Christiane Rau

Christiane Rau is a Professor at the University of Applied Sciences Wels, specializing in Design Thinking, Innovation Practices, and IoT Applications. She leads the Research Center Wels Innovation, focusing on projects like FoodNetLab (Food Value Networks) and UDB-IoT (IoT Applications in Industry). Her work bridges innovation management, organizational dynamics, and digital transformation.

Education: Holds a Dipl.-Wirtsch.-Ing. (Diploma in Economics Engineering) and a Dr. (Doctorate). Her research integrates experimental methodologies with real-world organizational challenges, emphasizing boundary crossing and knowledge-sharing in innovation ecosystems.

Research interests include Design Thinking implementation, agile methodologies for product-service systems, and consumer perception of digitization in food sectors. Her recent studies explore dynamic managerial capabilities in aviation and empowerment through innovation processes.

She has supervised 3 academic works and actively participates in conferences like EURAM 2020. Key grants include funding for IoT business models (2017-2019) and food value network innovation (2018-2020).

Labs/Teams: Core member of the Research Center Wels Innovation, collaborating on interdisciplinary projects across industry and academia.