Prof. Dr Ulrich Seiffert

Professor Dr-Ing. Ulrich Seiffert is senator of the Helmholtz Association for the Research Field "Aeronautics, Space and Transport". He is currently managing director of the WiTech Engineering GmbH in Braunschweig, and has held this position since 1996.

After obtaining his Diplom degree in mechanical engineering at the Technische Universität Braunschweig, Seiffert began his professional career in 1966 as a research engineer in the technical development division of Volkswagen AG, where he went on to become head of the division for vehicle safety research in 1969. In 1974 he successfully defended his doctoral thesis on “Problems of Automotive Safety” at the Technische Universität Berlin. Whilst holding various managerial positions in the Volkswagen Group, e.g. head of group research and powertrain development, Seiffert became a lecturer at the Technische Universität Braunschweig for automotive safety in 1980 and was awarded an honorary professorship in 1986.

From 1988 to 1995 he was member of the board for research and development of Volkswagen AG and, from 1997 to 2010, spokesman of the Centre for Traffic Management (ZVB) at the TU Braunschweig. He is currently member of the board of ITS lower Saxony and for the VDI-vehicle and traffic management. In addition, he is also a member of a number of supervisory and advisory boards of various companies and other institutions.

Ulrich Seiffert is the author of numerous books on a variety of subjects such as automotive safety, modern development methods, simultaneous engineering, manufacturing processes, and transport and environmental topics. He has received many awards for his work in the fields of automotive safety and engineering and environmental issues, e.g. safety award USA, Fellow SAE, Order of Merit of the State of Niedersachsen (1997), International Rheinland Award for Environmental Protection (1994), “Man of the Year” from Autocar & Motor magazine (1991), Ehrenkreuz für Wissenschaft und Kunst of the Republic of Austria (1990), Vice-President’s Trophy of the Guild of Motoring Writers (1989).