The Jury of the Deep Tech Award

Katarina Krüger teaches on the Industrial Engineering and Management, Investment & Finance, Controlling and ABWL degree programmes at HTW Berlin as well as in project groups on possible applications of blockchain technology. She has also developed the Cyber Security and Business degree programme for her university, which has been running since 1 October 2024. Among other things, the intersections between blockchain technology and cyber security aspects are taught and further researched in this degree programme.
Katarina Krüger is a lecturer on blockchain technology worldwide and her research focuses on real estate, finance and cyber security as well as the linking of new technologies with blockchain technology. She is also a member of the ‘Education’ working group in the European Blockchain Association. She is also a member of various selection committees at the DAAD.
Katarina Krüger’s published books are available in German and English.

Regine Haschka-Helmer has worked in the digital media industry for over 25 years and was CEO of the listed company I-D Media AG, among others.
In 2010, she founded Seedlab GmbH, which supports start-ups and established companies in the development of new digital business models and innovative marketing and technology solutions.
and innovative marketing and technology solutions. She then spent four years as Executive Director Market Strategy at the IOTA Foundation, an organisation in the field of distributed ledger technology.
Regine Haschka-Helmer is currently co-founder of Ndini, a blockchain-based DeFai autonomous AI agent that optimally combines blockchain and AI technologies.
She is also an advisor for various Web3 start-ups.

Christoph Haupenthal is the head of the Institute for Applied Blockchain. He has been active as a researcher, entrepreneur, and consultant for more than 25 years. Dr. Haupenthal has successfully executed over 50 strategy and digitalization projects in his career, ranging from efficiency improvements to platform strategies and blockchain technologies.

Dr. Gabrielle Thomas is Group Leader for Marketing at Menlo Systems GmbH, and Academic Visitor at Imperial College London. She has been dedicated to the development and communication of innovations in photonics and quantum technologies for more than 10 years. She was awarded her PhD in Laser Physics and Nonlinear Optics from Imperial College London in 2011, and was named one of the World Economic Forum’s “Young Scientists” in 2016. Since her PhD, she has worked in academic and commercial environments, with a strong focus on bringing technology from the lab into the real world.

Dr. Barbara Wellmann works as Director and Lead at Quantum.Link. She holds a doctorate in physics and has extensive experience in technology consulting and innovation management. Her focus is on quantum technologies, especially quantum computing and quantum sensor technology, disruptive innovations and new digital business models. She advises clients from all sectors on the opportunities and risks of quantum technologies and works with them to develop customized strategies and roadmaps for implementation in a business context. She places a particular focus on the sustainability and future viability of the concepts developed and analyzes how quantum technologies can also interact constructively with other innovative technologies such as AI, cloud, blockchain, IoT and 5G.

Markus Krutzik is head of the Joint Lab for Integrated Quantum Sensors at the Ferdinand Braun Institute, which is operated in cooperation with Humboldt University in Berlin. The research focuses on integrated atomic-based measurement technology for use in metrology, sensor technology, and information processing. One focus is on systems that function outside of laboratory environments—especially in space. The physicist received his doctorate from HU Berlin in 2014 and has conducted research at the University of California, Berkeley, and the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, among others. Capital magazine named him one of the Top 40 under 40 – Young Elite, and Der Tagesspiegel named him one of the Top 100 Heads of Capital Science. In addition to his research, Krutzik is also shaping the quantum ecosystem in Berlin: he is Brain City Berlin ambassador for quantum technologies and co-founded the first quantum technology hub in the capital, which he continues to support as a scientific advisor. Another focus is technology transfer: in order to translate research results into applications, he co-founded a start-up, with another in the pipeline.

Matthias Ziege is the Head of the MB Digital Factory Campus, the Center of Competence for Digitalization and Automation in the Mercedes-Benz Production Network. With his expertise in Automotive Production and a clear Focus on Innovation, he promotes efficient, flexible Production Processes and drives the Implementation of future-oriented Technologies.

Stefanie Brickwede is Managing Director of Mobility goes Additive e.V., Project Lead of the Group-wide 3D Printing project, and Head of Additive Manufacturing at DB Fahrzeuginstandhaltung GmbH. After studying economics at Leibniz University Hannover, she moved directly into the mobility sector. Before taking over the leadership of the Group 3D Printing project at Deutsche Bahn in 2015, Stefanie Brickwede held various management positions within Deutsche Bahn AG. As Head of Additive Manufacturing, she and her team are responsible for the successful implementation of additive manufacturing across the entire DB Group. Building on this background, Stefanie Brickwede founded the internationally leading network Mobility goes Additive in 2016 with great passion. In 2019, the network’s focus was expanded with Medical goes Additive to support hospitals, companies, and institutions across the entire medical sector. In addition, Ms. Brickwede is the initiator of the Women in AM network and actively promotes women in the additive manufacturing industry.

Dr. Marianne Kuhlmann works at the intersection of circular economy, industry, and technology, focusing on the transformation of industrial value chains. As managing director of Circularity, she works with companies to develop and implement circular approaches in various industries and facilitates corporate partnerships. She also serves as senior advisor for CE at ETH Zurich. Her work addresses questions such as how technological innovations can be embedded in existing industrial processes and dynamics as well as regulatory and economic frameworks, and how value chains can be jointly designed. Previously, she worked for McKinsey & Company and Grover, among others. She holds a PhD from ETH Zurich and an MSc from the London School of Economics.