President of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, Corporate Management and Research

 was born in Stuttgart (Germany) on April 13th 1944. He began his career working as a manufacturer for the Daimler-Benz Company in Stuttgart, after which he read a degree at the University of Stuttgart, graduating with a Master's degree and Ph.D. in Manufacturing.

Being in charge of the Stuttgarter Fraunhofer-Institute of Production Technology and Automation, Dr. Bullinger was responsible for many applied research projects in the field of design and manufacturing, with the goal being to increase the productivity of computer based systems. These projects were carried out together with well-known German companies, such as Robert Bosch, Siemens, VW, Daimler Benz and others.  Much of his experience was gained working on several projects, which took place abroad; he was often invited to lectures in the United States, Japan, Korea, China, India, Australia and South America. Hence his rich knowledge regarding the international situation of applied informatics comes into being.

After two years of lecturing at the University of Hagen, Dr. Bullinger was asked to be a full-time lecturer at the University of Stuttgart. Besides his role as chairman of the University, Dr. Bullinger is also the head of the Institute for Human Factors and Technology Management (IAT) and the Fraunhofer-Institute for Industrial Engineering (IAO). The institutes are renowned for the carrying out of projects with both German and foreign countries. Since October 2002, he is President of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, Corporate Management and Research.

In 1978, Dr. Bullinger received the Kienzle-Medal as an award from the University Group of Manufacturing. In 1982, the gold Ring-of-Honour was awarded by the German Society of Engineers (VDI). In 1986 he received the Distinguished Foreign Colleague award from the Human Factor Society. In 1991, he became an honorary Doctor at the University of Novi Sad and in the same year an honorary Professor at the University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei. He has since 1993 been a member of the World Academy of Productivity Science and in 1994, became an elected honorary member of the Rumanian Society of Mechanical Engineers. In 1995, he received the Arthur Burckhardt Prize and in 1998, the Order of the Federal Republic of Germany.

During these years, Dr. Bullinger has written in excess of 1,000 articles and books regarding industrial engineering.

Editor: Catherine