On February 17, 2025, Prof Haefner, the current managing director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT, will assume his new role as a member of the board for research and transfer at the Fraunhofer Society. At the same time Dr Stollenwerk will take over as interim managing director of the insitute.

Since November 2019, Prof Haefner has led the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT in Aachen and is an internationally recognized laser physicist. In this role, he has significantly contributed to the modernization and advancement of the institute as a leading organization in applied laser technology.

Shortly after assuming office, Prof. Haefner initiated the comprehensive structural and strategic process ‘Future Proofing ILT’, which positioned the institute for new research topics and applications. This initiative established strategic research fields in quantum technology, secondary sources, sustainable digital photonic production, as well as nuclear fusion and power plant technologies.

As Prof Haefner moves to the society board, Dr Jochen Stollenwerk, the current deputy director, will assume interim management of the ILT effective 17 February 2025.

Dr. Jochen Stollenwerk is a physicist who earned his doctorate in 2001 at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at RWTH Aachen University. After moving to Trumpf Laser Marking Systems, he returned to Aachen in 2004 and played a key role in establishing the RWTH chair of optical systems technology TOS, where he served as senior chief engineer until the beginning of 2024. At the same time, he held various positions at the Fraunhofer ILT. Since 2020, he has been working on Prof Haefner’s staff and was responsible for implementing the corporate strategy at the ILT before he was appointed deputy director of the institute in March 2024. In his new role, he will further advance the mission of a technologically leading and future-oriented research institute.