Steering Group

In 1989 Uwe Clausen successfully graduated in computer science at the University of Karlsruhe (TH). In July 1995 he finished his doctoral thesis on transportation network optimization at Dortmund University and thereby achieved the title of Dr.-Ing. (»sehr gut«).

In the meantime (December 1989 till July 1995) he worked at the Fraunhofer-Institute for Material Flow and Logistics in Dortmund, at first as a scientific employee and in 1992 he became head of the Traffic Logistics department, working in applied research in the area of distribution and network planning.

From August 1995 until July 1999 he worked at the »Deutsche Post AG«. He started out as project manager for logistics in a project team responsible for setting up the expansion of parcel business throughout Europe. In the beginning of 1997, he became the managing director of the subsidiary IPP Parcel Delivery GmbH in Austria. This brand-new business-to-business parcel system belongs to the euro express division of the »Deutsche Post world net«.

In July 1999 he joined Amazon.de. As operations director he was responsible for setting up the new Amazon Logistics Center in Bad Hersfeld. In the end of 1999 he became managing director of the subsidiary of Amazon Logistik GmbH including the distribution center and supply chain management. In September 2000 he was additionally promoted to European Operations Director at Amazon.com. In this position, he was responsible for the logistics of Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de and Amazon.fr.

In 2001 Dr.-Ing. Uwe Clausen became Managing Director of the Institute of Transport Logistics (until 2011/03: chair »Transport Systems and Logistics«) at Dortmund University as well as director of the Fraunhofer-Institute for Material Flow and Logistics in Dortmund. Furthermore, he manages the Fraunhofer Transport Alliance since its foundation in 2003.

Among other things, Professor Clausen is a representative of Fraunhofer within ECTRI European Conference of Transport Research Institutes (Member of the board from 2013 to 2016), and is a member of the scientific advisory board of the Bundesvereinigung Logistik (BVL) e.V. and Advisory Council Member of the Association of German Transportation companies (VDV).

His native language is German. He speaks English fluently. His knowledge of French has been acquired at school.

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Uwe Clausen is married and has a daughter.

In September 2002, Prof. Dr. Ing. Matthias Busse was appointed as Professor for Near-Net Shape Technology in the Faculty of Production Engineering at the University of Bremen. Shortly thereafter, in April 2003, he assumed in personal union his current position as the executive Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Advanced Materials IFAM, Shaping and Functional Materials, in Bremen.

Matthias Busse studied Mechanical Engineering at the University of Paderborn with a focus on manufacturing engineering and obtained his doctorate in the field of light metal casting in 1992. He started working in the industry in 1994, beginning in the Component Production Section of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles. While still in this position, Matthias Busse earned his post-doctoral qualification in the field of materials-related manufacturing in 1996. He then transferred to Volkswagen’s Group Research Division in 1997.

Matthias Busse is a member of numerous scientific advisory and supervisory boards. For several years, he has been the chairman of the board of directors of Forum ElektroMobilität and spokesman of the Fraunhofer System Research for Electromobility and of the Fraunhofer Project Centre Wolfsburg advocating Fraunhofer’s activities in the fields of electromobility and lightweight construction. Since 2010, he has been on the steering committee of the Fraunhofer Traffic and Transportation Alliance.

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Tobias Melz is the director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Structural Durability and System Reliability LBF as well as the head of the chair System Reliability, Adaptive Structures, and Machine Acoustics SAM within the faculty of Mechanical Engineering at the Technical University of Darmstadt.

Since 2001 he was working in several leading positions at the Fraunhofer LBF. During this time he was appointed as division director of smart structures, setting up a new technology incorporating smart functions within structures.

After studying mechanical engineering and lightweight design at the Technical University of Braunschweig, he was engaged as project engineer in smart structures at the German Aerospace Center. He was responsible for vibration and shape control projects in aerospace structures such as satellites, helicopters and fixed wing aircraft. He received his PhD at the Technical University of Darmstadt in January 2002 with his thesis on Active Vibration Control of Cryocoolers.

His research aims at smart structure systems and the functionalization of components as well as reliability and light weight plastics construction.

He is spokesman of the Fraunhofer Alliance of Adaptronics and elected reviewer for the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft DFG) as well as the German Federation of Industrial Research Associations (Arbeitsgemeinschaft industrieller Forschung AiF).

Prof. Dr. Eng. Bernd Valeske (born 1970) is Vice Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Non-Destructive Testing (IZFP) in Saarbrücken, Germany. He is also head of the Fraunhofer Innovation Cluster Automotive Quality Saar (AQS), a development centre for Saarland’s automotive and supply industry committed to quality and commercially viable production processes.

At the IZFP in Saarbrücken, some 240 scientists and engineers carry out research and development on issues relating to digitalized, quality-assured, efficient production and to the safe operation of technical systems using sensor and testing technologies (with monitoring during the production process or during actual operation). The IZFP is the main partner of the German Rail Association (DB) and other international partners (in China, Australia, Turkey) in the area of high-speed rail traffic, developing non-destructive testing systems and facilities for the safe operation and intelligent maintenance of high-speed trains (ICEs) and the track they run on. Another principal business field of the IZFP involves intelligent sensor technologies in the digital production of tomorrow, especially in partnership with German automotive manufacturers and suppliers, and production companies involved in machine construction.

Bernd Valeske has furthermore been appointed a regular professor at the Saarland University of Applied Sciences (htw saar) and is a member of its faculty of engineering where, alongside teaching, he also coordinates numerous international research projects. He has a chair for »Quality Control & Maintenance« which is focused on NDT Techniques (sensors, physics and inspection systems).

Professor Valeske is a member of many expert groups, associations and national and international working groups dealing with matters of production and quality assurance (Fraunhofer Transport Alliance, expert groups of the German Welding Society (DVS) and various other expert groups at the Association of German Engineers (VDI), the German Institute for Standardisation (DIN) etc.). He also heads up several national and European research projects and was a co-founder of the Research Campus for Materials, Processes and Qualification (caMPlusQ) at Saarland University.

Since a number of years, he is on the scientific and technical advisory panel of the various governments of the Federal State of Saarland and has contributed there to the development of Saarland’s regional and supra-regional innovation strategy. The emphasis in his expertise is on development perspectives in technology and science and recommendations derived therefrom for strategic positioning on next-generation technology fields with particular relevance for our greater region. In this context he is also committed to the transfer of technology from research to the economy and makes an active contribution there in several regional initiatives.

Prof. Dr. Valeske also has more general interests in topics involving the strengthening of the region of Saarland and issues and challenges concerning the future of technology and society.

In 2005, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Matthias Klingner became Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Transportation and Infrastructure Systems IVI, following his position as head of the department »Transport System Engineering«, which he held for four years (2001 – 2005).

Prior to this function, Prof. Klingner led the research unit »Hybrid Systems« at the Fraunhofer Institute for Information and Data Processing IITB (now called Fraunhofer Institute of Optronics, System Technologies and Image Exploitation IOSB) from 1991 to 2000.

Prof. Klingner studied Information Engineering in Germany (Technische Universität Dresden) and Russia (Nuclear Research Center Dubna) from 1974 until 1978 and received his PhD in 1983 at the Technische Universität Dresden on the topic »Theory of Reliability and Modelling of Complex Systems«. During and after his studies (1978 – 1990), he worked as Research Fellow at the Institute of Cybernetics and Information Processes of the Academy of Science.

In October 2013, Matthias Klingner also became honorary Professor of Systems Theory at the TU Bergakademie Freiberg / Faculty of Mechanical, Process and Energy Engineering.