Fraunhofer Future Foundation
Dieter Prätzel-Wolters
As head of the Institute for Industrial Mathematics (ITWM), the first Fraunhofer Institute with a mathematical focus in Germany, Prof. Dr. Dieter Prätzel-Wolters played a key role in shaping this field of research. He began his scientific career in Bremen. In 1987, he took up a professorship specializing in techno-mathematics at the Technical University of Kaiserslautern. This branch of mathematics was a very young discipline at the time.
Under the leadership of Dieter Prätzel-Wolters, the Fraunhofer ITWM became one of the most successful of the 72 Fraunhofer Institutes. Mathematics increasingly became a key technology that is needed in almost all industries today. It has become a driver of innovation in medical technology, the automotive industry, mechanical engineering, finance and chemistry.
In addition to setting up the Fraunhofer ITWM in Kaiserslautern, Dieter Prätzel-Wolters also headed the Scientific and Technical Council of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, a kind of representative body for all Fraunhofer Institutes. He was Chairman of the Council for over a decade. After leaving the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, Dieter Prätzel-Wolters was elected to the Executive Board of the Fraunhofer Future Foundation in 2019.