Research Council Industrie 4.0 welcomes Matthias Weigold and Uwe Wieland as new members
Munich, 22 May 2025
The Research Council Industrie 4.0 welcomes Matthias Weigold and Uwe Wieland as new members. The current 34 representatives from science and industry identify research-based solutions for the further development and implementation of Industrie 4.0. The topics of sustainability, resilience, interoperability, technological sovereignty and the central role of people are becoming increasingly important. The Research Council Industrie 4.0 coordinated by acatech is a strategic and independent body that supports the Plattform Industrie 4.0, its working groups and the participating federal ministries, in particular the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR).
From now on, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Matthias Weigold is now contributing his expertise to the Research Council Industrie 4.0. His fields of research focus on data-driven and climate-neutral production, applied artificial intelligence (AI) in manufacturing, the further development of automation and manufacturing technologies and the establishment of sovereign and interoperable value creation networks. Since 2019, Prof. Weigold has headed the Institute for Production Management, Technology and Machine Tools (PTW) at TU Darmstadt, where he also studied and subsequently completed his doctorate. He is also responsible for the activities of the ETA Factory (energy technologies and their applications in production). From 2007 to 2018, he held leading positions at Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG in production planning and the engineering ring as well as at SAP SE in the area of digital manufacturing. Prof. Weigold is a member of the Scientific Society for Production Engineering (WGP) and the International Academy for Production Engineering (CIRP), among others.
With Matthias Weigold, the Research Council Industrie 4.0 is gaining unique expertise, says Rainer Stark (TU Berlin), Deputy Spokesperson for science on the Research Council Industrie 4.0. This includes research with a focus on production management, production technologies and machine tools as well as many years of industrial management experience in mechanical engineering and the digitalisation economy.
Prof. Dr. Uwe Wieland is joining the Research Council Industrie 4.0 with immediate effect with his expertise in the development of data-driven business models and hybrid AI architectures for industry. He is Senior Director Software Product Development & AI-driven Solutions at Volkswagen. There he headed the Software Development Centre in Dresden as well as the technical development of the Group-wide Digital Production Platform (DPP). Prof. Wieland previously worked for Robotron Datenbank-Software GmbH, where he helped build up the Industrial IoT division. He holds an honorary professorship at the Dresden University of Applied Sciences, specialising in business informatics. After completing his studies at the Saxony University of Cooperative Education, he earned his doctorate at TU Dresden and also completed an MBA in General Management at Dresden International University. He is active as a mentor at the German government’s Software Campus and at AI Grid in the promotion of young talent in the field of applied AI.
At the last meeting of the Plattform Industrie 4.0 Steering Committee, it became clear that there are also great expectations of the Research Council with regard to data-driven business models and, in particular, business models based on the exchange and monetary valuation of data, explains Harald Schöning (Software AG), industry spokesperson on the Research Council Industrie 4.0. Uwe Wieland is therefore a very welcome addition to our circle.
About the Research Council Industrie 4.0
As a strategic and independent body, the Research Council Industrie 4.0 makes a significant contribution to identifying research-based solutions for the further development and implementation of Industrie 4.0 and thus providing orientation – with the overarching goal of strengthening the German innovation system and value creation. To this end, the Research Council currently brings together 34 representatives from science and industry with their interdisciplinary expertise, formulates new, pre-competitive research impulses and needs, identifies medium to long-term development perspectives and derives options for action for the successful implementation of Industrie 4.0. Research in the field of Industrie 4.0 is increasingly focussing on topics such as sustainability, resilience, interoperability, technological and strategic sovereignty and the central role of people. The work of the Research Council is coordinated by acatech – National Academy of Science and Engineering, supervised by the Project Management Karlsruhe (PTKA) and funded by the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR).
