After more than 20 successful years, the chair and co-founder of CTI SYMPOSIUM GERMANY, Prof. Dr. Ferit Küçükay, is passing the baton to Prof. Dr. Malte Jaensch.
Prof. Küçükay began working with CTI back in 1999, when he chaired the first specialist conference on vehicle transmissions. Two years earlier, he had been appointed professor and Director of the Institute for Vehicle Technology at the TU Braunschweig from his managerial role at BMW.
The new cooperation with CTI soon paid dividends: by 2001, the specialist conference had become an international symposium for innovators, decision-makers and specialists from all over the world.
Prof. Küçükay is a respected scientist, author and co-author of numerous publications and specialist books (his latest is the comprehensive work “Fundamentals of Vehicle Technology”). He is also a strategic and technical expert with a deep grasp of the topics, trends and technologies that matter in the vehicle and drive industry. As CTI chair, these abilities enabled him to attract high-profile speakers from international companies. Under his leadership, an advisory board comprising international experts from the industry and universities was set up.
The CTI Symposium grew to become Europe’s foremost industry get-together, covering all relevant fields connected to vehicle drives. One example of the importance of the CTI Symposium among specialists is the term DHT, or Dedicated Hybrid Transmission. This was first defined and introduced by the Advisory Board, and is now used internationally. Building on its successful track record, the CTI Symposium later expanded to the USA and to China.
As the topics of importance in the industry changed, so did the topic portfolio at the symposia. In the early days, transmissions for conventional drives and their components played the main role; these were later joined by transmissions for hybrid and electric drives. Today, the main focus rests on electrified and electric drives for cars and commercial vehicles.
An extensive trade exhibition also evolved alongside the wide-ranging lecture program. This exhibition, together with the seminars Prof. Küçükay has held on all three continents over the years and his commitment to giving attendees a hands-on experience of the latest technologies at the numerous Test Drives, have fueled the growth of the CTI Symposium into a unique industry event.
After over twenty years of outstanding work as chair, and as Chairman of the Advisory Board, Prof. Küçükay will pass on his role as chair to Prof. Malte Jaensch, Head of the Chair for Sustainable Mobile Drive Systems at the Technical University of Munich, during the CTI SYMPOSIUM GERMANY 2023.
Malte Jaensch studied mechanical engineering at the TU Braunschweig, followed by a doctorate in mechatronics at Imperial College London. His doctoral thesis was recognized as the best in mechanical engineering. Next, he founded a startup for high-performance electric motors and drives in the UK; six years later, the company was taken over by GKN. From 2013 to 2021, Prof. Jaensch was Head of Electric Drivetrain at Porsche Engineering.
With his long years of experience in the industry, his engineering expertise and his understanding of the challenges the industry faces, Prof. Jaensch is ideally equipped to help the CTI Symposium evolve further. Under his leadership, the different electrified and electric drives and their most important components will remain in focus, and related issues will continue to be addressed and discussed.
CTI wishes to thank Prof. Dr. Ferit Küçükay for over two decades of successful cooperation, and we welcome his ongoing support in his future role as Founding Chairman. At the same time, we look forward to moving the CTI SYMPOSIUM forward with Prof. Malte Jaensch at the wheel, and to growing this international industry get-together for sustainable automotive drives further still.
