES
Michael Rosenfeld, Vice Consul, British Consulate
Professor Harry Atwater, CalTech
Moderator: John Goetz Esq., Partner, Jones Day

Over a Barrel – the Challenge of Defence, Energy and Homeland Security
Dr. Liam Fox, UK Shadow Secretary of State of Defence

Transatlantic Concerns from Climate Control, Renewable Resources to Homeland Security
Antonio R. Villaraigosa, Mayor of Los Angeles

Technology as a Solution to Effective Homeland Security
James H. Korris, Creative Technologies, Inc.
Jarrell Pair, USC, Institute for Creative Technology
Professor Detlof von Winterfeldt, USC, Director of Homeland Security Center
for Risk & Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events

Homeland Security and Protectionism
Kristin Verderame (VP, US Regulation & Government Relations, British Telecom)
David Marchick, Esq. (Partner, Covington & Burling LLP)
Audrea Golding Bitler, Esq., Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy, LLP

For more information on the conference:  www.babc2007.com
Working press registration for members of the media covering BABC 2007 is complimentary.  To register, go to http://www.babc2007.com/pressregister.asp
Media Contacts Only:        
Mary C. McGeachy
Rodheim Marketing Group
917-334-6813
mary@rodheim-marketing.com

Genevieve Anton
Rodheim Marketing Group
714-544-6503
genevieve@rodheim-marketing.com