Following the retirement of Prof. Dr. Georg Steinbichler, ENGEL has reorganised its development department and is now focusing even more strongly on process technology. Products and solutions for increasing process capability, such as the smart assistance systems of the iQ product family, but also innovative services, have been bundled in the Process Technologies department under the responsibility of Johannes Kilian.
Process technology and its requirements are some of the key drivers of digital transformation at ENGEL. "Digitalisation is key to leveraging the full potential of injection moulding machines and systems solutions and the linchpin for the future competitiveness of companies in our industry," says Kilian. "We support our customers en route to the smart factory along the entire product life cycle. The market can continue to expect big things from ENGEL in this field in the coming years".
Kilian has been with the company since 2013, initially as assistant to the CTO, where he assumed responsibility for global development as project manager. Since 2015 Kilian has headed the Simulation and Control Technology department.
Johannes Kilian studied mechatronics at the Johannes Kepler University Linz in Austria, where he completed his academic education with a PhD in technical sciences.
Parallel to his work at ENGEL, Kilian is also involved in training engineers at the Upper Austrian University of Applied Sciences in Wels.
Georg Steinbichler shaped process development for nearly 40 years
Georg Steinbichler shaped ENGEL's research and development work for almost four decades, 17 years of which as Senior Vice President Research & Development Technologies. His name is associated with numerous technological and scientific innovations of global significance, as well as with establishing academic training in plastics technology in Upper Austria. In addition to his activities at ENGEL, he was appointed to the board of the then newly-founded Institute for Polymer Injection Moulding and Process Automation at Johannes Kepler University Linz in 2009, which he continues to chair along with the Institute for Polymer Extrusion and Compounding and the LIT Factory at the Linz Institute of Technology.
