Certificate Course 2023/2024 at a glance

Lutz Morich  (frE3 innovations)

Lutz Morich studied mechanical engineering at RWTH Aachen University and began his professional career as a trainee in technical development at AUDI AG. 16 years of experience in managing projects and organizational units in management positions. Since 2017 he has been responsible for "Processes, Methods and Tools of the Virtual Disciplinary Environment" and several R&D projects with cooperation partners from industry, science and municipalities that deal with interdisciplinary and technical questions of automated traffic.

Training unit: A1 - Overview Ecosystem

Christopher Wiegand (dSpace GmbH)

Christopher Wiegand is Strategic Product Manager at dSPACE GmbH, where he is responsible for the business fields Modelling & Simulation and Scenario Generation & Library. He studied electrical engineering and received his Dipl.-Ing. degree from the University of Paderborn in 2007. He joined the Fraunhofer Institute and Sensor Technology Group of the University of Paderborn as a research engineer and received a doctor’s degree in electrical engineering in 2012. 

 Training units: A1 - Overview Ecosystem  |  C3 - ADAS Simulation

Dr. Martin Obstbaum (TWT GmbH)

Martin Obstbaum has studied physics at the university of Regensburg and holds a PhD from the institute of experimental and applied physics of the university of Regensburg. As head of systems engineering & computer graphics at TWT GmbH Science & Innovation Dr. Obstbaum explores together with his team the systematic design of virtual testing architectures and simulation technologies. In order to bring autonomous driving into a safe operating future on our streets one focus of topics is to simulate the decisions of autonomous cars based on sensors and perception algorithms using modern Computer Graphics Engines like UNREAL to generate photo- and phyisics-realistic 3D simulation environements. To this end continuous research of 3D computer graphics technologies and innovative algorithms as well as the integration of different data and information models is conducted.

 Training unit:  A2 - Simulation Environment

Karl Schreiner (TWT GmbH)

Studied applied informatics and working now for about 4 years at TWT as a software developer in the field of autonomous driving and virtual validation of driver assistance systems. Areas of activity range from complex environment creation to software and hardware-in-the-loop testing and sensor simulation using virtual environments. Responsible as the product owner and part of the development of the tool Tronis®, that is based on the open source gaming engine Unreal Engine which paves the way towards a realistic environment, vehicle and driversimulation.

 Training unit:  A2 - Simulation Environment

Dr. Gunnar Gräfe (3D Mapping Solutions GmbH)

As founder of 3D Mapping Solutions, Dr.-Ing. Gunnar Gräfe focuses on the research & development of multi-sensor mobile mapping systems equipped with positioning technology, calibrated cameras and high-resolution laser scanners and the software applications to process and analyze the acquired data. Key areas are kinematic measurements of all types of traffic networks, provision of reference information for advanced driver assistance systems and developing of basic data for driving simulator applications. Gunnar Gräfe studied Geodesy at the University of Federal Armed Forces (FAF) Munich. After working as scientific assistant and teaching officer at the University FAF/ Munich, he founded Mobile Mapping S&S GmbH. In 2007, this led to the formation of 3D Mapping Solutions GmbH, where he has been Managing Director since then.

Training units:  A3 - Mobile Mapping & Data Processing   |   A4 Data Analysis and HD Maps

Florian Günther (3D Mapping Solutions GmbH)

Florian Günther is a project leader and training manager in the field of high-precision and high-resolution mapping of road networks at 3D Mapping Solutions GmbH since 2018. He studied Business Administration and Cartography|Geomedia at the University of Applied Sciences Munich. He graduated as B.Sc. in the field of computer animation and 3-dimensional LiDAR surveys about Bibracte at the European Archaeological Center, France. Since then, he was involved in data analysis and processing HD maps for worldwide automotive industry and research driven use-cases. At the department of HD Maps his current focus is on providing user-specific cases in advanced ADAS or test and validation applications for autonomous driving, such as the combination and integration of different formats like OpenDRIVE, GIS and 3d Modelling.

Training unit:  A4 - Data Analysis & HD Maps

Maximilian Sindram (virtualcitysystems GmbH)

In his position as business development manager at virtual city systems, Maximilian Sindram focuses on spatial and semantic modeling, analysis, and visualization of 2D and 3D geodata. Key areas are urban information modelling, urban simulation, and smart cities. Maximilian Sindram studied geography at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich. After his studies he worked as a junior researcher at the ifo Institute in Munich on research related topics to GIS in economics before leaving in 2012 to join the Chair of Geoinformatics at TU Munich. Since January 2018 he has been working as Business Development Manager at virtual city systems. As a lecturer at TU Munich, he has been awarded the faculty's teaching prize several times. In addition to his professional tasks, Maximilian Sindram is involved in professional associations and standardization committees. Among others, his contribution to the modeling of the OpenDRIVE standard in ASAM e.V. and his profound knowledge of the OGC standard CityGML are worth mentioning.

Training unit:  A5 - City Models

Dr. Ludwig Friedmann (BMW AG)

Since 2018: Solution Architect Simulation Autonomous Driving (BMW Group)

• Simulation architecture, 3D models and materials
• Distributed simulation frameworks
• Standardization

2016-2018: Product Manager Software Development Tools/Methods (Audi AG)

• Simulation @ Autonomous Intelligent Driving GmbH
• Distributed simulation software
• Virtual environment and 3D models

2010-2016: Research Associate/PhD Candidate (TUM)

• Flight simulation software
• Real-time simulation of rotorcraft downwash
• Multi-channel rendering

Training unit:  A6 - Material Models - OpenMaterial

Jürgen Wille  (FrontMod GmbH)

Jürgen Wille studied precision engineering at FH Ulm and information technology at the University of Paderborn. He began his professional career as research associate at TU Berlin and the Fraunhofer Institute IZM. He joined Valeo GmbH in 2001 and worked in the field of hardware design and simulation methods over 17 years. Since 2006, he has been involved in the field of perception sensor model development and EMC verification. His focus was lying on ultrasonic and radar sensors and optimisation of sensor mounting positions inside virtual car models. He was involved in the European project "ENABLE-S3" and build up several sensor HIL tester to enable autonomous parking. Jürgen founded FrontMod GmbH in 2018. FrontMod is member of the ASC-S and develops sensor models for OSI standard.

Training units:  B1 - Sensor Basics   |   B2 - Sensor Fusion & Integration   |   B3 - Sensor Simulation

Pierre R. Mai ( PMSF IT Consulting)

As the founder and owner of PMSF IT Consulting focuses on the intersection between system development and simulation. One key area in the past decade has been the development and standardization of simulation and model interfaces for use in the automotive industry development processes. In this vein Pierre R. Mai is a member of the Modelica Association FMI and SSP, as well as founding member of the ASAM OSI and OpenSCENARIO standardization projects. In the past he coordinated the establishment of the ASAM Simulation Area and the transfer of the OpenX standards to ASAM in an interim capacity. Pierre R. Mai studied computer science at the Technical University Berlin with a focus on programming language design, implementation and constraint systems receiving his degree in 2002. Since then he has founded and lead a number of businesses in the simulation and technology domain, with a broad industrial and automotive customer base.

Training unit:  B4 - FMI + OSI

Dr. Clemens Linnhoff (Persival GmbH)

Clemens Linnhoff is co-founder and CTO of Persival GmbH, which supports sensor manufacturers and OEMs in the specification, development and validation of perception sensor models. He recently finished his PhD thesis on "Analysis of Environmental Influences for Simulation of Active Perception Sensors".Until the end of 2022, he has been working for four years as a research associate at the Institute of Automotive Engineering at the Technical University of Darmstadt under the supervision of Prof. Hermann Winner. He was responsible for the development and validation of sensor models in the German research project "SET Level". Additionally, he was involved in the German project ViVID to pursue his work on modeling environmental influences in perception sensor data. He published 12 scientific papers in the field and 2 sensor data sets with adverse weather conditions. Together with his research group at TUDa FZD, he started the PerCollECT initiative to collect and provide perception sensor cause-effect chains in a tree-like ontology. Furthermore, he is Sub-Library Maintainer (SLM) for all open source perception sensor models of the asc(s e.V. - ENVITED Open Source Model & Simulation Library.r-modeling.

 Training unit:  B5 - Sensor Model Validation

Dr. Philipp Rosenberger (Persival GmbH)

Philipp Rosenberger is co-founder and CEO of Persival GmbH, which supports sensor manufacturers and OEMs in the specification, development and validation of perception sensor models. He recently finished his PhD thesis on "Metrics for Specification, Validation, and Uncertainty Prediction for Credibility in Simulation of Active Perception Sensor Systems".Until the end of 2022, he has been working for six years as a research assistant at the Institute of Automotive Engineering at the Technical University of Darmstadt under the supervision of Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Hermann Winner. In the European project "ENABLE-S3" he led the work package for simulation and stimulation and in the German project "PEGASUS" he was responsible for the development and validation of sensor models. Recently, he was involved in the German projects "SET Level" and "Verification & Validation Methods" to continue his work on model development and validation. He is also a founding member and part of the Change Control Board of the ASAM OSI standard. Together with his research group at TUDa FZD, he founded the PerCollECT initiative to collect and provide perception sensor cause-effect chains in a tree-like ontology. Furthermore, he is an active contributor to the open source perception sensor models of the asc(s e.V. - ENVITED Open Source Model & Simulation Library.

Training unit:  B5 - Sensor Model Validation

Dr. Hardi Hungar (DLR - Institute of Transportation Systems)

Hardi Hungar received a PhD in computer science from the Christian Alberechts University in Kiel, and has the venia legendi (habilitation) at the Carl-von-Ossietzky University Oldenburg. For many years, he has worked on methods and tools for the development of dependable and safety-critical systems. These concerned mainly applications in the transportation domain. He has held various positions in academia, research and industry. In his current position, he leads the team on "Processes and Methods for Verification and Validation" at the Institute of Transportation System, which is one of the institutes of the German Aerospace Center (DLR). He is currently working mainly on methods for the verification and validation of highly automated vehicles. His focus areas include concepts and languages for defining test scenarios, algorithms and tools to perform exhaustive virtual tests, standard-conformant development, and safety argumentations.

Training units:  B6 - SiL Simulation  |  D4 Test vs. Simulation  |  D5 Functional Safety 

Prof. Dr. Stefan-Alexander Schneider (HS Kempten)

Current position:

• Sponsored Professor from continental ADC at University of Applied Sciences for Advanced Driver
• Assistance Systems
• Visiting Professor at Shibaura Institute of Technologies, Tokyo, Japan
  Head of Master Course Advanced Driver Assistance Systems

Professional experience:

• BMW AG: Development, Numerical Simulation, Method Referend for Process, Method and Tool for Functional and Software Development for Modeling Multi-domain Physical Systems, in particular with the programming language Modelica, Functional Co-Simulation of Multi-Disciplinary Applications, Development and Qualification of the Method VASE for Safety-relevant Software Development, Modeling Standards and Manuals, BMW-Training Coach for Model-Based Software Development
  
• Axxom Software AG: Senior System Analyst, Customized Consulting and Solution Implementation, Design and Development of Mathematical Optimization Methods
  
• Infineon Technologies AG: Development Engineer, Field Memory Products, Department of Advanced Technology Software, Support of Development Departments through Project-specific Customization and Support of Commercial Software Programs
• Educational background: Promotion, Technical University of Munich, Department of Scientific Computing, Adaptive Soluction of Elliptic Partial Differential Equations by Hierarchical Tensor Product Finite Elements, Dr. rer. nat., applied and computational mathematics for ordinary and partial differential equations and fluid mechanics
•  Diploma, Mathematics and Physics, Technical University of Munich

Training unit: B7 - Environmental Effect Modeling for Sensors Behavior Models in a Closed Loop Simulation

Dr. Martin Fischer (DLR - Institute of Transportation Systems)

Dr. Martin Fischer studied Electrical Engineering at the Hanover University and got his degree in 2003. In 2009 he graduated as Dr.-Ing. at the University of Braunschweig with his work on “Motion-cueing algorithms for moving-based simulators”. He works for the German Aerospace Centre - Institute of Transportation Systems as a researcher and he is leading the group “Human-Centered Simulation” in the department “Validation and Verification”. His research focuses on human-in-the-loop simulation methods and technologies.

 Training unit:  C1 - Scenario Design

Dr. Alexander Ahlert (IPG Automotive GmbH)

Alexander Ahlert received the M.Sc. degree in mechanical engineering from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in 2015. Afterwards he graduated as Dr.-Ing. at the Institute of Automotive Engineering Stuttgart at the University of Stuttgart in the field of vehicle dynamics, multi-body systems and control theory. At Porsche Engineering he was a systems engineer and effect chain responsible for predictive control driving functions and motion planning algorithms. Since 2020 he joined IPG Automotive GmbH as Branch Manager Stuttgart. He leads different teams in the areas of Test Systems and Engineering, Technical Support and Sales. His main interest and focus is on the topic of democratization of simulation and virtual test driving throughout the vehicle development process. Besides, he is a lecturer for vehicle technology at the Technical Academy Esslingen (TAE).

Training unit: C2 - Traffic Simulation / Agent Models

Dr. Pascal Piecha (IPG Automotive GmbH)

Pascal Piecha is Global Education & University Program Manager at IPG Automotive GmbH and works on Research and Development topics regarding simulation and virtual test driving together with Universities, Research Institutes and Students world-wide. He studied mechanical engineering with the focus on powertrain development at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and received his M.Sc. in 2014. Working as a research assistant on the ECO-Powerdrive2 FFG project and covering the sustainable development of smaller powertrain systems (hand-held power-tools, motorcycles and more), he graduated as a Ph.D. in Technical Science from Graz University of Technology in 2019.

Training unit: C2 - Traffic Simulation / Agent Models

Peter Lobner (eXXcellent solutions GmbH)

Peter Lobner studied Computer Science at the University Ulm and graduated as Dipl. Inf. in 2011. He then started his career as a software engineer at eXXcellent solutions GmbH and has gained experience in the development of complex software solutions in different industry sectors like E-Learning, Energy and Automotive over more than 10 years. He is currently working as software architect and project manager in different projects. One is orchideo | easySSP, a cloud based model editor and simulator for the System Structure & Parameterization (SSP) Standard of the Modelica Association. Moreover, he is a member of Modelica's SSP working group and actively participating in evolving the standard further. His interests are focused mainly on the creation of innovative & collaborative SaaS solutions and agile leadership.

 Training unit:  C4 - System Structure and Parameterization (SSP) Standard

Dr. Martin Benedikt  (Virtual Vehicle Resarch GmbH)

Description to follow

 Training units:  C5 - Co-Simulation  |  D6 - Credible Simulation 

Prof. Dr. Daniel Watzenig  (Virtual Vehicle Resarch GmbH)

Daniel Watzenig received his M.Sc. degree in Electrical Engineering and the Ph.D. degree in Technical Science from Graz University of Technology, Austria, in 2002 and 2006, respectively. In 2009 he received the Venia Docendi (habilitation) for Electrical Measurement and Signal Processing. Since 2006 he has been Divisional Director and Scientific Head of the Automotive Electronics and Software Department of the Virtual Vehicle Research GmbH in Graz. In 2017 he has been appointed as Full Professor of Autonomous Driving at the Institute of Automation and Control, Graz University of Technology, Austria. He is founder and a team leader of the Autonomous Racing Graz Team, one of currently six teams of the global race series (Roborace). His research interests focus on sense & control of automated vehicles, signal processing, multi-sensor data fusion, uncertainty estimation and quantification, and robust optimization. He is author or co-author of over 200 peer-reviewed papers, book chapters, patents, and articles.

 Training unit:  C6 - AV Software

Markus Schratter  (Virtual Vehicle Resarch GmbH)

Markus Schratter is a researcher in the field of automated driving. He studied Information and Computer Engineering at Graz University of Technology. In 2011, he joined Virtual Vehicle Research GmbH and was involved in different research projects. His main task is the development and integration of concepts into test vehicles. Currently, he writes his PhD thesis with the subject: How technology for highly automated driving can be used to improve active safety systems. In 2019, he joined Autonomous Racing Graz as technical lead and is in the racing team responsible for the architecture of the software stack and the integration of the different subsystems. His research interests are related to automated driving, robotics, sensors and the integration of complex/reliable systems.

 Training unit:  C6 - AV Software

Prof. Dr. Johannes Betz (Technical University of Munich - TUM)

Johannes Betz is Assistant Professor at the new research lab “Autonomous Vehicle Systems” in the Department of Mobility Systems Engineering at the TUM School of Engineering and Design (ED).

 Training unit:  C7 - Artificial Intelligence for Automated Vehicle Development

Jann-Eve Stavesand (dSpace GmbH)

Jann-Eve Stavesand heads dSPACE Consulting and supports customers worldwide on defining test strategies for complex E/E systems and on overcoming challenges in model-based development of safety-critical systems. He was involved in the development of ISO 26262:2018 with a focus on software and processes and is currently involved in the standardization of Safety Of The Intended Functionality (SOTIF). Here, too, the focus is on testing and quality assurance of the software and systems used, including the approval and homologation of these complex functions.

 Training unit:  D1 - Automotive Test Strategies & Simulation-based V&V

Dr. Jens Häcker (Simulation Systems Consulting)

Jens Haecker studied aerospace engineering and received his Dr.-Ing. degree from the University of Stuttgart in 2006. He joined Daimler AG in general research and advanced engineering and worked in simulation and testing of active chassis and steering systems and functional interfaces for autonomous driving. For the Daimler driving simulator at the Mercedes-Benz Technology Center he was responsible for mechatronics and further development of the motion platform and algorithms and represented Daimler as a member of the scientific committee of the Driving Simulation Association. He is a lecturer for control theory and simulation technologies in mechatronics at the Baden-Wuerttemberg Cooperative State University Stuttgart at Campus Horb. As founder of Simulation Systems Consulting he currently works as an engineering consultant providing services for specification and analysis of simulator systems, with special focus on technical and experimental aspects of human-in-the-loop simulation.

Training unit: D2 and D3 - Driving Simulator Technologies I +II 

Carlo van Driesten  (BMW AG)

Carlo van Driesten graduated from TU München with an M.Sc. in Electrical Engineering and Information Technology. He researched in the field of Radar Clutter Simulation at Rohde & Schwarz for hardware in the loop testing of ship radars before he joined BMW in the field of automated driving in 2016. As Systems Architect for Virtual Test & Validation he is focused on international standardization of simulation interfaces, data structures and open architectures for the purpose of virtually enhanced homologation processes. He initiated the OpenX Simulation Standards at ASAM e.V., authored the initial version of the ASAM Open Simulation Interface (OSI) and is mentor of the ENVITED Research Cluster at asc(s e.V. pursuing the goal of creating decentralized data markets for simulations. In 2018 he co-founded vDL Digital Ventures with StakeNow as the largest German staking service for Tezos which brought his greatest passions together: Automated driving and distributed ledger technologies.

 Training units:  D7 / D8 - Distribited Ledger Technologies

Prof. Dr. Florian Matthes  (Technical University of Munich - TUM)

Since 2002 Florian Matthes holds the chair for Software Engineering for Business Information Systems at Technische Universität München. The current focus of his work is on blockchain-based system engineering, the semantic analysis of legal texts, and privacy-preserving data and service management. He is co-founder of CoreMedia, infoAsset and Tr8cy, co-founder and chair of Blockchain Bayern e.V. scientifc advisor of Noumena Digital, member of the advisory board of the Ernst Denert-Stiftung für Software Engineering, and initiator and organizer of international conferences and workshops in software and enterprise engineering.

 Training units:  D7 / D8 - Distributed Ledger Technologies