Plenary Speakers 2023
The plenary speakers of the next Aachen Colloquium will be announced with the publication of the program in May.

Arnd Franz
After studying business administration, Arnd Franz started his career in 1992 with Deutsche Industrie‐Holding GmbH & Co. KG, Frankfurt am Main, initially in Group Controlling and then as Commercial Director of several subsidiaries. He was then Commercial Director with TEV GmbH, Erlensee and Director Finance with Magna Seating Systems Europe GmbH, Lohr am Main. Franz, who was born in Stuttgart, joined MAHLE Tennex North America Inc., Murfreesboro (USA) as Managing Director in 2001. In subsequent years, he held various positions at the Stuttgart headquarters of the MAHLE Group: he was Director Controlling of MAHLE Filtersysteme GmbH from 2004, Member of the MAHLE Management Committee responsible for Aftermarket from 2006 and Member of the MAHLE Management Board responsible for Sales and Application Engineering and Aftermarket from 2013 to 2019 before becoming CEO of LKQ Europe.
Arnd Franz is committed to clean, safe, affordable mobility. He supports fair competition between the best technologies for a carbon-neutral future mobility. In his current role as MAHLE CEO he has launched a new strategy for the technology group. MAHLE 2030+ comprises three strategy fields: electrification, thermal management and efficient internal combustion engines that can run on hydrogen and other non-fossil fuels, such as e-fuels. Applying all available technologies is the fastest way to climate neutrality.

Gürcan Karakas
M. Gürcan Karakaş was born in Antalya in 1965 and grew up in Germany. In 1988 he graduated from Middle East Technical University (METU) with a degree in mechanical engineering. In the same year he joined Aselsan in Ankara. In 1990 he started his career at Bosch. In 2002 he joined the executive board and in 2004 he was promoted to CEO of Bosch Türkiye. In 2007 he took over the management of global sales and the Bosch Car Service network at the Bosch Automotive Aftermarket division in Karlsruhe. In 2011, he took over the management of marketing and sales and automotive strategies at Bosch headquarters. In 2013 he returned to active operational business and became a member of the Board of Directors of the Electrical Drives division with global responsibilities with a focus on the NAFTA and Asia markets. After a long and successful career at Bosch, on September 1, 2018, he took over responsibility as CEO of the Turkish mobility technology and ecosystem provider Togg.

Atsushi Ogawa
As COO of the Advanced Research Center of Excellence and Managing Officer at Honda R&D, Atsushi Ogawa leads the organization dedicated to a variety of projects aimed at achieving carbon neutrality, zero fatal traffic accidents, and the creation of a new mobility world. After being engaged in aerodynamics development for Honda Jet, F1, Indy, and passenger cars, as well as automobile platform development, and holding positions in thermal management, acceleration performance, and vehicle dynamics, Atsushi Ogawa was appointed to his current COO position in 2020.
Honda R&D Co., Ltd. plays a vital role in technical development of Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (commonly called Honda), a Japanese automobile manufacture.
In the area of environmental sustainability, we are striving to achieve a sustainable society through the development of solid-state batteries, fuel cells, and initiatives to promote resource circulation, among other efforts. We are also working on intelligent driving technology, autonomous drive, and a secure and safe communication network for vehicles to achieve zero traffic collision fatalities. Moreover, we are challenging new areas of mobility, such as eVTOL, robotics, and micro-mobility, based on the concept of expanding people's potential in life and experiencing the joy that comes with technological innovation.
Honda will continue taking on challenges to share joys and excitement with customers and communities around the world to strive to become a company society wants to exist.
Honda is aiming for “carbon neutrality” and “zero traffic collisions” and is also working on “challenges in new areas.” Honda’s own core technologies such as combustion, electrification, control, and robotics are indispensable to achieving these. Leveraging these strengths, we will serve people worldwide with “the joy of expanding their life’s potential” in new mobility areas such as reusable small rocket, eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing), and avatar robots.

Dr. Frederik Zohm
MAN Truck & Bus SE
MAN Truck & Bus is one of Europe's leading commercial vehicle manufacturers and transport solution providers, with an annual revenue of more than 11 billion € (2022). The company's product portfolio includes trucks, buses/coaches, vans and diesel and gas engines along with services related to passenger and cargo transport. MAN Truck & Bus is a company of TRATON SE and employs approximately 33,000 people worldwide.
Participants of the closing plenary discussion on the topic
"Sustainable Transport under ESG Perspective"

Matthias Jurytko
Dr. Matthias Jurytko is CEO of the cellcentric GmbH & Co. KG. Prior to his current position, Dr. Jurytko was Head of the Mercedes-Benz Wörth plant. He has a background in business engineering and studied at the Karlsruher Institute for Technology (KIT). He obtained his PhD at the University of Hohenheim.
Dr. Jurytko joined the former Mercedes-Benz AG in 1990. After various stations in Stuttgart, Kassel, South Africa and Rastatt, he took over the controlling and accounting department at Mercedes-Benz Engines in Mannheim from 2001, before taking over responsibility for controlling of the Powertrain Division Daimler Trucks in 2006. In 2009, Dr. Jurytko moved to Gaggenau and became Head of Product Areas incl. torque converters, cutting and shaping technology, equipment and tool construction as well as international logistics. In 2011, he was given responsibility for the Mercedes-Benz Gaggenau plant.
Dr. Peter Laier
generation of mobility. ZF allows vehicles to see, think and act. In the four technology domains of Vehicle Motion Control, Integrated Safety,
Automated Driving, and Electric Mobility, ZF offers comprehensive product and software solutions for established vehicle manufacturers and newly emerging transport and mobility service providers. ZF electrifies a wide range of vehicle types. With its products, the company contributes to reducing emissions, protecting the climate and enhancing safe mobility. With some 165,000 employees worldwide, ZF reported sales of €43.8 billion in fiscal 2022. The company operates 168 production locations in 32 countries. For further information please visit: www.zf.com

Dr. Gerrit Marx
Gerrit Marx has more than 20 years of experience in roles of increasing importance in different locations around the world and in a variety of industrial segments, with a specific in-depth focus on automotive industries. He holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering (“Diplom Ingenieur”) and an MBA (“Diplom Kaufmann”) from RWTH Aachen University, and a Doctorate in Business Administration from Cologne University.From 1999 to 2007, Mr Marx worked at the global consulting firm McKinsey & Company, focusing on operational improvement programmes in the automotive and aerospace industries in Europe, Brazil, and Japan.He joined Daimler AG in 2007 to head the global controlling function for vehicle and powertrain component projects, as well as market-entry / mergers and acquisitions for three truck brands in North America, Europe, and Asia. This led him to the role of President and Chief Executive Officer at Daimler Trucks China in 2009 and subsequently, President of Skoda China with Volkswagen AG, overseeing imports and joint venture business relations in both roles.In 2012 Mr Marx joined the European leadership team of Bain Capital as a member of their portfolio group, driving and leading transformational change programs. This role also encompassed due diligence and merger and acquisition activities, with specific focus on automotive and industrial assets, and also included interim roles such as Chief Executive Officer of Wittur Group, a global Tier-1 supplier to the elevator industry.Gerrit Marx joined CNH Industrial in January 2019 as President of Commercial and Specialty Vehicles.Since the spin-off of Iveco Group from CNH Industrial on 1st January 2022, Mr Marx has served as Chief Executive Officer of the newly formed Company After studying business administration, Arnd Franz started his career in 1992 with Deutsche Industrie‐Holding GmbH & Co. KG, Frankfurt am Main, initially in Group Controlling and then as Commercial Director of several subsidiaries. He was then Commercial Director with TEV GmbH, Erlensee and Director Finance with Magna Seating Systems Europe GmbH, Lohr am Main. Franz, who was born in Stuttgart, joined MAHLE Tennex North America Inc., Murfreesboro (USA) as Managing Director in 2001. In subsequent years, he held various positions at the Stuttgart headquarters of the MAHLE Group: he was Director Controlling of MAHLE Filtersysteme GmbH from 2004, Member of the MAHLE Management Committee responsible for Aftermarket from 2006 and Member of the MAHLE Management Board responsible for Sales and Application Engineering and Aftermarket from 2013 to 2019 before becoming CEO of LKQ Europe.
Arnd Franz is committed to clean, safe, affordable mobility. He supports fair competition between the best technologies for a carbon-neutral future mobility. In his current role as MAHLE CEO he has launched a new strategy for the technology group. MAHLE 2030+ comprises three strategy fields: electrification, thermal management and efficient internal combustion engines that can run on hydrogen and other non-fossil fuels, such as e-fuels. Applying all available technologies is the fastest way to climate neutrality.
Plenary Speakers 2022
Opening Plenary Session 2022
Hans Schep General Manager, Ford Pro, Europe
Kai-Uwe Wollenhaupt, President SVOLT Europe and Vice President SVOLT Energy Technology
Closing Plenary Session 2022
Axel Gern, Senior Vice President of Engineering und Managing Director of Torc Europe GmbH
Gerrit Marx, Chief Executive Officer of IVECO Group
Plenary Speakers 2021
Opening Plenary Session 2021
Markus Duesmann, Chairman of the Board of Management and Board of Management Member for Product Lines at AUDI AG
Dr.-Ing. Stefan Hartung, Member of the Board of Management, Robert Bosch GmbH
Closing Plenary Session 2021
Prof. Dr. Ralf G. Herrtwich, Senior Director Automotive Software NVIDIA, Berlin
Dr. Byung-Ki Ahn, Senior Vice President der Electric Powertrain BU, Hyundai MOBIS, Korea