Curriculum Vitae

Prof. Kirchner, born 1969, studied mechanical engineering and applied mechanics to former Technische Hochschule Darmstadt from 1990 to 1995, where he also received his Ph.D. for a thesis on nonlinear optimization problems in structural mechanics. Between 1999 and 2011 he held various positions at Adam Opel AG and GM Powertrain starting from Analysis Engineer for Structural Integrity up to Head of the Department for Shift System Design and Release with global responsibility within GM, always focusing on combustion powered vehicles. As an intermediate position he was Program Manager for the Concept stage build of G’s dry dual clutch DCT program. From 2011 until early 2016 he changed subject and worked in the area of electric mobility with Schaeffler and Siemens.
By April 1^st he was appointed University Professor for Product Development and Machine Elements and has in the meantime started to build up new research fields and the respective test facilities. He authored a monograph book on vehicle transmissions during his industrial time and holds over 150 patents, mostly on automotive technology.