On September 1, 2025, Dr.-Ing. Enver Doruk Özdemir started as Professor of Sustainable Operations and Technologies at the University's Department of Management, Controlling and HealthCare. The newly created professorship will contribute in particular to the two degree programs "Business Administration with a focus on Sustainability Management" (B.Sc.) and "Sustainability Management" (M.Sc.), but the Department's other degree programs will also benefit from the establishment of the technology-oriented subject area. "We are very pleased that in Prof. Dr. Özdemir we have been able to gain a colleague with great technical and economic expertise in education and research in the socially highly relevant field of sustainability," emphasized University President Prof. Dr. Gunther Piller at the presentation of the inaugural certificate.
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Enver Doruk Özdemir, born in 1978, received his doctorate "magna cum laude" in 2011 at the University of Stuttgart, Institute for Energy Economics and Rational Use of Energy, with a thesis on "The Future Role of Alternative Powertrains and Fuels in the German Transport Sector". Until the end of 2012, he also worked there as a research assistant in the System Analysis and Renewable Energies department, most recently as head of the Mobility with Renewable Energies specialist group, before moving to the German Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute of Vehicle Concepts, as project manager in 2013. There, he worked on the question of how the transport sector can become lower-emission and more sustainable using simulation models, among other things.
Since 2016, Özdemir has taught as a professor at SRH University of Applied Sciences Heidelberg, where he was responsible for the Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering and the Master's degree in International Business and Engineering. He has also headed the VDI - Nordbaden-Pfalz energy network since 2024.
In addition to a deep understanding of system analysis, vehicle concepts and energy technologies and sound knowledge of mechanical engineering, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Enver Doruk Özdemir has interdisciplinary research experience in the energy industry and energy technology.
In education, he focuses on practical relevance and interaction: "I am enthusiastic about accompanying students on their way, especially when it comes to internalizing sustainability issues and successfully implementing them in concrete projects. Education is successful when it not only imparts knowledge to students, but also enables them to apply it in real-life situations. That's why I rely on practice-oriented, interactive methods that enable students to combine theoretical knowledge with concrete action skills and develop solutions independently," says Özdemir.
