Prof. Dr. Reinhart Poprawe holds M. A. in Physics from California State University (Fresno, 1977). After completion of his diploma and Ph.D. in Physics (Darmstadt 1984), he joined the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology in Aachen, where he began working as a head of the department "Laser Oriented Process Development." From 1988 to 1996, he served as a managing director of Thyssen Laser Technik GmbH in Aachen. Since then, he has been a managing director of the Fraunhofer ILT and holds the University Chair for Laser Technology at the RWTH Aachen. Prof. Constantin Haefner is Managing Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT since 2019 and Full Professor of Laser Technology at the renowned RWTH Aachen University. Previously, Haefner was Director of the Advanced Photon Technologies Program at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in the United States of America. There, he led the development and deployment of the world's most powerful, diode pumped petawatt laser system (HAPLS) and, as Chief Scientist, oversaw the development and construction of the world's most energetic petawatt laser system (ARC). Haefner has received several awards, including Fellow of the Optical Society of America for the development of next-generation high average power petawatt laser systems, the Federal Laboratory Consortium (FLC) Tech Transfer Award for outstanding commercialization success, and the R&D100 Innovation Award. He graduated in solid state physics from the University of Konstanz in 1999 and received his PhD from the University of Heidelberg in 2003.Dr Rolf Wester holds a Diploma in Physics from the Technical University of Darmstadt (Germany 1983) and a PhD in Physics from RWTH Aachen University in 1987. In the same year he moved to the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology, where he worked until his retirement in 2022. His work focused on the physical basics of laser technology, especially optics. He developed numerical simulationtools in the field of laser physics/wave optics and freeform optics.
