Roland Langfeld has taken office as Chairman of the German Society of Material Science e.V. (DGM). The Research Fellow for the technology group and speciality glass manufacturer Schott will lead the DGM for the next two years.
Langfeld says his main priorities will be to support young researchers in technical and scientific disciplines and to achieve stronger international networking between science and industry.
Langfeld studied physics at Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt/Main in the 1970s, where he wrote his dissertation at the Institute of Nuclear Physics, and then worked as a research assistant. He joined Schott in 1988 where he held various positions in the field of research. From 1998 to 2009, he was Vice President of Corporate Research and Technology Development. Since 2009, he has been a Research Fellow at Schott, one of the leading technology groups in the fields of speciality glass and glass-ceramics.
The DGM is considered to be Europe's largest technical and scientific society in the field of material science and technology. With its interdisciplinary expert committees, events and training courses, the society promotes the dialogue between science and industry. The society, headquartered in Frankfurt, strives to ensure national as well as international networking of experts, organises conferences and exhibitions across Europe and includes the younger generation in its activities.
The DGM consists of 2,500 individual members and roughly 200 member companies and institutions.