Darmstadt/Munich, April 2024
On April 9, 2024, members convened at the MOC Munich for the pivotal Member General Assembly, setting the stage for an impactful precursor to the prostep ivip Symposium. The assembly witnessed the reconfirmation of the existing executive team, highlighting a steadfast commitment to continuity and excellence within the prostep ivip community.
Leading the charge, Dr. Henrik Weimer, serving as the Speaker of the Board of prostep ivip from Airbus, retained his position, affirming his dedication to advancing collaborative innovation within the industry. Alongside him, a distinguished panel of industry leaders was reaffirmed: Jens Poggenburg (AVL), Philipp Wibbing (UNITY), Prof. Dr. Rainer Stark (TU Berlin), Thomas Kamla (Volkswagen) and Tomohiko Adachi (Mazda Motor Corporation). Their re-election underscores a collective resolve to uphold prostep ivip's mission of driving forward digital transformation and fostering synergistic partnerships across the automotive, aerospace, science and manufacturing sectors.
Dr. Henrik Weimer has been an integral member of the board of the prostep ivip Association since April 2018, assuming the role of Chairman of the Board in 2020. Currently serving as the Director of Digital Engineering at Airbus, Dr. Weimer leads a portfolio of initiatives to achieve business excellence in product development through process optimization and digital transformation.
His responsibilities encompass overseeing the digital capabilities of Airbus Commercial Aircraft’s engineering. His organization supports and maintains the tools used by Airbus’ global engineering and supplier network, comprising over 36,000 individuals who are engaged in the design, development, certification, and continued airworthiness of all commercial aircraft products and services. His role covers the entire product lifecycle, from product requirements and architecture, collaborative systems engineering tools, detailed design and design integration, product configuration management, to manufacturing engineering and in-service engineering for repairs and upgrades.
Dr. Weimer brings over 25 years of international industry experience to his role.
He earned his Ph.D. in Computer Science from Rice University and holds a Master of Science degree in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering from the Technical University of Kaiserslautern. His professional background includes significant positions in the automotive industry with Mercedes-Benz and in oil and gas exploration with Schlumberger.
A proponent of industrial collaboration, Dr. Weimer co-founded the Aerospace & Defense PLM Action Group (www.ad-pag.com) and actively contributes to the Industrial Advisory Board of the German Scientific Society for Product Development (www.WiGeP.de).
Dr. Weimer’s extensive expertise and leadership in digital engineering and product lifecycle management continue to drive innovation and efficiency in the aerospace industry.
After having earned the doctor degree in advanced CAD technology and a career of fourteen years in the global automotive industry, Prof. Dr. Rainer Stark has taken on the position as Professor of the chair Industrial Information Technology at the Technical University Berlin in 2008. Since then he serves as Head of the department Industrial Information Technology in the faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Transport Systems of TU Berlin. In addition he served as Director of the Virtual Product Creation division at the Fraunhofer IPK (Institute for Production Systems and Design Technology) in Berlin from 2008 until the end of 2021.
The research work of his chair at Technical University of Berlin includes, besides the innovative technologies of digital modeling and engineering in product lifecycle management (PLM) and virtual product creation (VPE), in particular the new development capabilities in the field of self-learning systems, cyber-physical systems, smart services and digital twin solutions taking into account new key competencies like artificial intelligence, IoT and model-based systems engineering.
Prof. Stark is a member of the German Academy of Science & Engineering (acatech), the research council of the platform Industrie 4.0, the Scientific Society for Product Development (Wissenschaftliche Gesellschaft für Produktentwicklung (WiGeP), and the International Academy for Production Engineering (CIRP).
The expanded board will also strengthen the association’s international expansion. Tomohiko Adachi of Mazda Motor Corp. is taking on the task of boosting the association's international profile and attracting new cooperation partners. He will deal with quality assurance issues at board level and is also chairman of JAMBE’s (Japan Automotive Model-Based Engineering Center) planning committee. "I’m proud that we are moving our relationship to a new level and that I can help shape the future of the association," Adachi says.
Poggenburg brings with him a great deal of expertise in the areas practical application of model-based development and digitalization. The growing proportion of software and electronics in smart products means that these areas are becoming increasingly important to the association's members. "I decided to spend time working on the association’s board because the need for collaboration in disruptive transformation is changing and growing significantly," said Poggenburg. "I want to be actively involved in shaping the association's new strategy and achieving concrete results for members."
To ensure that greater focus can be placed new strategic topics, the annual general meeting also confirmed the board's proposal to add two special mandates holders to the ranks of the board members. Thomas Kamla, who as senior director reports directly to Volkswagen's executive board member responsible for development, will ensure that the role the association plays in the fields of systems engineering and software in the product receives greater attention. As Kamla points out: "The automotive industry is being driven to an increasing extent by software; it is no longer alone, but rather part of a wider ecosystem. That's why collaboration is becoming increasingly complex."
As a member of the Management Board at UNITY, Philipp Wibbing is responsible for business with a focus on digitalisation and engineering. His consulting focus lies in the areas of digitalisation, systems engineering, PLM, CIO strategy, business model innovation, agile management and artificial intelligence. He also brings his expertise in the automotive industry to other sectors and is responsible for the healthcare business at UNITY.
Philipp Wibbing studied business informatics at the University of Paderborn and has been working at UNITY since 2005. In 2012, he took over responsibility for the business unit. From 2016 to 2019, he also helped build up UNITY's business in China. Philipp Wibbing has been a member of the board of the prostep ivip association since 2018 and represents member group 2. In his role on the board, he is responsible in particular for the realisation of the annual prostep ivip symposium. He is also co-author of the book Chefsache IT. Since July 2024, Philipp Wibbing has also been a member of the UNITY Executive Board after many years as a partner.
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