Dieter Fuchs, head of International Business Development at the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft in Munich, has been elected President of the World Association of Industrial and Technological Research Organizations WAITRO. It is the first time in the association’s history that this honorary post has been awarded to a German.
WAITRO is the world’s largest association of applied research organizations. With more than 160 members in 65 countries, it unites industrial and technological research and development organizations in a worldwide network. It was founded more than 35 years ago under the auspices of the United Nations to promote Technology transfer and to provide a platform for international knowledge sharing in research and technology management. One of its foremost aims is to create lasting benefits by forging collaborative ties between member organizations in industrialized and developing countries, not only as a means of promoting economic development but also to support self help in less privileged regions of the world. The association is financed by membership fees, funding from individual governments and project-related funding from the United Nations Industrial Development Organization UNIDO, the EU and other funding organizations.Dieter Fuchs, who holds a doctorate in mineralogy, was born in Zweibrücken in 1952 and is married. In the 1970s he worked in Italy, Switzerland and Iran. Between 1980 and 1985 he was involved in setting up a national raw materials laboratory for the Yemen Oil and Mineral Resources Corporation in Sanaa, within the framework of the German international aid program. He joined the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft in 1986, working initially at the Fraunhofer Institute for Silicate Research ISC in Würzburg. Since 1996, he has been in charge of International Business Development at the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft’s headquarters in Munich, where he manages and coordinates worldwide networking and business development activities for all Fraunhofer Institutes. Every two years the General Assembly of WAITRO meets for its biennial congress. This took place last week in Canada, where Dieter Fuchs was elected as the new president. Fuchs stressed: “There is no doubt that when innovation and technology are properly applied they can play a decisive role in driving economic development and promoting social stability.” |
