On March 23, 2022, at the board meeting of the VDI Society for Materials Engineering (GME), the board members elected Prof. Dr. Christian Hopmann as the new chairman. He succeeds Prof. Dr. Jörg Eßlinger (Director Materials at MTU Aero Engines), who held the chair for two terms and could not be re-elected.
“Whether it’s the energy transition, sustainable mobility, the circular economy or supplying the world’s growing population with food and clean water — materials innovations hold the key to mastering the major challenges facing society. The VDI Society Materials Engineering places this hidden champion at the center of its activities in order to make the world more sustainable and resilient through new materials and a new approach to materials.”
- Prof. Dr. Christian Hopmann
Hopmann has been head of the Institute for Plastics Processing (IKV) in Industry and Trade at RWTH Aachen University since April 2011. He also holds the Chair of Plastics Processing at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at RWTH Aachen University and is managing director of the institute’s sponsors’ association. Since 2014, Hopmann has been Vice Dean for Budget and Finance of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at RWTH Aachen University.
Hopmann studied mechanical engineering with a specialization in plastics technology at RWTH Aachen University and received his doctorate in 2000 with a thesis on ceramic injection molding. Together with Univ. Prof. Dr.-Ing. Christian Brecher, holder of the Chair of Machine Tools at the WZL of RWTH Aachen, he founded the Aachen Center for Integrative Lightweight Construction, AZL, in January 2012. Hopmann was awarded the Innovation Prize of the state of NRW in March 2014. Since October 2017, he has held a visiting professorship at the University of Chemical Technology in Beijing.
