MANAGING BODIES

The four key Munich Aerospace managing bodies are the Executive Board, the Scientific Advisory Board, the Board of Trustees and the Members' Meeting. A prestigious roster of individuals from the sciences and business, and ministry officials direct the Association’s activities and offer strategic advice.

• Members' Meeting

  The Members' Meeting is the highest decision-making body of the Association, consisting of one highest ranking representative each of every member institution, i.e. TUM, DLR, UniBwM and BHL. The Members’ Meeting represents a governance body responsible for passing resolutions on the content and strategic orientation of Munich Aerospace. It normally convenes once a year.

  The current staff roster is as follows:

  • Prof. Dr. Anke Kaysser-Pyzalla, Chair of the Executive Board, on behalf of the German Aerospace Center (DLR)
  • Prof. Dr. Thomas Hofmann, President, on behalf of Technical University of Munich (TUM)
  • Prof. Dr. Mirko Hornung, Executive Director, on behalf of Bauhaus Luftfahrt (BHL)
  • Prof. Dr. Eva-Maria Kern, President, on behalf of the Bundeswehr University Munich (UniBwM)

• Executive Board

  The Executive Board is responsible for all matters relating to the Association’s operations and is also responsible for preparing and convening the Members' Meeting as well as meetings of the Board of Trustees and the Scientific Advisory Board, executing their resolutions and recommendations, and preparing the business plan and schedule. The Executive Board consists of one Executive Chairman and representatives from the four member institutions. All significant tasks at hand are coordinated with the Administrative Office at monthly board meetings. The Executive Board appoints the Management Board members.

  
  
  

  	Chairman of the Executive Board Prof. Dr.-Ing. Michael Meurer heads the Navigation Department of the Institute of Communication and Navigation at the German Aerospace Center (DLR). He has been representing the German Aerospace Center at the Executive Board of Munich Aerospace since 2021 and has been Chairman of the Board since 2023.

  Prof. Dr.-Ing. Günter W. Hein served as director of the Institute of Geodesy and Navigation of Bundeswehr University Munich until 2008, receiving the honorary title of Professor Emeritus of Excellence of that university in 2015. From 2008 to 2014 he headed the EGNOS and GNSS Evolution Programme Department at the European Space Agency (ESA). In 2002 he was granted the Johannes Kepler Award of the US Institute of Navigation, followed by the European Inventor Award in 2017. In 2015 he was appointed to the Munich Aerospace Executive Board on behalf of UniBwM.

  	Prof. Dr.-Ing. Klaus Drechsler, Chair for Carbon Composites at Technical University of Munich since 2009 and TUM representative to the Executive Board of Munich Aerospace since 2015, having held the position of Chairman of the Executive Board from 2016 to 2017. Since 2019 he has also served as Senior Executive of the Fraunhofer Institute for Casting, Composite and Processing Technology IGCV.

  Prof. Dr. Mirko Hornung, member of the Executive Board Science and Technology of Bauhaus Luftfahrt since 2010 and Munich Aerospace founding member. As professor at the Institute for Aircraft Design at Technical University of Munich he was appointed Dean of the TUM Department of Aerospace and Geodesy in October 2020, and in June 2011 he also became founding member of the Aviation Initiative for Renewable Energy in Germany (aireg). Hornung is also part of the Transport Advisory Group to the European Commission. As member of the Munich Aerospace Executive Board and the Ludwig Bölkow Campus Steering Committee, he has been representing Bauhaus Luftfahrt since 2018.

• Scientific Advisory Board

  Munich Aerospace has appointed a consultative body dealing exclusively with scientific issues, advising the Association in particular on matters relating to long-term research and development planning and the assessment of research projects. The Scientific Advisory Board has a prestigious roster of individuals from the research and science communities.

   

• Spokesman on space technology:

  Dr. Günther Kohlhammer, former Chief Digital Officer, European Space Agency

  
  

  Spokesman on aviation technology:

  Prof. Dr. Horst Schmidt-Bischoffshausen, former Head of Strategic Corporate Research and Patents, EADS Germany 

  Further members:

  • Bertram Arbesser-Rastburg, FIEEE, president of the Austrian Institute of Navigation, former Head of the Electromagnetics and Space Environment Division, European Space Agency
  • Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dieter Fritsch, former Director of the Institute for Photogrammetry, University of Stuttgart
  • Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Udo Helmbrecht, former BSI President and ENISA Director, technical director CODE, Bundeswehr University Munich
  • Prof. Dr.-Ing. Heiner Klinkrad, former Head of the Space Debris Office, European Space Agency
  • Dr. Gerd R. Kraft, former Director Programmes of DLR Space Administration, German Aerospace Center
  • Prof. Dr.-Ing. Michael Kupke, Chair of Polymer Composites Technology, University of Augsburg
  • Prof. Dr.-Ing. Robert Luckner, Professor of Flight Mechanics, Flight Control and Aeroelasticity, Technical University of Berlin
  • Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Klaus Schilling, Chair of Computer Science VII - Robotics and Telematics, University of Würzburg
  • Univ.-Prof. Dr.-Ing. Stefan Reh, German Aerospace Center (DLR), Managing Director, Institute of Test and Simulation for Gasturbines

• Board of Trustees

  The Board of Trustees has an advisory function to the Executive Board and the Members’ Meeting and consists of Munich Aerospace representatives, prominent scientists, business executives and ministry officials. The support provided by the Board of Trustees in fulfilling the Association’s mission constitutes a major contribution to the promotion and further development of Munich as a centre of science.

  Chairman

  Dr. Gerd-Achim Gruppe, former Space Management Head, DLR

• Members from the research and science communities

  • Prof. Dr. Arndt Bode, President of the Bavarian Research Foundation 
  • Jörg Feustel-Büechl, former Director of Manned Spaceflight and Microgravity at ESA
  • Prof. Thomas Hofmann, President, Technical University of Munich
  • Prof. Mirko Hornung, Executive Director, Bauhaus Luftfahrt
  • Prof. Dr. Anke Kaysser-Pyzalla, Chair of the Executive Board, DLR
  • Prof. Dr. Martin Leitner, President of the Munich University of Applied Sciences
  • Prof. Dr. Volker Liebig, former Director of Earth Observation programmes at ESA
  • Prof. Dr. Hans Sünkel, former Rector of the Graz University of Technology
  • Prof. Dr. Eva-Maria Kern, President, Bundeswehr University Munich 

  Corporate Members

  • Dr. Frank Anton, Senior Vice President at Corporate Technology, Siemens
  • Dr. Jörg Au, Managing Director and Engineering Director, Rolls-Royce Deutschland Ltd & Co KG
  • Dr. Sebastian Carl, Managing Director, GAF AG
  • Nicole Dreyer-Langlet, Managing Director and R&T Germany Representative, Airbus
  • Johann Heitzmann, Chairman of the Board, bavAIRia
  • Klaus Hofmann, Member of the Executive Board, OHB SE
  • Prof. Dr.-Ing. Rudolf Schwarz, Chairman of the Management Board of IABG
  • Hans J. Steininger, CEO MT Aerospace  
  • Volker Thum, Managing Director, German Aerospace Industries Association (BDLI)
  • Dr. Stefan Weber, Senior Vice President Technology & Engineering, MTU Aero Engines

  Members from government departments/constitutional bodies

  • Johannes Frik, Head of Department A II 2, Bavarian State Chancellery
  • Florian Hahn, Member of the German Bundestag
  • Dr. Michael Mihatsch, Head of Department U, Bavarian State Ministry of Science and the Arts (StMWK)
  • Dr. Thomas Reiter, Representative of the Federal Ministry of Defence (BMVg)
  • Dietmar Schneyer, Ministerial Counsellor, Bavarian State Ministry of Science and the Arts (StMWi)