Stefan Wagner

Stefan Wagner serves as a Professor at the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria (FH OOE), based at the Research Center Hagenberg Center of Excellence for Smart Production. His academic affiliation resides within the Department of Production and Operations Management under the institution's ICT focal area. Wagner holds the title FH-Prof. DI Dr. and actively serves as Principal Investigator (PI) on multiple research projects including ENPro (Energy Neutral Production) and JRZ adaptOp (Josef Ressel Center for Adaptive Optimization), driving innovation in optimization and smart manufacturing systems.

Wagner's research expertise centers on Evolutionary Computation and Optimization, with specialized focus on Genetic Algorithms, Heuristic Optimization, and Dynamic Optimization. As lead developer of HeuristicLab—an open-source optimization environment—he bridges theoretical advances with industrial applications in Symbolic Regression, Production Scheduling, and Energy-Efficient Manufacturing. His work addresses complex challenges in logistics, crane scheduling, and energy-neutral production through evolutionary techniques.

Recent publications (2025) reveal a pronounced trend toward distributed and dynamic optimization frameworks. Key themes include diversity management in changing environments, containerization for scalable evolutionary computation, and hybrid cooperative approaches for symbolic regression. Applications span container terminal logistics, energy-neutral manufacturing, and robust unloading bay optimization, demonstrating strong industry-oriented problem-solving.

Wagner received the FH OÖ Researcher Award in 2019 for exceptional contributions. He has secured funding for 9 research projects including ENPro (2025-2028) and SMART UNLOAD, frequently serving as PI or Co-PI. His projects tackle production optimization, workforce planning, and energy efficiency in Upper Austrian manufacturing. With 4 supervised students and extensive community engagement through EvoSoft at GECCO and EUROCAST peer review, he actively shapes the evolutionary computation landscape.

Leading the HeuristicLab project, Wagner collaborates with industry partners through the Center Hagenberg research team to develop simulation and optimization tools for adaptive scheduling. His current work in the ENPro project targets energy-neutral production via modeling and optimization, positioning him at the forefront of sustainable manufacturing innovation in industrial settings.