Thomas Bauernhansl: Director – Fraunhofer IPA & Professor, University of Stuttgart (#09)

Show notes

In this episode of the AlpMomentum Podcast, host Michael Brehm sits down with Prof. Dr. Thomas Bauernhansl, Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation (IPA) and Professor at the University of Stuttgart. As one of Europe’s most influential figures at the intersection of applied research, industrial innovation, and entrepreneurship, Bauernhansl offers a rare inside look into how deep tech is translated from laboratories into real-world impact.

The conversation explores why applied research and entrepreneurship are two sides of the same coin—and why separating academia from the market is, in Bauernhansl’s words, a fundamentally flawed idea. Drawing on his experience leading one of Fraunhofer’s largest institutes, he explains how IPA systematically builds startups through structured technology roadmaps, customer-first thinking, and an entrepreneurial culture embedded across the organization.

Bauernhansl shares how Fraunhofer IPA operates at scale: managing a €100M annual budget, coordinating 1,000+ researchers, and actively supporting more than 20 startup teams at various stages. He details how IPA moved from “startups by accident” to a deliberate, repeatable spinout process—culminating in the creation of its own in-house incubator.

The episode dives deep into concrete success stories, including breakthroughs in medical technology, fully automated cable assembly, and personalized cancer therapies—with some solutions reducing treatment costs by up to 80% while expanding global access. Bauernhansl also addresses Europe’s structural challenges: conservative procurement cultures, insufficient late-stage funding, and why up to 80% of successful German startups eventually rely on foreign capital.

Beyond individual ventures, the discussion zooms out to the macro level: how Germany and Europe can remain competitive in an era defined by AI, robotics, biological transformation, and quantum technologies—and what universities, research institutions, and policymakers must change to unlock their full innovation potential.

This episode offers a deep, unfiltered look into how industrial-scale innovation actually works, what it takes to build startups from science, and why Europe’s future depends on closing the gap between research excellence and market execution.

Welcome to “AlpMomentum – Innovate, Educate, Elevate,” a podcast by entrepreneur and investor Michael Brehm, founding partner of Redstone.vc and founder of the AlpMomentum Think Tank. Each episode explores the intersection of education, entrepreneurship, technology, and policy with the people actively shaping Europe’s innovation ecosystem.