Farewell to honorary member Rainer Holzmann and election of new committee members
On 17 April 2026, representatives from industry, academia and research gathered at this year’s general meeting, as well as at the meetings of the Executive Board and the Board of Trustees of the Friends of the Institute for Plastics Processing (IKV) in Industry and Trade at RWTH Aachen University, to discuss current developments at the IKV and to further develop the institute’s strategic direction.
© IKVThe association has been the central network of IKV for decades and connects companies in the plastics industry with research and teaching at RWTH Aachen University. It supports the transfer of knowledge between science and industrial practice and actively accompanies the technological development of plastics technology.
The events on April 17, 2026 began with the General Assembly and the Board of Trustees meeting in the Walter-Michaeli-Saal of the IKV. Prior to the meeting, the Executive Board had already discussed current developments within the Association and the Institute’s key activities.
New committee members from 2027
As part of the regular committee meetings, changes were also made to the Board of Directors and Board of Trustees of the Fördervereinigung. The newly elected or confirmed members will take up their duties on January 1, 2027.
Herbert Müller (Ewald Dörken AG) and Dr. Joachim Simon (formerly Covestro AG) are stepping down from the Executive Board. Thorsten Ratzmann, Managing Director of Egeplast International GmbH, was newly elected to the Executive Board. In addition, Dr. Jochen Hauck, COO of Simona AG, will take over as Chairman of the Executive Board in future.
The Association’s Board of Trustees will also be strengthened by new members from various areas of the plastics industry from 2027. Tim Arping (Envalior Deutschland GmbH), Dr.-Ing. Torben Fischer (Windmöller & Hölscher SE & Co. KG), Dr. Christian Karg (Soplar SA, Altstätten, Switzerland), Dr.-Ing. Thorsten Thümen (Maag Deutschland GmbH), Dipl.-Ing. Martin Pütz (Sumitomo Demag), Dr.-Ing.Ing. Holger Niemeier (Lindauer Dornier GmbH), Dr.-Ing. Christina Härter (Netstal AG, Näfels, Switzerland), Dr.-Ing. Tobias Hallmann (Egeplast International GmbH), Dr. Thomas Bachon (Dörken GmbH & Co. KG) and Prof. Dr.-Ing. Hubert Ehbing (Covestro Deutschland AG).
Dr. Matthew Beaumont (Integris, formerly Siemens), Dr. Lars Herbeck (Woco Group), Dr. Christof Herschbach (Windmöller & Hölscher SE & Co. KG), Dr. Peter Höck (Covestro AG), Jürgen Knaup (Envalior, formerly LANXESS), Prof. Dr.-Ing. Andreas Limper, Dr.-Ing. Heinz Neubert (formerly Siemens AG) and Dr. Jan Schrijver (IntelliPlast) were dismissed from the Board of Trustees.
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Christian Hopmann thanked the departing members of the Board of Directors and Board of Trustees on behalf of IKV and the Sponsors’ Association for their many years of support and their personal commitment to the work of the Institute.
Focus on sustainability and the circular economy
In terms of content, the focus was particularly on the topics of sustainability and the circular economy. Institute Director Prof. Dr.-Ing. Christian Hopmann presented the institute’s current impetus and activities in this area. In the subsequent mini-symposium “Research for practice: impulses from IKV for sustainability and the circular economy”, the successful cooperation between industry and science was presented:
- Karl E. Dörken (Ewald Dörken AG) explained the establishment of a sustainability strategy within the company.
- Dr.-Ing. Lukas Seifert (IKV) presented the sustainability assessment of product lines in terms of plastics technology in a keynote speech.
- This was followed by a test stand presentation at the IKV-Technika for the production, processing and analysis of high-quality recyclates.
Farewell to Dipl.-Ing. Rainer Holzmann
A special moment of the event was the farewell to Dipl.-Ing. Rainer Holzmann from the Board of Trustees of the Association. Holzmann was closely associated with IKV for many decades and had a special influence on the cooperation between industry and science.
© IKVHolzmann worked for IKV network partner Kautex Textron in Bonn for many years, most recently as a member of the company’s management board. He also co-authored the textbook “Automation in Plastics Processing” with Prof. Dr.-Ing. Georg Menges back in the 1980s.
His connection to the IKV goes back over 60 years: he was initially an elected trustee of the Friends’ Association for 30 years before supporting the Friends’ Association as an honorary member for a further 30 years. He took his leave during the committee meetings on April 17, 2026. On behalf of the Board of Directors, the Institute’s management and the entire Sponsors’ Association, the Chairman paid tribute to Mr. Holzmann’s ever-present interest in plastics technology and IKV and thanked him for his extraordinary commitment.
The meetings once again highlighted the close connection between IKV and the plastics industry. The intensive exchange within the association shows that the interlinking of industry and research goes far beyond current key topics and forms the foundation of IKV’s work.