The last word … comes from Jörg Amelung from the FMD

© privat
Jörg Amelung.
© Fraunhofer IAF
Von Juni bis August fanden in den einzelnen Bundesländern regionale Auftaktveranstaltungen der Forschungsfabrik Mikroelektronik Deutschland statt. Unser Foto zeigt Jörg Amelung (dritter von rechts), den kommissarischen Leiter der FMD, bei der Veranstaltung am Fraunhofer IAF in Baden-Württemberg.

Mr. Amelung, you are provisionally directing the Research Fab Microelectronics Germany (FMD). What are your main tasks at the moment?

At the moment, my main tasks involve establishing the structures and the staff of the technology park management. These tasks were planned, naturally enough, but we were surprised by the very early requests for a marketing department that would organize state-specific opening events. I also continue to manage the work of the technology park “Silicon-based technologies.” There, we are working on harmonizing the technology facilities at the various institutes.

The FMD is organized into four “technology parks.” What exactly is a “technology park” and what tasks do you expect to arise here?

Each technology park looks after related topics. We currently have the technology parks Silicon-based Technologies, Compound Semiconductors, Heterointegration, and Design, Test and Reliability. This division is what makes it possible to manage the field of microelectronics from a technological point of view. The main tasks of the technology park managers are thematic coordination of the investments and the inventory in order to be able to define technological offerings and identify synergies.

Let’s look into the future. What would you like to have achieved in five years’ time with the FMD?

The Research Fab is intended to be completely established in five years. It will be easier to plan larger projects within the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft and there should be a synergetic approach to work. The FMD is also intended to become known as a contact with the outside world for top technological research and to be networked with European partners.

Which of the projects being worked on by your colleagues in other Fraunhofer institutes interests you in particular?

I am extremely interested in all projects that are currently looking at autonomous driving and e-mobility. The changes in this field will change all of our lives in the next 15 – 20 years, which makes this a very interesting area in which to do research.

What invention would you not like to do without in daily life?

GPS navigation. I am from a time when you had to plan all trips in advance and make sure you had the right maps for all the places you would be passing through. It seems surprising today that we always reached our destination.

What do you wish you had more time for?

I would like to be able to spend more time with friends and to enjoy life outside of work.

What was the last book you read?

The last book was The Swarm by Frank Schätzing, which I had read before. It’s an excellent book, even the second time around.

Last, but not least: can you tell us what motto you live by?

It is hard to find a proper motto. I am mostly guided by the question “What comes next?” And maybe the legendary quote from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: “The Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, The Universe, and Everything is... 42!”

 

About Jörg Amelung:

After completing his degree in physics at the University of Duisburg in 1993, Jörg Amelung worked at Fraunhofer IMS in Duisburg. In 1998, he moved to Fraunhofer IPMS in Dresden, where he managed the Institute’s technology department. He then set up the Center for Organic Materials and Electronic Devices Dresden (COMEDD). In 2009, he founded Tridonic Dresden, a joint venture for OLED lighting components between the Zumtobel Group and the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. He also managed the joint venture. In 2013, he moved to Tridonic Dornbin as Program Manager. From the end of 2014, he was the MEMS Business Manager at Fraunhofer IPMS and, since April 2017, has been technology park manager and provisional director of the FMD within the Fraunhofer Group for Microelectronics. He is based in Berlin.

 

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