Prof. Dr. Michael Rethmeier serves at the BAM Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing, holds a Ph.D. degree. He is the head of the Welding Technology division. He is also the chair of Joining Technology at the Institute of Machine Tools and Factory Management, Berlin Institute of Technology, and division director of Joining and Coating Technology at the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Systems and Design Technology. Present research topics include, amongst others, innovative arc welding processes, high power laser beam welding, and numerical simulations of various welding processes.