Cihat Cengiz joined CTM as a PhD student in Ocotber 2017, under the supervision of Dr. Frank Tietze. He has obtained his Bachelors Degree in Industrial Engineering in Germany, Hong Kong and Japan and holds a Masters degree in Engineering Management from the University of Warwick in 2016. Prior joining the IfM, Cihat was a Cyber Security Engineering Consultant at Ernst&Young, focusing on Cyber Security issues in the automotive industry. He also gained industry experience in different industries like aviation at Deutsche Lufthansa, Robotics at Robert Bosch Japan and autonomous driving R&D at Leopold Kostal. His doctoral research will focus on global R&D and Innovation Management in the area of Bioengineering/Biotechnology/Life Science.

 Valeria Dommicco Valeria joined CTM as a PhD student under the   supervision of Dr Letizia Mortara. Her research focuses on user   innovation communities and, more specifically, on the practice of   co-creation in community-based design and fabrication workshops   (also known as Fabrication Spaces, or Fab-Spaces). Valeria has   studied Political Science and International Relations in Italy and   then decided to pursue an MSc in Innovation Management and   Entrepreneurship at Portsmouth Business School, England.

Berk Dogan joined CTM as a doctoral student under the supervision of Dr Frank Tietze. Berk obtained his master's degree in Industrial Engineering focusing on technology transfer offices and university intellectual property. Prior to joining the IfM, he worked in patent consultancy and technology transfer. During his PhD, he will be working on intellectual property data and intellectual property analytics. The research will focus on determining different types of available intellectual property data and utilising this data in strategic decision-making. Other research interests include predictive modeling, predictive analytics, business intelligence, and technology management.

Jonas Ehrnsperger joined CTM as a first year PhD Student, under the supervision of Dr Frank Tietze. Jonas has obtained his Masters degree in Technology Management from the University of Stuttgart and his Bachelors degree in Patent Engineering from the Technical University of Applied Sciences Amberg-Weiden. In addition to his studies, he worked in various patent and R&D departments, including BMW, Daimler and Fraunhofer IAO.

His doctoral research concentrates on Open IP strategies for emerging technologies. The purpose of this project is twofold: First, to develop practical decision frameworks, methods and tools that help firms to decide whether to adopt OpenIP-approaches and select the most appropriate type on the one hand and how to respond to OpenIP-approaches on the other hand. Second, to better understand OpenIP-strategies and their consequences on R&D Management and technology diffusion as well as their societal impact. The project aims to recognize, why OpenIP-strategies are employed and which, by whom and how these strategies are utilized.

Ruusa Ligthart joined the IfM in October 2017 under the supervision of Professor Tim Minshall. Ruusa holds a Master’s degree in tourism management from the University of Brighton. She graduated in 2008 with overall grade distinction. Prior to her masters studies, she worked in the field of hospitality and tourism management and in advisory positions in several countries. She has also worked as a senior lecturer at universities of applied sciences in Finland. Prior her PhD studies she worked at the RDI unit at the Laurea University of Applied Sciences as a RDI project and education service product manager.

Alexander Moerchel joined the CTM as a part time PhD student under the supervision of Dr Frank Tietze. Alexander earned a Master of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida, in 2006 and an MPhil in Technology Policy from the University of Cambridge in 2007. Subsequently, he went on to work for Rolls-Royce in Derby, UK, in various engineering roles until 2011. Then, Alexander joined Lufthansa Technik in Hamburg, Germany, as a product sales manager in the company’s aircraft component services division. Thereafter he represented Spairliners, a JV between Lufthansa Technik and Air France Industries, as a sales manager, before returning to Lufthansa Technik in February 2015 as a group purchasing manager negotiating new procurement contracts and cooperation agreements with aircraft engine OEMs. Alexander’s PhD research focuses on the area of value capture from service business models, whereas his aim is to develop a framework for effective appropriation and sustainable value capture from both service innovations and existing service business models. While pursuing his doctoral research, Alexander continues to work for Lufthansa Technik in Hamburg, Germany, on a part-time basis. His research and PhD project is supervised by Dr Frank Tietze, Lecturer in Technology and Innovation Management at the IfM. Apart from his PhD studies, Alexander is also interested in the effects of cyber-physical systems on and the implications of the 4^th industrial revolution for the aircraft maintenance repair and overhaul (MRO) industry.

Aocheng Tang joined CTM as a first year PhD student, under the supervision of Dr Frank Tietze. He has obtained his MEng degree in Mechanical Engineering from Imperial College London in 2016, and just graduated with a MPhil degree in Industrial Systems, Manufacture and Management from the University of Cambridge. With focuses on bioeconomies and synthetic biology, his doctoral research aims to transform our understanding of which IP (Intellectual Property) management models exist, mechanisms (how) and conditions under which (when, where) they positively impact sustainability transitions.