You have headed inIT together with Prof. Dr. Carsten Röcker since 2017. What have you achieved by 2024?
Volker Lohweg: Since taking over the direction of the institute from Prof. Dr. Jürgen Jasperneite and Prof. Dr. Stefan Heiss, we have worked hard to continuously develop and stabilise inIT - including financially. Overall, we were able to ensure that the institute is in a very good position in the years from 2017 to 2024.
What motivated you to take over the direction of the institute?
Henning Trsek: We are currently experiencing a generational change at inIT. While the young professors are already well integrated, the experienced older colleagues are still active. This is the ideal time to pass on the valuable experience of the older generation to the younger generation. By making the change at this point in time, we are ensuring that the generational transition runs smoothly and that inIT continues to benefit from their experience.
What do you remember most about your time as Institute Director?
Volker Lohweg: What is particularly impressive for me is that we have managed to work together excellently despite occasionally having different points of view. This applies both at Institute Board level and among employees. This harmonious cooperation cannot be taken for granted and is therefore all the more valuable.
Which key strategic areas do you want to tackle first?
Henning Trsek: Together with the deputy directors Ulrich Büker and Lukasz Wisniewski, I have set myself the goal of strengthening cooperation within our site ecosystem. This concerns the various institutions involved, be it the companies in CIIT, the university institutes or our colleagues at Fraunhofer IOSB-INA. There are already many interfaces here that we want to expand even further. This collaboration was made more difficult by the coronavirus period, as interactions were severely restricted. We now need to work on intensifying these connections again in order to promote the exchange of knowledge and increase the number of people working towards a common goal.
How important is marketing for a research institute to you?
Volker Lohweg: Marketing is of immense importance for a research institute, as research does not take place in a vacuum. We are in competition with other universities and non-university research institutions and have to make the outstanding services we provide here visible through targeted marketing. There are two key aspects to this: Firstly, the scientific community, in which we place our research results thematically, and secondly, the transfer of knowledge to society.
Marketing and press relations are highly relevant in today's world. Do you see new ways of expanding this area?
Henning Trsek: Yes, I agree. Due to the high level of relevance, we have decided to divide responsibilities in our new constellation. In our new structure, the deputy institute directors will each take on their own areas of responsibility. One of these areas will be marketing and public relations. This will ensure that these important tasks are not carried out by just one person.
What is the current state of the "research market" from your perspective?
Volker Lohweg: The research market must be viewed from two perspectives. On the one hand, from the point of view of the research institutions. On behalf of inIT, I can say that we are active in many incredibly exciting areas in the context of intelligent automation and see great potential for the future in our research topics. On the other hand, there is the political perspective. Here we see a need for optimisation both at federal level and in the federal state of NRW. Research must be prioritised more highly in future, because in a dynamic world, Germany will only make progress through research and development.
Everyone is talking about transfer. Do you also see added value in transfer for research institutes?
Henning Trsek: Yes, definitely. For us as professors, transfer is one of our established duties. I believe that this is the supreme discipline: transferring the methods and findings that we have researched in a protected environment into practice and applying them in companies and industry. That is ultimately the decisive factor, because it creates real partnerships and economic progress and added value. Transfer is therefore definitely a very important and central point.
What advice can you give Henning Trsek?
Volker Lohweg: First of all, I wish Henning, Ulrich and Lukasz great success in the future. The inIT is now 18 years old and has therefore come of age. The new institute direction will continue to take it to new heights and make it even more successful. I am sure that they will succeed.
How do you envisage the collaboration with the other institutes of TH OWL and the Fraunhofer IOSB-INA?
Henning Trsek: The existing collaboration can be expanded even further. We have the opportunity to work together on very specific topics via our real-world laboratories such as the Smart Factory OWL and the Future Food Factory OWL. We may also co-operate in joint research projects. This collaboration is already working well and I am confident that we will further optimise and expand it in various areas.