Thomas Gries was born in Cologne, Germany, in 1964. He received a Dipl.-Ing. degree in mechanical engineering and a Dipl.-Wirt.-Ing. degree in 1989 and 1992, respectively, from RWTH Aachen University, Germany. He received his Ph.D. degree in 1995, also from RWTH Aachen University. From 1995 to 2000, he worked at the Lurgi Zimmer AG, Frankfurt/Main, Germany, as the head of the department and central division of Technologies for Fibers. In 2001, he became a professor at RWTH Aachen University in the area of textile machinery and a director of the Institut für Textiltechnik (ITA). Since 2013, he has been an honorary professor at Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russian Federation.