Fraunhofer Institute for Microstructure of Materials and Systems IMWS
Fraunhofer Institute for Microstructure of Materials and Systems IMWS

Director

Professor Matthias Petzold

Prof. Dr. Matthias Petzold, Institutsleiter Fraunhofer IMWS
© Fraunhofer IMWS

Prof. Dr. Matthias Petzold, Director

Professor Matthias Petzold studied physics at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg in Halle (Saale) and received his doctorate in 1987. Following his work at the university and two years of working in the ceramics industry, in 1991 he switched to the Fraunhofer Institute for Material Mechanics which was being set up in Halle and was the predecessor institute of the Fraunhofer IMWS.

Since its foundation in 1992 as a field office, through his diverse activities in material research and diagnostics of microelectronics components, the strength and reliability of silicon microsystems and the study of reaction mechanisms of dental products, he made a significant contribution to the setting up and the successful scientific and economic development of the  Fraunhofer Institute for Microstructure of Materials and Systems IMWS.

In 2003, Matthias Petzold was appointed Deputy Director of the Institute. He also heads the »Components of Microelectronics and Microsystem Engineering« business unit and in 2007 was appointed Honorary Professor of Microsystem Engineering of the Merseburg University of Applied Sciences. Matthias Petzold is the author and co-author of more than 100 publications in magazines and conference proceedings and has given various talks as a guest of international conferences. He also works as a reviewer for various international trade magazines.

PD Dr. Christian Growitsch

© Fraunhofer IMWS

PD Dr. Christian Growitsch

Dr. Christian Growitsch has been the acting Institute Director of the Fraunhofer IMWS since January 2018. Since July 2017, he has led the Center for Economics of Materials CEM in Halle (Saale). The CEM is a joint research institution from the Fraunhofer Institute for Microstructure of Materials and Systems IMWS and Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU), and advises the fields of industry and politics on technical and economic issues relating to the structural shift toward a sustainable industrial society.

Christian Growitsch is a Research Fellow in the Energy Policy Research Group at the University of Cambridge, a Senior Research Fellow in the Institute of Energy Economics at the University of Cologne (EWI), and a visiting scholar at the University of Hamburg. From September 2014 to September 2015, he was the Director and Management Spokesperson of Hamburgisches WeltWirtschaftsInstitut (HWWI). Since October 2015, Christian Growitsch has also taught economics in the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences at the University of Hamburg. From 2010 until August 2014, he was the Director of Application Research and member of the Management Board at EWI, as well as a private economics lecturer in the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences at the University of Cologne.

The economist studied economics and social science at the Universities of Hamburg and Lüneburg, and completed his doctorate at the Universities of Lüneburg and Cambridge. In May 2010, he completed his postdoctoral Habilitation degree at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, followed by a transfer of his Habilitation to the University of Cologne in June 2012. His research and politico-economic consulting work falls within the field of applied microeconomics; among other things, he extensively studies the economics of energy and infrastructure.