TUM professor elected unanimously

Claudia Eckert becomes President of the National Academy of Science and Engineering

"Increasing innovative power to strengthen Germany's competitiveness is one of the key tasks for the future. As a link between scientific invention and economic innovation, acatech has a key role to play here. As acatech President, I would like to work to further strengthen this important role of acatech in the innovation system and to substantially support Germany's competitiveness by actively helping to shape technology-driven innovation," says Claudia Eckert. "We cannot solve the great challenges of our time with the same approach that we used when we created them," emphasises the acatech President-designate, freely paraphrasing Albert Einstein. "The wide-ranging scientific excellence of acatech's members and partners forms the indispensable foundation of our work. On this basis, we develop new approaches, impulses and concrete recommendations for policymakers based on facts and evidence. Building on this and in close dialogue with politics, business and society, we identify future-oriented options for action and provide guidance on how Germany can strengthen its future viability."

"In Claudia Eckert, an excellent technology scientist and sought-after IT security researcher, is taking over the role of acatech President," says outgoing President Jan Wörner.

"Claudia Eckert's research is of outstanding importance for the security, resilience and innovative capacity of our country. As acatech President, she will bring enormous benefits to the Academy and our innovation hub with her profound experience and networking," emphasises Co-President Thomas Weber.

Claudia Eckert is Professor for IT Security at TUM and executive director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied and Integrated Security AISEC. She researches new methods and technologies to increase the security and trustworthiness of digital, networked systems. Claudia Eckert is a long-standing member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities and has been an acatech member since 2010; she became a member of the acatech Executive Board in 2014. In 2023, TUM honoured her with the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Medal for her outstanding contributions in the field of IT security.