Prof. Dr.-Ing. Thomas Bauernhansl has held his current position as Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA in Stuttgart, Germany since September 2011. He also serves as Director of the Institute of Industrial Manufacturing and Management (IFF) at the University of Stuttgart. His scientific focus is on production organization, factory planning, energy efficient production, surface engineering, automation and process engineering. Bauernhansl studied mechanical engineering at RWTH Aachen University. After completing his PhD with honors, he embarked on his career with Freudenberg Sealing Technologies in 2003, advancing to become Director of the Technology Center at FST. Bauernhansl serves on diverse advisory boards and management committees in industry, associations, research and government. He is a member of the WGP, the German Academic Society for Production Engineering, as well as a member of the strategy committee of the German government’s “Platform Industrie 4.0” and Vice Chair of the Steering Committee Alliance Industrie 4.0 BW. He wrote and edited numerous books on topics spanning adaptability in manufacturing, Industrie 4.0 and production management.Prof. Dr.-Ing. Alexander Verl studied electrical engineering at the Friedrich-Alexander-University of Erlangen-Nürnberg and received his doctorate in control engineering from the Institute of Robotics and Mechantronics (DLR), Oberpfaffenhofen, in 1997. From 1997 to 2005 Prof. Verl worked as Founder and Managing Director of AMATEC Robotics GmbH. Since 2005 he is a Full Professor and Head of the Institute for Control Engineering of Machine Tools and Manufacturing Units (ISW) at the University of Stuttgart, Germany. Prof. Verl is a member of the Scientific Society for Production Technology (WGP) and an Associate Member of the International Academy for Production Engineering (CIRP) since 2006. Furthermore, he is a member of DFG Review Board on Production Technology and board member of the Scintific Society for Assembly and Industrial Robots (MHI e.V.).Prof. Dr.-Ing. Mathias Liewald MBA studied mechanical engineering at the University of Dortmund and subsequently worked there from 1985 to 1990 as a scientific assistant. His doctorate in 1990 was followed by his work in industry from 1991 to 2005 in various positions with well-known companies in the automotive industry (Mercedes-Benz AG, Wackenhut GmbH, ThyssenKrupp Nothelfer GmbH). In 2002 he also completed his MBA studies, which he began in 1999 at the Business School in Milton Keynes, GB. Since 2005 Prof. Liewald is the head of the Institute for Metal Forming Technology at the University of Stuttgart. Since the beginning of this activity he has dedicated himself to research in the fields of the extension of process limits of metal forming technologies, the modeling of the elasto-plastic behavior of metallic materials and the robustness of sheet metal and cold forging. He is also involved in numerous scientific organizations and is active as an expert witness.Prof. Dr.-Ing. Hans-Christian Möhring studied mechanical engineering and achieved the Dr.-Ing. degree at the Institute of Production Engineering and Machine Tools at the University of Hannover. He was awarded the Otto-Kienzle-Medal by the German Academic Association for Production Technology (WGP) and the Dr.-Jürgen-Ulderup-award as well as best and outstanding paper awards. In 2012 Prof. Möhring became professor at the Otto-von-Guericke-University Magdeburg and also associate member of the International Academy for Production Engineering (CIRP). Since 2017 he is the director of the Institute for Machine Tools (IfW) at the University of Stuttgart and also member of the WGP. In 2019 he became dean of the faculty Engineering Design, Production Engineering and Automotive Engineering of the University of Stuttgart.
