Beginning the first of July 2015, Professor Maximilian Fichtner is replacing Professor Horst Hahn as the director of the Helmholtz Institute Ulm (HIU). Professor Stefano Passerini is replacing Prof. Fichtner as deputy director of the institute.
Prof. Maximilian Fichtner has conducted research on a variety of methods in energy storage which hold significant implications for the successful use of renewable energy resources and establishing the groundwork for electric mobility. During his time as director, Prof. Fichtner will implement the mission of the HIU as a national excellence center in battery research and contribute solutions to urgent problems in the energy supplies of the future. “We are on the correct path and will continue working on establishing the institute as one of the internationally recognized centers of research in batteries for the next and foreseeable generations,” he explains. With the great potential of its scientists, its cutting-edge infrastructure and the expertise of its four partners, the HIU is well-positioned to apply emerging technologies to innovative battery materials.
Prof. Fichtner’s doctoral work was in surface science and he subsequently established, among others, research groups in the areas of micro-process engineering for energy systems and nanomaterials for storage of hydrogen in solid states at the former Karlsruhe Research Center. For this work he was awarded the International Energy Agency (IEA) Project Prize in 2011. Prof. Fichtner currently leads a research group in material development at the HIU and, since April 2013, has been a professor in solid-state chemistry at the University of Ulm in the Department of Natural Sciences. He also leads a research group in energy storage systems at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) Institute of Nanotechnology.
Prof. Horst Hahn, starting in 2011, helped found the HIU, first as founding director and later as director. His term covered the entire initialization and construction phases of the institute, through developing the initial research strategy to moving into the new building in the fall of 2014. After his resignation, Prof Hahn will continue to lead his research group in solid electrolytes at the HIU. He also continues in his position as the director of the Institute of Nanotechnology (INT) at the KIT and is an honorary professor in India and China.
Translation by Melissa Pernice
