The 28th International DSM Conference

Prof Eppinger teaches interdisciplinary courses at both the masters and executive levels in product design and innovation, technical project management, and engineering leadership. He is co-author of the textbook Product Design and Development (McGraw-Hill). Now in its seventh edition, the text has been translated into several languages and used by hundreds of universities and hundreds of thousands of students. Dr. Eppinger’s research is applied to improving complex technical projects in a wide range of industries and is the basis of the book titled Design Structure Matrix Methods and Applications (MIT Press). His current research is helping to translate the process of agile software development to a wider range of technical projects.

His work has contributed to fields ranging from project management and systems engineering to product development and product management. He is one of the most widely cited scholars in the engineering design and technical management disciplines. Prof. Eppinger has served as Deputy Dean of the MIT Sloan School of Management and has chaired many of MIT’s interdisciplinary masters degree programs (System Design and Management – SDM, Integrated Design and Management – IDM, Leaders for Global Operations – LGO, and Leaders for Manufacturing – LFM). He has also held a joint appointment at MIT in the Engineering Systems Division. He received S.B., S.M., and Sc.D. degrees from MIT’s Department of Mechanical Engineering.

Prof. Dr. Tyson R. Browning is a full Professor of Operations Management in the Neeley School of Business at Texas Christian University, where he conducts research (integrating managerial and engineering perspectives) and teaches courses on project management, operations management, risk management, and process improvement in TCU’s highly rated MBA program (e.g., The Economist, Princeton Review).  He has advised several organizations, including BNSF Railway, General Motors, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Seagate, Siemens, Southern California Edison, and the U.S. Navy. Prof. Dr. Tyson R. Browning is an internationally recognized researcher, educator, and consultant. 

Dr. Browning previously worked for Lockheed Martin, the Lean Aerospace Initiative at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Honeywell Space Systems, and Los Alamos National Laboratory.  He earned a B.S. in Engineering Physics from Abilene Christian University before two Master’s degrees and a Ph.D. from MIT.

Since 2021, Matthias Kreimeyer is a full professor at the University of Stuttgart, focusing his research on models, methods and tools for the planning and design of complex technical systems, both with regard to specific technical design tasks and with an overarching perspective on product development.

Prior to his appointment at the University of Stuttgart, Prof. Matthias Kreimeyer worked in various roles at MAN Truck & Bus SE in Munich for over 12 years, most recently as Senior Vice President.

Prof. Kreimeyer completed a double degree in mechanical engineering and general engineering (“Ingénieur Généraliste”) at Leibnitz University Hanover, TU Munich and Ecole Centrale Paris (ECP), and he received his doctorate with a focus on KPI systems for measuring complexity in development processes at the former Chair of Product Development at TU Munich.

Oliver Riedel studied technical cybernetics at the University of Stuttgart and earned his doctorate at the Faculty of Design and Production Engineering.

Prof. Riedel has been involved in the fundamentals and practical application of virtual assurance methods in product development, production and service for over 25 years. During this time, he has held numerous management positions at SiliconGraphics and the VW Group, among others.

In November 2016, Prof. Riedel followed the appointment to the University of Stuttgart, where he heads the Institute for Control Engineering of Machine Tools and Manufacturing Units (ISW), holds the Chair for Information Technology in Production Engineering and is Dean of the Faculty of Design, Production and Automotive Engineering.

Since June 2018 he has been Institute Director at the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO – from 2023 as Executive Director of the Institute.

Prof. Riedel has a lectureship at the Università degli studi di Bergamo, is a member of the Scientific Society for Product Development (WiGeP), a member of the board of the International Foundation for Production Research (IFPR), chairman of the board of the Association of German Engineers in Baden-Württemberg and is active on a voluntary basis in numerous committees for the promotion of young engineers.

Dr. Dominic Distel

“The complex challenge of product portfolio optimization”

Dominic’s client work is centered around product portfolio optimization and he co-leads McKinsey’s product complexitiy management service line. He is serving a broad range of clients in the automotive, white-goods, durable goods and machinery industries.

Dominic has deep experience on topics such as product portfolio optimization and pruning, strategic portfolio optimization, modularization, and Design-to-Cost approaches.

Prior to joining McKinsey in 2012, Dominic has earned his Master in Mechanical Engineering from the Technical University of Munich and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and he holds a PhD in technology and innovation management from the Technical University of Munich with research stays in Boston. He has co-authored insightful knowledge articles on rebalancing product portfolios for increased value capture or how the German machinery industry can overcome growth challenges and is a frequent guest speaker at universities and leading industry events

Mario Käpple

Mario Käpple completed his studies in Mechatronics in 2007 and authored his diploma thesis at Festo on the subject of bionic grippers, graduating with distinction. Subsequently, he held various positions at Robert Bosch GmbH, primarily working on the development of electric drives for hybrid vehicles until 2017. At SEG Automotive, he led the department as head of application projects for several automotive projects. Since 2020, he has been shaping the future of electric drive technology at ebm-papst as the head of motor development. His focus is on highly integrated electric drives that combine efficiency, compactness, low noise, and robustness.​ Since summer 2024, he has been leading the System Engineering department with a focus on Digital Twin and Product Configurator.

Dr.-Ing. Thomas Braun

Dr.-Ing. Thomas Braun studied mechanical engineering at the Technical University of Munich and obtained his doctorate there in 2005 in the field of strategic product and process planning. In 2006, he founded TESEON GmbH as a service and software provider for product development. With the LOOMEO software, he has successfully transferred complexity management into industrial practice. As a board member of REDPOINT.TESEON AG, he was responsible for the consulting focus on product development and innovation from 2016.

Since 2024, the company has been part of DATACIDERS GmbH, a leading service provider in the German-speaking world with a focus on data & AI. As Managing Director of REDPOINT.TESEON GmbH, his enthusiasm for product development remains undiminished, with a particular focus on project and product portfolio management. In his professional practice, he has successfully implemented and managed over 50 customer projects in the field of product development.