Matthias Oechsner

Matthias Oechsner serves as Vice President for Research at Technical University of Darmstadt and holds a W3 Professorship in the Department of Mechanical Engineering since 2010, leading the Institute of Materials Science. His career bridges 23 years of industrial engineering leadership at Siemens AG (1997-2020) across Munich, Orlando, Mülheim, Berlin, and Shanghai with academic administration.

His research focuses on Materials Science and Energy Systems, evidenced by his 2016-2018 leadership of the TU Darmstadt Energy Center and Profile Area 'Future Energy Systems'. His industry background in power generation and gas turbine technology informs interdisciplinary work in structural durability and materials engineering.

Oechsner maintains influential roles across research governance:

• Chairman (since 2021) of Wissenschaftlicher Arbeitskreis der Universitätsprofessoren der Werkstofftechnik (WAW e.V.)
• Board member at Fraunhofer LBF (2011-present) and DECHEMA Research Institute (2017-present)
• Advisory roles for VGB PowerTech, AVIF, DVM e.V., and AiF e.V. review panels

He previously served as Dean of Mechanical Engineering (2019-2021) and continues shaping energy research policy through federal industry associations.