Prof. Dr.-Ing. Ingomar Kelbassa
Institute Director
As director of the Fraunhofer IAPT, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Kelbassa has a clear goal: to eliminate the problems that the industry is facing and, in the long term, to ensure that 3D printing is used on a large industrial scale.
Kelbassa is not an entirely new face in the Fraunhofer world: He earned his doctorate at the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT in Aachen in 2006 and remained at the institute as a deputy director until 2016. At the same time, he served as deputy head of the Chair of Laser Technology LLT at RWTH Aachen University.
Research and development remained the central topic area for the multiple award-winning mechanical engineer during the following years: At Siemens AG, he led the manufacturing technology development of the "Gas and Power" division, among other things. He was also in charge of the Group's "Company Core Technology Additive Manufacturing" across all business units. He was also responsible for the "Werner-von-Siemens Centre for Industry and Science" research campus in Berlin. Most recently, he was Managing Director of the Siemens subsidiary Weiss Spindeltechnologie, specializing in the development and production of high-precision motor spindle units.
Ingomar Kelbassa is certain: "The exchange between industry and research is the core of any application-oriented research and development. Without a product-driven industry and without demand-oriented research and development based on it, no value creation is possible in the medium term, in my view. We as the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft thus contribute to the national economy and thus to our prosperity." As institute director at Fraunhofer IAPT, he wants to further intensify this exchange and further industrialize Additive Manufacturing (AM) off the beaten track.
