Werdegang:
Apr. 1985 – May 1989: Department Head at Fraunhofer Institute for Laser technology/  Aachen
June 1989 – Jan. 1996: Managing Director of Thyssen Laser-Technik GmbH
since Feb. 1996: Director of Fraunhofer Institute for Laser technology/ Aachen and University Chair for Laser technology, RWTH Aachen University
July 2005 – Sept. 2008: Vice-president for Research, Structure and scientific youth at RWTH Aachen University
Jan. 2004 – Jan. 2008: President of Wissenschaftliche Gesellschaft Lasertechnik WLT e.V.
Jan. 2010: Chair of RWTH International Bord and Rector‘s Delegate for China
Jan. 2012 – Dec. 2012: President of the Laser Institute of America LIA
July 2013: Managing Director of RWTH Aachen CAMPUS Photonics Cluster
Dec. 2015 – Dec. 2018: Member of Fraunhofer Präsidium and Chair of Fraunhofer Group “Light and Surfaces”
June 2018: Guest Professor of Beijing University of Technology
Sept. 2019: Retirement
Since Oct. 2019: CEO of ETERNATECH GmbH, 100% personal owned Advisory and holding company

Forschungsschwerpunkte:
Laser Applications: Drilling, cutting, joining (welding, soldering), Surface treatment, Laser Additive Manufacturing (Laser Powder Bed Fusion LPBF, Laser Metal Deposition), Rapid Manufacturing, Polishing, Micro Technology, System Technology, Process Control, Photonics in Life Science, Direct Photonic Production.
Laser Development: Diode pumped Solid State Lasers, Diode Lasers, Pump Modules and Amplifiers for multi sectorial applications (Information- und Communication Technology, Display, EUV-Lithography, ps-, fs-Laser), coherent coupling, incoherent Superposition, Beam shaping in space and time, Ultrafast Lasers, Production processes for Diode Lasers.
Plasma Technology: Process Analysis, Sensors for Laser Processes, laser induced Plasmas, EUV-Sources for Lithography and Microscopy, XUV-Sources, laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS).

Mitgliedschaften und Funktionen:

• Member of the Board National Laser Centre of South Africa (2001 - 2010, since 2017)
• Member of the Review Board “Production Technology” of the DFG (2004 - 2011)
• Member of the Board EdgeWave GmbH (Chair)
• Member of the Board Arbeitskreis Lasertechnik AKL e. V. (dep. Chair)
• Member of the Board Laser Institute of America (LIA) (President 2012)
• Member of the European Technology Platform Board of Stakeholders PHOTONICS21
• Member of the RWTH-Aachen CAMPUS Board (Chair)
• Member of Investitionskomitee High-Tech Gründerfonds (2008 - 2017)
• Member of Wissenschaftliche Gesellschaft Lasertechnik e. V. WLT (President 2004 - 2008)
• Member of the North Rhine-Westfalian Academy of Science
• Chair of BMBF-Forschungscampus „Digital Photonic Production“ (2014 - 2029)
• Chairman of „Sonderforschungsbereich 1120: Precision Melt Engineering“ (since 2014)
• Initiator and Director of Digital Photonic Production Industrial Center (2013)
• Member of Advisory Board Laser-Region Aachen (since 2020)

Auszeichnungen und Ehrungen:

• Fraunhofer Prize (1987)
• Fellow Society of Manufacturing Engineers (1998)
• Fellow Laser Institute of America (LIA) (2006)
• Innovation Award of North Rhine-Westphalia (Additive Laser Manufacturing, 2011)
• Fellow of SPIE (2012)
• Teaching Prize of Aachen University Engineering (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017)
• Honorary Professor of Tsinghua University, Beijing (2014)
• Schawlow Award, Laser Institute of America LIA (2014)
• Fellow of IAPLE (2015)
• Peter M. Baker Leadership Award of the Laser Institute of America LIA (2017)
• Fellow of the Max Planck School of Photonics (02-2019 – 02-2021)

Ausgewählte Publikationen:

-          More than 600 publications since 1984
-          More than 200 scientific and Industrial mostly keynote Presentations
-          Approx. 40 patents
-          More than 10 books (author and editor), e.g. “Tailored Light” I+II (Laser course text books), Landoldt Börnstein “Laser Physics and Applications”
-          Editor in Chief of “Journal of Laser Applications JLA”
-          Teaching of Laser Course since 1996
-          Establishment of “Flipped Classroom” in 2016
-          youtube.com/playlist?list=PLH0EinUBR4-Y8WJQwBfcNn0cXCVYIqID-
-          More than 250 PhD-students completed