Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB
You joined Fraunhofer IGB as a new director in June 2025. How would you sum up your “early days” at the institute?
The institute is working on the right topics for the future – also with a view to challenges such as the climate crisis. Furthermore, we have a highly motivated team. I believe this provides us with a solid foundation for addressing current economic and political developments.
Fraunhofer IGB is not new territory for you. You were already head of department at the institute before you accepted the position at Reutlingen University in 2017. How has the institute changed since your time there?
I notice changes primarily at the personnel level – there are many new faces at the institute. In addition, we now have the Biberach branch office “Virus-Based Therapies.” And the coronavirus pandemic has clearly left its mark on our everyday work.
During your time in Reutlingen, you built up an extensive network. How would you like to expand this in Stuttgart – for example, within the framework of the new biofabrication center – in line with the IGB's objectives?
I see that bioengineering topics have become much more prominent in Stuttgart, both at the Fraunhofer Institute Center and at the university. With our strengths, we at IGB have a good chance of helping to shape the future of the location. Biofabrication, a topic close to my heart, fits in perfectly with this. My goal is to establish a strategic regional research hotspot here, also involving the local economy.
With your appointment as director of both Fraunhofer IGB and IGVP, both institutes are now once again under the same leadership. How do you intend to bring the institutes closer together again?
As a first step, we want to strengthen personal exchanges between the employees of both institutes again. In addition, I am planning joint events such as a colloquium on interfacial process engineering with contributions from both sides. In everyday research, I would like to promote more joint research proposals.
A number of scientists from your team in Reutlingen have followed you to Stuttgart. What special or new skills can the team contribute?
My team from Reutlingen can build on a lot of things here. I was able to lay the groundwork for biofabrication at IGB in the past. We can now build on that and provide new impetus. In addition to their expert knowledge, my team has the important ability to think outside the box. Above all, we are focusing on the food industry, such as the biotechnological production of meat and fish products.
What are your plans for the coming years? Which goals have you set for your institute?
The primary goal is, of course, to position the institute for a sustainable future within the Fraunhofer model. This means taking an even stronger focus on identifying topics that we can exploit from an economic standpoint. We also need solid early-stage research – that driving curiosity to find new topics that are relevant to our customers. To this end, I would also like to contribute more scientifically in the divisions of greentech solutions, chemical and biotechnological processes, innovative synthesis processes, as well as smart engineering and scale-up.
Which new markets would you like to open up for the institute?
I am convinced that we can operate across an even broader range of markets than we do now. In addition to our traditional markets, I see growth potential in the food industry, and the issue of supply security and resilience is also becoming increasingly important. The aim is to strengthen our local and national markets while opening up international markets more effectively.