24 August 2026

The mechanical engineer combines traditional design with sustainable product development and brings with him development experience from industry. Through teaching and research, he aims to demonstrate how products can be designed not only to be functional, but also to conserve resources, be durable and be intelligent throughout their entire life cycle.

Nordhausen, 18 August 2026. Nordhausen University of Applied Sciences has appointed Dr.-Ing. Florian Hohmann as Professor of Mechanical Engineering/Design. President Prof. Dr Jörg Wagner presented the certificate of appointment. Hohmann will thus strengthen the Department of Engineering and brings with him both practical development experience and research expertise in the field of sustainable product development.

Florian Hohmann completed his PhD at the Technical University of Braunschweig. His doctoral thesis is entitled „Multisensor Measurement System for Timber Harvesters and Processors“ and demonstrates how the targeted use of optical sensors in crop measurement has the potential to optimise the entire raw timber value chain. Before joining the university, he worked as a development engineer in the Technical Development department at Volkswagen AG in Wolfsburg, where he worked on driver assistance systems for predictive safety. At the same time, he was already teaching as a lecturer at Magdeburg-Stendal University of Applied Sciences.

In his role as professor, Hohmann combines traditional mechanical engineering expertise with current issues relating to the future – an approach he describes as „Smart Sustainable Product Engineering“. His research focuses on sustainable product development, taking into account the entire product life cycle. This involves questions such as: How can products be designed so that they can be easily maintained, repaired or reused? And how can the intelligent integration of sensors into the product or system help to continuously improve systems and conserve resources? These topics are relevant both to industry and to the sustainable use of resources.

„I want to train students so that they can safeguard Germany’s position as an engineering hub in the long term,“ says Prof. Dr.-Ing. Florian Hohmann. „My aim is to combine technical expertise with foresight – so that ‚Made in Germany‘ continues to play a role in international competition in the future. Sustainable systems development is not an afterthought here; for me, it is at the very heart of modern engineering.“

„In Florian Hohmann, we are gaining an engineer who brings with him development experience from industry and a clear understanding of sustainability,“ says Prof. Dr Jörg Wagner, President of Nordhausen University of Applied Sciences. „The combination of traditional mechanical engineering and issues relating to resource conservation is a topic that is becoming increasingly important for our students and for the regional economy. I am delighted that he will now be bringing this perspective to our teaching and research.“

As well as teaching, Professor Hohmann focuses on getting to know the university’s numerous partners from industry and business. These contacts give rise to practice-oriented projects and topical issues that are directly incorporated into teaching – in this way, students learn to tackle real-world challenges faced by businesses and establish connections at an early stage for work placements, final-year projects and their future careers.