C-LAB has a new chairman

After more than 25 years, Prof. Dr. Franz Rammig handed his chairman position over to our new universitary head, Prof. Dr. Gregor Engels.

When Cadlab was officially inaugurated in 1986, Prof. Dr. Rammig had already been chairman of the cooperation. Cadlab was initially founded with the support of Heinz Nixdorf to unite universitary research and industrial practice. Heinz Nixdorf was quick to understand the importance of the university, and most of all computer science, to the industry - both in regards to their scientific productivity as well as the promotion of young talent.

While Prof. Dr. Rammig was here from the start of "Cadlab", he understood the meaning of teamwork, working with several alternating industrial partners and had the vision for the proper topics, employees, projects and their technologies of the future. With these skills at hand, he was able to navigate the "tanker Cadlab" through turbulent seas. It has also been his vision that enabled Cadlab, at that time focussing on computer-based circuit design, to become the innovation laboratory C-LAB that it is today.
It is largely thanks to him that C-LAB - despite the international financial crisis and with a new industrial partner in Atos - has not become a sinking ship but is as stable as ever and can look forward to the future confidently.

Due to his work as universitary chairman of C-LAB and dean of the faculty Electrical Engineering, Computer Science and Mathematics, Prof. Dr. Rammig contributed largely to establish and shape the importance of technology transfer at the University of Paderborn. Furthermore, he is jointly responsible for raising substantial funds for computer science in Paderborn through C-LAB.

Because of his current stage of life, close to retirement, Prof. Rammig decided that it's time to hand over commission of the ship C-LAB. Prof. Dr. Gregor Engels, whose mission it has been to expand the transfer of technology in Paderborn as well, has taken over.

Prof. Engels completed his doctoral degree in 1986 in the field Computer Science / Software Engineering and was appointed as a professor for Software Engineering and Information Systems in 1991 at the University of Leiden (Netherlands). In 1997, he accepted a professorship at the University of Paderborn in the field of Databases and Information Systems. Prof. Engels has been part of C-LAB's academical advisory council since 1999.
Since 2005, he is chairman and co-founder of the Multi-Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) technology transfer institure s-lab - Software Quality Lab of the University of Paderborn.
Furthermore, he initiated the panel "Industrie trifft Informatik" ("Industry meets computer science") situated in Paderborn which supports the dialogue between local corportations and computer science research at the University of Paderborn for more than 10 years now.

For the future, the strategic goal will be to strengthen technology transfer by combining the productivity and the know-how of both labs (s-lab & C-LAB).

Despite the fact that Prof. Rammig will leave his chairman position, he will continue to support C-LAB. The University of Paderborn appointed him as the head of C-LAB's academical advisory council. He will take this position over from Prof. Dr. Wilfried Hauenschild who has been head of the council, except for a short interruption, since 1991.

C-LAB is very grateful for the relentless efforts both Prof. Rammig and Prof. Hauenschild have put into C-LAB and wishes them the very best for the future.