(Frankfurt am Main, January 22, 2026) Prof. Dr. Christoph Kutter is the new president of the VDE Association for Electrical, Electronic & Information Technologies. The director of Fraunhofer EMFT takes over from the previous VDE president Alf Hendryk Wulf, to whom he has been deputy for the past two years.
“The VDE stands for a future-oriented approach to technology, which we want to breathe new life into in a visible way,” says Christoph Kutter. “Our enthusiasm for electrical engineering and information technology is the driving force that has inspired engineers for over 125 years – and it is precisely this passion that I want to strengthen and bring to society.”
Focus on the next generation
Kutter says of the priorities for his term of office: “A particular focus for me is on attracting young people to the VDE and supporting them in the long term – from their studies to the start of their careers and on to the phase of their own professional development. We want to be the place where technical curiosity, responsible innovation, and personal growth come together.”
Christoph Kutter has been Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Electronic Microsystems and Solid State Technologies (EMFT), an institute of the Research Factory Microelectronics Germany (FMD), since July 2012. His main areas of focus there are silicon technologies, MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems), flexible electronics, biosystem integration, and heterogeneous integration of various solid-state technologies. He also holds the professorship for Polytronic Systems at the University of the Federal Armed Forces in Munich. From 1995 to 2012, Christoph Kutter held various management positions at Infineon Technologies AG and Siemens AG, including head of development for communication products, chip cards, and central research. Christoph Kutter was responsible for several key improvement projects to increase efficiency in research and development, as well as for managing the company-wide innovation initiative. From 1990 to 1995, Christoph Kutter worked as a research scientist at the High Magnetic Field Laboratory (Max Planck Institute for Solid State Physics) in Grenoble, France.
Christoph Kutter studied physics at the Technical University of Munich and received his Dr. rer. nat. degree from the University of Konstanz. Christoph Kutter is a member of acatech and the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities (BBAW). He has been Deputy President of the VDE since 2024.
Focus on the microelectronics of the future
Christoph Kutter also wants to advance his scientific priorities as president of the VDE: “The focus of my presidency will be on the microelectronics of the future,” he says. "The VDE has always placed microelectronics at the forefront as a key strategic technology. It is the nervous system of digitization, the energy transition, and the mobility of tomorrow. Germany and Europe need strength, sovereignty, and courage in this area – and the VDE will do its part to actively shape this future."
Christoph Kutter's predecessor as VDE President, Alf Hendryk Wulf, is also his successor as Deputy VDE President. Wulf is a member of the supervisory board and advisory board of various companies in the IT, telecommunications, software, electrical engineering, energy, and raw materials industries. After studying electrical engineering at the Technical University of Munich, he began his professional career in 1991 at Alcatel SEL AG, where he was appointed to the board of directors in 2003 and became CEO in 2009. In 2012, he moved to Alstom Deutschland AG, and in 2015 to GE Power AG, in each case as Chairman of the Executive Board. He heads the BWCon hi-tech network in Baden-Württemberg and is a member of the advisory board of the Goethe Society in Weimar. After a first term in office in 2011 and 2012, Wulf became VDE President for the second time in 2023.
