Dr Pierre J. Verlinden is Managing Director of AMROCK, a PV technology consulting company, Adjunct Professor at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, and Chief Scientist at Yangtze Institute for Solar Technology, JiangYin, China.  Dr Verlinden has been working in the field of photovoltaics for 43 years and has published over 200 technical papers and contributed to a number of books.  From 2012 to 2018, Dr Verlinden served as Chief Scientist, Vice-President and Vice-Chair of the State Key Laboratory of PV Science and Technology at Trina Solar, China. Previously, he has managed the R&D department or served as Chief Scientist in several PV companies in USA and Australia, including SunPower, Origin Energy and Solar Systems. Dr Verlinden is the recipient of the 2016 IEEE William Cherry Award, and the 2019 Becquerel Prize, for his dedication over the past four decades at the forefront of PV technology and his overall leadership of key R&D organizations. Dr Verlinden is also recipient of the 2017 Chinese Government Friendship Award, the highest award given by China to foreigners.​