At the end of 2020, Angelika Heinzel stepped down as chief executive of ZBT’s fuel cell technology center, a research institute she led for a total of 19 years. In March, she will also leave her professorship at Duisburg-Essen University’s Mechanical and Process Engineering department, and her leading scientific role at ZBT. As for her successor in the science department, the university is still in the hiring process.
Heinzel worked at Fraunhofer ISE in Freiburg before coming to Duisburg in 2001 and founding ZBT, which she has since grown into a global leader of hydrogen and fuel cell research and development services. Having matured in chemistry, her focus has always been applying scientific findings to real-world scenarios. She spent her career concentrating on process and materials development along with their manufacturing chain and business plan applications, not to mention her attention to liability and safety issues.
ZBT will now be managed by Peter Beckhaus, who said: “Throughout the last 20 years, Angelika Heinzel has developed Duisburg’s research center into the reliable, expert partner it is today. We at ZBT are well-equipped to deal with the challenges awaiting us when hydrogen and fuel cell technology is introduced to market.”