After many years as a researcher at the University of Paderborn and later as a manager in the research department of Volkswagen Group, Professor Busse took over the management of the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Advanced Materials IFAM in Bremen, Shaping and Functional Materials Division, in 2003. At the same time, he was offered the chair of "Near net shape manufacturing technology" in the university's Faculty of Production Engineering.
During his time at IFAM, the research institute developed into one of the largest within the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft and Matthias Busse was able to draw on his extensive experience in the automotive industry when setting up the institute. IFAM benefited from the director’s good connections and extensive knowledge when it came to linking science and industry and creating new, highly topical research focuses – including in the areas of lightweight construction and energy storage and systems.
Professor Busse also inspired students at the University of Bremen with the broad knowledge he gained from his professional experience. His lectures, especially "Near-net-shape manufacturing technologies," were always assessed as excellent by his students in evaluations. Today, many of the alumni of the University of Bremen are employed at Fraunhofer IFAM.
As part of the U Bremen Research Alliance (UBRA), Matthias Busse intensified the cooperation between the University of Bremen, IFAM, and other research institutes in Bremen. Among other achievements, he was instrumental in the creation of the UBRA high-profile area "Material Science and Production Engineering." For the very first application for an Excellence Cluster on sensory materials, he was the spokesperson for the applicants in the years following the millennium. As a member of the Bremen Research Center for Energy Systems (BEST), he most recently contributed to the future issue of the transformation of today's energy systems. He was particularly interested in the areas of energy efficiency and CO2 reduction, especially in the field of mobility.
Professor Bernd Mayer took over from Matthias Busse as managing director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Advanced Materials IFAM on April 1, 2024. He too has been teaching at the Faculty of Production Engineering – Mechanical and Process Engineering for several years.
