Dr. Timo Holopainen
President

Turku University of Applied Sciences (Finland)

Contact: President [at] aase-eu.org

Timo Holopainen holds a PhD in chemistry (University of Joensuu, Finland) and MBA (Henley Business School, UK). Timo Holopainen has  over 20 years of experience working as local and global leadership and management, international sales and business development, research, development and innovation,  technical and customer service, trouble shooting, quality, training and consulting professional.

During his career Timo Holopainen has lived in UK, Norway, USA, Indonesia and Estonia and has worked in European, Asian, North, Middle and South American, Australian and Japanese markets, working with wide range of individuals, talents, cultures, companies and corporates.

Currently Timo Holopainen is working in Turku University of Applied Science as Principle Lecturer.

Timo Holopainen is chairman of the European Sales Competition Association and vice president of the Academic Association of Sales Engineering (AASE).

His main research topics are value creation, international and technical sales.

After three years as VP Funding and Treasurer, Timo Holopainen becomes President of AASE during the General Assembly 2022.

Prof. Dr. Kati Lang
Vice-President Strategy & Development

Düsseldorf University of Applied Sciences (Germany)

Contact: VP-Strategy [at] aase-eu.org

Kati Lang holds a PhD in Business (Bergische University Wuppertal). During her doctorate in the field of entrepreneurship and online marketing, she advised spin-offs and start –ups in their founding activities. After that, she was a consultant for marketing and sales, specialized on industrial goods for leading high-tech companies.

In 2009, she started teaching at the University of Applied Sciences, heading the degree program “International Technical Sales Management”. In 2010, she moved to the University of Applied Sciences Düsseldorf, heading the study program “Industrial Engineering and Management (Electrical Engineering)”. Her teaching areas include ‘market psychology and negotiation management’, ‘sales, product, services’, ‘industrial marketing’ and other, application-oriented modules.

Kati Lang is active in the department of Technical Sales and Product Management at Germany’s largest engineering society, the VDI. There, she also heads the Expert Council “Profile Sales Engineering: Competences and Career”.

She is part of the founding team and present vice president of the Academic Association of Sales Engineering (AASE). Her main research topics are ‘selling digital goods and digital selling’ as well as marketing and psychology-oriented questions within the context of industrial sales.

Prof. Dr. Thomas B. Berger
Vice-President Research & Education

DHBW Stuttgart (Germany)

Contact: VP-ResearchEducation [at] aase-eu.org

Thomas Berger holds a PhD from Cardiff University in the field of regional economics. He studied Business Administration at the DHBW Stuttgart after working as a cabinet maker. Later he started working as a consultant in M&A (Banking) before becoming a consultant in Risk Management were he later was a member of the partner’s board responsible for acquistion of new projects and co-ordinating existing ones.

He also spent two years at a machinery company, helping setting-up the consultancy branch, defining processes and products and selling them. In 2009 he moved on to become a professor at a private University and then 2013 joined the DHBW Stuttgart. There, he is currently responsible for the programme International Technical Sales. He also conducted several funded research projects with a Focus on India, where he also lectures at the KJ Somaiya Institute of Management, Mumbai and other Universities.

Dipl.-Ing. Thomas Röhr
Vice-President Funding, treasurer

ESTA Belfort (France)

Contact: VP-Funding [at] aase-eu.org

Thomas Röhr studied mechanical engineering with specialisation in railway vehicles and logistics at the Rheinisch-Westfälisch Technischen Hochschule (RWTH) Aachen/Germany. He worked and lectured at the Traffic Management department of the University of Kassel (Germany) followed by nearly 10 years at the Traffic Management department of BMW Group in Berlin and Munich.

In 2007 Thomas Röhr moved to France where he first worked on projects in line with the European positioning system GALILEO and other mobility related topics. In 2011, he integrated ESTA School of Business & Technology, where he is currently Head of International Relations. He teaches Project Management for Sales Engineers, supervises 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th years’ placements, and coordinates student exchanges with the partner institutions.

Thomas Röhr is closely cooperating with the French competitiveness cluster Vehicle of the Future, where he is responsible for the development of European collaborative R&D projects. He is also member of the committee of experts evaluating research projects from its members.

One of the initiators and founding member of the AASE, Thomas Röhr was president of the WG Education (2014-2019) until he was elected president during the AASE Annual Conference 2019 in Vienna. He switched roles with Timo Holopainen in May 2022 to become VP Funding and Treasurer.

Dr. rer. oec. Luis Barrantes
Speaker

Ruhr-University Bochum (Germany)

Dr. Luis Barrantes studied management and economics (degree: Dr. rer. oec.) and human engineering (degree: diploma) at the Ruhr University Bochum (RUB). After working as management consultant with a focus on corporate management, quality management and sales management he received his PhD in 2003, in the same year co-founder of the degree programme Sales Engineering and Product Management (SEPM) and assuming the position of course coordinator.

Luis Barrantes is a member of the advisory panel “Technical Sales and Product Management” and the panel of experts “FA 201 Sales and Marketing” and “FA 206 Profile Sales Engineer”, previously “FA 206 Formation of Sales Engineers”, of the Association of German Engineers (VDI). He is co-author of various VDI guidelines, including “VDI 4501 Occupational field Technical Sales” and “VDI 4506 Strategic Sales“

His main research interests include: general business administration, sales engineering and controlling, B2B marketing.

Luis Barrantes is the initiator of the Academic Association of Sales Engineering (AASE). He was Vice-President (2014-2016) and President (2016-2109) of AASE and is currently spokesman for the AASE Advisory Board.

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jobst Görne

Aalen University of Applied Sciences (Germany)

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jobst Görne did his PhD at the WZL of the RWTH Aachen in the field of manufacturing technology in 1986. He worked in different companies in Europe in the function of sales and marketing manager and got experience in sales in the automotive and machine tool industry, where he was responsible for world wide sales activities. During this time he applied for four EU-funded research corporations and was rewarded with three of them. In 2002 he joined the university of Aalen in the program of “International Sales Engineering”. He covered the functions of dean and program manager for a couple of years. During this time, he was manager of the working group “Sales Engineering” at the German Engineers Association VDI in Stuttgart. Prof. Görne is head of the alumni-association of the Aalen sales engineering students with over 250 members. Since 2009 he is member of the Global Sales Science Institute, GSSI  and chair of this assocication from 2015 until 2017 and organized one of it’s global conferences at Aalen. Beeing founding member of the AASE he was board member for a couple of years and is currently member of the advisory board.

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Görne had been Vice-President Research from 2014 to 2018. He retired in 2019, but continues teaching and to support the work in the associations.

Dr. Tero Reunanen

Turku University of Applied Sciences (Finland) †

Tero Reunanen has quite wide experience regarding different development, design and management activities. My experience includes, in the field mechanical engineering: 3D-modelling, FEM, fluids, simulation, programming, manufacturing technologies, robotics, R&D, and in the fields of management: leadership, management, project planning, project executing, international projects, process development projects, LEAN development projects, production technology projects, R&D. Nowadays strategic planning, process management, business model development and LEAN-thinking are prevailing in his work. He also has good experience in logistics, supply chain management and as a peculiarity, he has done process development in health care.

His former focus area was mostly in machine and metal industry, maritime industry and automation industry. In wide perspective everything concerning manufacturing and designing is close to his interest. Logistics and logistic networks are in core, and point of view is in efficient and excellent leadership and management. Strategic planning, business model development and networked business development consultation and coaching including time management and utilisation of LEAN-thinking are his main working fields. Present research areas are in the fields of leadership and management.

Specialities: Tero Reunanen’s specialities are mostly in fields of emotional and social intelligence. Good skills in these fields make him kind of organizer and doer who get´s people to do their best and with good mood. Entrepreneurial attitude with holistic point of view guarantees combination which provides best benefit for partners.