Congress

Dr. Detlef Zerfowski is Vice President Engineering Excellence at ETAS GmbH

Mr. Zerfowski joined Robert Bosch GmbH after completing his doctorate in computer science at the TH Karlsruhe in the field of medical signal processing. His 25 years of experience in the automotive industry includes software development in various application areas, including car body technology, electric drives, braking systems, parking assistance systems as well as software development processes and tools.

From 2009 to 2015, Mr. Zerfowski worked for Bosch/ETAS abroad, in particular as Managing Director of ETAS Automotive India Pvt. Ltd. in India. From 2015 to 2018, Mr. Zerfowski worked in the Bosch Corporate Technology Department and was responsible for Bosch's software strategies in the automotive sector.

Since 2018, he has been with the wholly owned Bosch subsidiary ETAS GmbH, where he is responsible for engineering excellence in all areas of software development. In this role, he is driving the transformation in the area of software-defined vehicles (SDV) both within the Bosch Group and in industry, the European Union and beyond.

Dr. Jonas Neckenich is Team Leader Wire Harness DMU & Tools at Mercedes-Benz AG

Dr. Jonas Neckenich completed his master's degree in mechanical engineering at KIT and started his industrial doctorate in 2014 on the topic of "3D Master Wire Harness" in cooperation with Saarland University and the then Daimler AG. After completing his doctorate in 2017, he joined Daimler AG as an internal employee. In the following years, he was responsible for the 3D master, the introduction of the KBL 2.4 data format and the further development of Siemens NX and made a significant contribution to the standardization and digitalization of the wire harness. Since 2022, Dr. Neckenich has headed the Wire Harness DMU & Tools team at Mercedes-Benz AG, where he is responsible for digitalization approaches and supplier enabling in geometric validation, simulation and CAD tool development for wire harnesses.

Patrick Becker is a quality engineer for digital validation, testing and commissioning processes at Mercedes-Benz AG

After completing his training as an electronics technician for devices and systems and his technical college entrance qualification, Patrick Becker began his studies in electrical engineering at the DHBW Karlsruhe in 2013. This was followed by a master's degree in electrical engineering at Offenburg University of Applied Sciences. During his studies, he gained practical experience at Schaeffler-LuK and through his master's thesis at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Rastatt. After graduating in 2018, he took up a position as a development engineer in the technology factory at Mercedes-Benz, where he worked on projects for the digitalization of EE vehicle commissioning. Since 2022, he has been working as a project manager and is responsible for the introduction of a digitalization tool in all Mercedes-Benz production plants worldwide.

Uwe Prüfer is Head of Development at smartCable GmbH.

Uwe Prüfer studied computer science at the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen/Nuremberg from 1991 to 1997 and graduated with a degree in computer science. Between 1997 and 2011, he gained extensive experience as a system analyst and software developer in the CAD environment at Ingenieurbüro Dr. Weber. Since 2011, he has been head of the development department at smartCable GmbH, where he is responsible for the V5H, MS_Cable and preDesign tools, among others. He also assumes project responsibility for smartCable as part of research projects such as HiBord and AnRox

Florian Müller is Senior Business Consultant at msg for automotive GmbH.

Florian Müller is a Senior Business Consultant at msg for automotive GmbH in the area of topic development and business development. He drives the further development of data ecosystems, particularly with regard to Catena-X, both internally and externally with project partners. In this role, Florian was not only responsible for the project to connect the Asset Administration Shell to Catena-X on the msg side, but was also a member of the Catena-X Industry Core Committee. He is currently supporting the Catena-X Expert Group "Activation Supplier Network" and is also working on the product development of an AI-based testing tool for msg. Florian studied industrial engineering at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and lives in Munich

Christian Kosel is Research Coordinator at ARENA2036 e.V.

Christian Kosel has been working as a project manager and research coordinator at ARENA2036 in Stuttgart since 2022 and is responsible for the research project "AAS4WH - Asset Administration Shell for the Wire Harness". In this role, he manages the development and prototype implementation of the Asset Administration Asset Administration Shell (AAS) as an interoperable digital twin along the entire wire harness value chain. His work focuses on managing industry consortia and research alliances, linking AAS and data room concepts as well as technical exchange and dissemination in the automotive sector.

Edgar Theil is Product Owner of the Wiring Harness Tool Chain (WHTC) at Daimler Truck AG

Edgar Theil studied sound engineering at the SAE Cologne until 2006. He then worked as a freelancer in this field, specializing in communications engineering, MIDI programming and quality assurance. In 2008, he switched to the automotive industry.

His first position was at Gigatronik GmbH, where he worked in the wiring harness manufacturing department for prototypes and small series. From 2008 to 2015, he was responsible for wire harness development for SFTP and NGA at Daimler AG as well as engineering lead for variant resolution in the Total Value Management (TVM) project.

Between 2015 and 2018, he supported Daimler AG in the MFA2 project as a project employee of Yazaki Europe Ltd. His tasks there included process and tool development as well as wire harness development for various model series.

Edgar Theil has been working at Daimler Truck AG since 2018. In his role as Product Owner of the Wiring Harness Tool Chain (WHTC), he is responsible for the global central CAD authoring system for E/E development. His work focuses on global method, tool and process harmonization, end-to-end systems engineering, the development of the digital wiring harness twin and the sensible automation of wiring harness development.

Nicola Wolter is Portfolio and Project Manager at S-IT Application Engineering & Consulting GmbH.

Nicola Wolter completed a dual degree in business informatics at Deutsche Telekom AG. He then moved to Daimler Protics GmbH, where he worked for several years as a software developer and software architect - initially in the areas of process and test automation and later in the domain of wire harness development.

Nicola Wolter has been working at S-IT Application Engineering & Consulting GmbH since 2022. He initially took on the role of software architect and IT project manager for complex wiring harness development projects. In his current position as portfolio and project manager, he plays a key role in shaping the company's development for solutions in the area of wiring systems and is responsible for the strategic development of the portfolio. His focus is on the digitalization and automation of development processes in the wiring system environment.

Julian Borowski is a development engineer at IILS mbH.

Julian Borowski obtained a Bachelor of Engineering in Automotive Engineering at Ravensburg-Weingarten University of Applied Sciences (RWU) in 2017, followed by a second Bachelor in Vehicle Systems Engineering in 2018. In 2019, he completed his Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering with distinction. Since 2021, he has been pursuing a PhD at the University of Stuttgart, with the dissertation to be submitted in February 2025.

Since November 2019, Julian has been working as a development engineer at IILS mbH, where he focuses on the automation of development processes with graph-based design languages and AI. He also leads the flagship project "One-Day Racing-Car". In parallel, he was a research assistant at the Institute of Aircraft Design at the University of Stuttgart from 2022 to 2024 and was involved in research and teaching in the fields of digitalization, automation and AI in product design. Since 2021, he has also been a lecturer at Ravensburg-Weingarten University of Applied Sciences and teaches product development and systematic design in the "Development Project 1." course.

Priv.-Doz. Dr.-Ing. Stephan Rudolph, Head of Design Theory and Similarity Mechanics Group, Institute of Aircraft Design, University of Stuttgart

Stephan Rudolph studied aerospace engineering at the University of Stuttgart, at the École Nationale Supérieure des Constructions Aéronautiques in Toulouse, France, and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, USA. After completing his doctorate in 1995, he founded the "Design Theory and Similarity Mechanics" working group at the University of Stuttgart in 1996 and qualified as a professor there in 2002.

His research areas include graph-based design languages for systems engineering, machine design synthesis and model generation, design evaluation methods, and the application of similarity mechanics in engineering and artificial intelligence.

Stephan Rudolph is Principal Investigator in numerous national and European research projects and author of over 180 scientific publications.

Lukas Zeh is a research assistant at the Institute for Control Engineering of Machine Tools and Manufacturing Units ISW at the University of Stuttgart.

Lukas Zeh has been a research assistant at the Institute for Control Engineering of Machine Tools and Manufacturing Units (ISW) at the University of Stuttgart since 2023. After graduating from high school in 2013, he completed a mechatronics apprenticeship at Pilz GmbH & Co. KG. He then studied mechatronics and automation technology at Esslingen University of Applied Sciences and Tongji University in Shanghai. He completed his master's degree in mechatronics at the University of Stuttgart. At the ISW, he conducts research in the field of AI-based simulation and automated manipulation of flexible objects such as cables.

Johannes Becker is coordinator of the VES-WF and ECAD-IF project groups at prostep ivip e.V. and Managing Consultant at 4Soft GmbH.

Johannes Becker studied computer science at the Technical University of Munich. He has many years of experience as a project manager, requirements analyst and software architect in the development of complex information systems. Since 2010, he has been working as a service provider for the VES-WF / ECAD-IF project groups of prostep ivip and has played a key role in shaping the KBL and VEC standards. Today, Johannes Becker is head of 4Soft GmbH's Wiring Systems division. He is responsible for IT projects for OEMs and suppliers in the field of physical vehicle electrical systems.

Pavel Nosek, Technical Product Manager, Siemens Digital Industries Software.

With 30 years of experience in the wire harness industry, Pavel Nosek is a proven expert in manufacturing technology and product development. Currently working as Technical Product Manager at Siemens Digital Industries Software, he brings in-depth knowledge in the implementation of KSK concepts and digital transformation in manufacturing.

He began his career as a production engineer and project manager at Siemens, Siemens-Yazaki and Yazaki. There he was responsible for the development and implementation of manufacturing solutions and project management for renowned customers such as BMW and Rolls-Royce. In his role in global production engineering, he successfully implemented the KSK concept internationally - from the inquiry phase through to project completion.

As Technical Product Manager at Siemens Digital Industries Software, he uses his many years of expertise to develop innovative solutions for digital manufacturing and drive digital transformation in the industry.

Pavel Nosek graduated from the Industrial School of Mechanical Engineering in Pilsen and continued his education in the areas of the wire harness industry and production technology.

Markus Rentschler is Research Coordinator at ARENA2036 e.V.

Markus Rentschler studied Electrical Communications Engineering (University of Applied Sciences Konstanz) and Digital Systems Engineering (Heriot-Watt University Edinburgh). In 1994, he started at Alcatel-SEL as a software developer for GSM mobile radio systems, from 1999 at Hirschmann Automation&Control GmbH for Ethernet-based network devices and later head of the system test department. In 2013, he moved to Balluff GmbH as Head of Development for Networking Products and in 2022 to Murrelektronik GmbH as Head of Department for Digitalization. Since 2010, he has taught software engineering as a part-time lecturer at the DHBW Stuttgart. In mid-2024, he moved to ARENA2036 as Research Coordinator for Digital Interoperability.