Prof. Manfred Hauswirth becomes new Executive Director of Fraunhofer FOKUS

Press Release /

The Senior Vice President of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft appointed Prof. Dr. Manfred Hauswirth to Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Open Communications Systems FOKUS in Berlin. Hauswirth assumed his new post on October 1, 2014. Concurrently, he will take over the professorship in "distributed open systems" at the Technical University of Berlin. Prof. Dr. Popescu-Zeletin retired from his position as Executive Director of Fraunhofer FOKUS effective September 30, 2014.

© Matthias Heyde/ Fraunhofer FOKUS
Prof. Manfred Hauswirth assumes the executive directorship of Fraunhofer FOKUS in Berlin on October 1, 2014.

"Over the past few years, Fraunhofer FOKUS has established itself as the IT institution at the interface between industry and politics. We have found an expert of proven international standing in Professor Hauswirth, one who will strengthen the technological profile of the institute and advance the issue of critical infrastructures for Smart Cities. We also wish to express our sincerest gratitude to Prof. Popescu-Zeletin for his tremendous commitment and his successful work at Fraunhofer," stated Prof. Dr. Reimund Neugebauer, President of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft.

Deputy Director of one of the largest web research institution in the world

Hauswirth previously served as Deputy Director of the Digital Enterprise Research Institute (DERI) in Galway, Ireland. DERI is one of the world's largest web research institutions; the members of its Advisory Board include one of the founders of the World Wide Web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee. In addition to his position at DERI, Hauswirth also held a professorship at the National University of Ireland. In his research work, the Austrian engages particularly with the Internet of things, linked data, semantic transmitter networks, and distributed information systems.

Hauswirth obtained his graduate degree in engineering (Dipl.-Ing.) and his doctoral degree in technical sciences from the Vienna University of Technology. From January 2002 until September 2006, he served as Senior Researcher at the École Polytechnique Fédéral de Lausanne (EPFL). "I look forward to my new duties at Fraunhofer FOKUS and at the TU Berlin. With FOKUS, Berlin is home to one of the world's most innovative and reputable research centers in telecommunications. I hope that I can continue to build upon this renown and excellence," said Hauswirth.

New field: "data analytics"

"In the future, reliable infrastructures will be of vital importance to city life. Fraunhofer FOKUS is already superbly positioned in the field of critical infrastructures, both in areas of application – like traffic or energy – as well as in cross-sectional technologies, like communications. I would like to strengthen the technological excellence of the institute and enhance the data analytics segment, since applications-specific distribution, storage and analysis of large data volumes is one of the most important challenges to urban infrastructures," Hauswirth continued.

Fraunhofer FOKUS develops solutions for the communications systems of the future. The Berlin-based institute not only studies the contribution that communications networks have to make in order to create a more comfortable and secure coexistence, but also addresses important challenges to social progress. Above all, this includes access to data, the sustainable and economically feasible handling of resources, networked mobility, and a modern public administration that is also accessible online and operates efficiently.