VDMA broadens photonics expertise

14 Oct 2014

German Engineering Association appoints four new members to the steering committee of its Photonics Forum.

Steering committee: four new members

The Photonics Forum of the German Engineering Association (VDMA) has appointed four new experts in optical technologies to its steering committee, saying that the expansion provides it with a better focus on practical applications.

The new members are Bernd Lange from industrial equipment vendor LPKF Laser & Electronics, Armin Renneisen from laser specialist Rofin-Sinar, Eric Rüland from the machine vision specialist ISRA Vision, and Wolfgang Schmutz of manufacturing equipment supplier ACI.

Frankfurt-based VDMA, which made the changes at the latest half-yearly meeting of the Photonics Forum, said: “The expansion is designed to even better reflect the different photonics sub-sectors, including laser material processing, image processing and measuring technology, photovoltaic production resources, electronics production and micro-engineering.”

The switch is also designed to ensure a quorum for a representative committee, VDMA said.

The committee defines the work program and the strategic direction of the forum. “The aim is to bundle the interests of the various photonics sectors and to achieve a strong business and scientific-political positioning of the key technology of photonics in the public eye,” it added.

Gerhard Hein, head of the VDMA Photonics Forum, said in a VDMA statement: “We are pleased that the successful integration of additional experts provides the steering committee with an even broader technological basis. This enables us to map out our radius of activity with an even stronger practical focus.”

Set up in December 2013, the forum's role is to help integrate the various elements of photonics-enabled industries in Germany under the wider VDMA umbrella organization. It also publishes data on the size and economic impact of photonics technologies.

Existing members of the steering committee are: Rüdiger Hack (Laser 2000 GmbH), Susanne Heun (Merck), Michael Vergöhl (Fraunhofer IST), Thomas Rettich (Trumpf GmbH & Co. KG) and Jürgen Valentin (NanoFocus AG).