The materials and AM specialist with a doctorate is the first representative of an automotive manufacturer on the advisory board. "We are very pleased about this gain in automotive expertise and value Dr. Rietzel as a driving force for the further profiling of our event," emphasizes Michael Kynast, Managing Director of Messe Erfurt.

Dr. Rietzel has extensive AM experience from scientific and industrial activities, including at the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg and at MAN Truck & Bus, before moving to the BMW Group. He was a member of various standardization committees and helped to develop the first VDI guideline for quality control of laser sintered components. With his involvement in the advisory board, he wants to make a contribution to the economic use of additive manufacturing. He says: "Both as a visitor and as a speaker, I have been involved in the event for more than a decade now and have seen it grow from different perspectives. For this reason, I am pleased to be able to provide my own impetus as part of my work on the advisory board. In the future, too, it is important that conference visitors receive a balanced portfolio of contributions in order to gain an overview of the latest state of the art in the industry on the one hand, but also to be able to exchange ideas at expert level on the other. It is important to learn from this, particularly because the automotive sector is an important industrial sector in Germany and additive manufacturing in the automotive industry has recently shown more and more serious potential on an international level. A lot of knowledge has been generated in every project that has been implemented and it is exciting to be able to share this experience with the supplier industry."

The 16th edition of Rapid.Tech + FabCon 3.D. will take place in Erfurt from June 25 to 27. This year, more than 5,000 international trade visitors and congress participants are expected.