Christoph Kutter is the new President of the VDE

Prof. Dr. Christoph Kutter is the new President of the VDE Association for Electrical, Electronic & Information Technologies. The Director of Fraunhofer EMFT takes over the office of the previous VDE President Alf Hendryk Wulf, whose deputy he has already been for the past two years.

"The VDE stands for a forward-looking approach to technology that we want to bring to life in a new and visible way," says Christoph Kutter. "Our enthusiasm for electrical engineering and information technology is the engine that has driven engineers for over 125 years - and it is precisely this passion that I want to strengthen and bring to society."

Commenting on the focal points of his term of office, Kutter says: "I am particularly focused on attracting young people to VDE and supporting them in the long term - from their studies and career entry to their own professional development. We want to be the place where technical curiosity, responsible innovation and personal growth come together."

Christoph Kutter has been Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Electronic Microsystems and Solid State Technologies (EMFT), an institute of the Research Fab Microelectronics Germany (FMD), since July 2012. His focus there is on silicon technologies, MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems), flexible electronics, biosystem integration and heterogeneous integration of various solid-state technologies. He is also Professor of Polytronic Systems at the University of the Federal Armed Forces in Munich. From 1995 to 2012, Kutter held various management positions at Infineon Technologies and Siemens, including head of development for communication products, the chip card and central research. Kutter was responsible for several central improvement projects to increase efficiency in research and development and for managing the company-wide innovation initiative. From 1990 to 1995, Kutter worked as a research scientist at the High Magnetic Field Laboratory (Max Planck Institute for Solid State Physics) in Grenoble, France.

Kutter studied physics at the Technical University of Munich and received his doctorate (Dr. rer. nat.) from the University of Konstanz. He is a member of acatech and the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities (BBAW). He has been Deputy VDE President since 2024.

Kutter would also like to advance his scientific priorities as President of the VDE: "The focus of my presidency will be on the microelectronics of the future," he says. "The VDE has always prioritized microelectronics as a key strategic technology. It is the nervous system of digitalization, the energy transition and the mobility of tomorrow. Germany and Europe need strength, sovereignty and courage here - and the VDE will play its part in actively shaping this future."

Kutter's predecessor as VDE President, Alf Hendryk Wulf, is also his successor as Deputy VDE President. Wulf is a member of the supervisory and advisory boards of various companies in the IT, telecommunications, software, electrical engineering, energy and raw materials sectors. After studying electrical engineering at the Technical University of Munich, he began his professional career at Alcatel SEL in 1991, where he was appointed to the Management Board in 2003 and became Chairman of the Management Board in 2009. In 2012, he moved to Alstom Germany and in 2015 to GE Power, both as Chairman of the Executive Board. He heads the hi-tech network BWCon in Baden-Württemberg and is a member of the advisory board of the Goethe Society in Weimar. After a first term in 2011 and 2012, Wulf has been VDE President for the second time since 2023.