The Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems IPMS is expanding its leadership team: Prof Dr Wenke Weinreich has been appointed the institute’s second director, effective immediately. In her new role, she will be working alongside Institute Director Prof Dr Harald Schenk and guiding the institute’s strategic and scientific direction. At the same time, she will take on the professorship in Functionalised Microelectronics for Heterogeneous Systems at the Dresden University of Technology.
With Prof Weinreich, Fraunhofer IPMS adds a widely recognised expert in advanced 300 mm wafer fabrication. She has extensive leadership experience at Fraunhofer IPMS, where she has served as deputy director since 2022. She also led the Center Nanoelectronic Technologies (CNT), one of Germany’s leading hubs for 300 mm microelectronics. The centre’s industry-standard 300 mm clean room is central to research and pilot production in advanced CMOS, FEOL/BEOL process modules, memory technologies, quantum computing and new sustainable material systems.
Critical role of microelectronics
“Microelectronics is critical to Germany’s competitiveness and Europe’s technological sovereignty,” says Prof Dr Holger Hanselka, President of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. “By appointing Prof Weinreich, Fraunhofer IPMS is making a strategic investment in a future-critical field with major relevance to technology and industry. With many years of experience translating research findings into practical industrial applications and her proven expertise in microelectronics, she will play a key role in accelerating and boosting the development of innovative microelectronics solutions and bringing them into real-world use for industry and society.”
“Fraunhofer IPMS combines outstanding research infrastructure with a highly motivated team and a clear mandate to innovate,” says Prof Weinreich. “My goal is to draw on my experience in 300 mm wafer technology, clean room management and bridging research and industry to help drive the institute’s continued technological and strategic development.”
Prof Harald Schenk looks forward to continuing to work with Weinreich. “With her experience in strategic institute development, her research excellence and her extensive network within the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, she will help drive Fraunhofer IPMS’s continued growth and shape its future.”
Career path
Prof Wenke Weinreich earned her degree in applied natural sciences from TU Bergakademie Freiberg before obtaining her doctorate from Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg in 2013, where she focused on materials development for DRAM technology. At Fraunhofer IPMS, she has had an impressive career, advancing from research scientist and group leader to business unit manager and division director before being appointed deputy institute director. Most recently, she managed annual budgets in the tens of millions and led a team of around 110 employees.
Her new role as institute director of Fraunhofer IPMS comes with a professorship at the Dresden University of Technology. Prof Weinreich intends to use her professorship in Functionalised Microelectronics for Heterogeneous Systems to drive pre-competitive research on innovative technologies that can later be scaled up at Fraunhofer, such as on-chip integrated energy management systems like batteries and energy harvesters. A prolific author of scientific publications, she serves on international technical committees such as the IEEE Technical Committee of the IEDM and is general chair of ICICDT. She holds several patents.
By expanding its institute management, Fraunhofer IPMS is strengthening its position in the research community and making a clear commitment to growth, innovation and continued progress in areas that will shape the future.