The members of the Executive Committee of the AiF German Federation of Industrial Research Associations "Otto von Guericke" e.V. elected Dr.-Ing. Klaus Nassenstein (58) as the new and thus 14th President of the AiF SME Research and Transfer Network at their meeting on January 18, 2023. Nassenstein succeeds Professor Sebastian Bauer, whose term of office ended as scheduled.
The new AiF President is Managing Director and co-owner of GTV Automotive GmbH in Luckenbach in the Westerwald. The core competence of the medium-sized company is the design and manufacture of turnkey coating systems for thermal spraying and laser cladding.
Nassenstein studied mechanical engineering and production technology at the Technical University of Dortmund. In 1996, he was awarded the first DVS sponsorship prize for outstanding achievements in the field of thermal spraying and received his doctorate a year later in Dortmund. He has worked at GTV for 27 years, initially as Head of Research and Development, later as an authorized signatory and since 2005 as Managing Director and co-owner (50 percent).
"I have been passionate about applied research and development since I started my career and it has shaped my commitment as an entrepreneur and scientist. So it is obvious that the AiF and I very soon became 'partners'," explains Nassenstein with a wink, alluding to the fact that he already contributed his expertise in the early 1990s as an industry representative on the "Thermal Coating and Oxyfuel Technology" technical committee of the AiF Research Association for Welding and Allied Processes of the DVS.
Through his participation in numerous project support committees of IGF projects, he also has deep insights into the AiF network and its impact. "The structure of the AiF enables the success of the globally unique Industrial Collective Research (IGF), which I experience every day in my entrepreneurial activities as a representative of German SMEs," he is convinced. "I am therefore delighted to be able to actively shape the further development and positioning of the AiF in a rapidly changing environment as AiF President in the future." And he jokingly adds: "I hope I won't face a bigger challenge than the new Minister of Defense."
At the Executive Committee meeting, Thomas Reiche, Managing Director of FEhS-Institut für Baustoff-Forschung e.V., Duisburg, was also elected Vice President and Dr.-Ing. Peter Dültgen, Managing Director of Forschungsvereinigung Werkzeuge und Werkstoffe e.V. (FGW), Remscheid, was elected Treasurer.
