Achim Grefenstein serves as the Scientific Director of Circular Economy and Professor for Plastics Compounding and Recycling at the Institut für Kunststoffverarbeitung (IKV) in Industrie und Handwerk an der RWTH Aachen, a position held since September 1998. Grefenstein also holds the role of Chairman of the Packaging Division at the European Plastics Converters (EuPC) since March 2020, and is a member of the Advisory Board and Technical Committee for Polyolefin Films at RecyClass since June 2019. Grefenstein has been Senior Vice President of Group R&D at Constantia Flexibles since July 2013, overseeing global R&D management and patent affairs. Additionally, Grefenstein served as Chairman of the Working Group Bioplastics at IK Industrievereinigung Kunststoffverpackungen e.V. from September 2016 to March 2020, and as Director of Corporate R&D at RKW SE from February 2004 to June 2013. Previous experience includes leadership roles at BASF SE and an academic position at IKV where Grefenstein contributed to the field of plastics since 1990. Grefenstein earned a Diploma in Mechanical Engineering with a focus on Plastics Technology from RWTH Aachen University between 1984 and 1989.
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IKV- Institute for Plastics Processing in Industry and Craft at RWTH Aachen University
The IKV is Europe's leading research institute in the field of plastics technology. Following a holistic approach IKV develops solutions for future-oriented technologies in plastics processing. Today, 300 people are employed at IKV, including 80 scientists, 50 administration staff, and 180 student assistants in research and development. Their goal is to provide industry with problem solutions for their day-to-day operations. The Institute for Plastics Processing is an innovation driver and research partner for the plastics sector. Extensive know-how and many years of experience in all areas of plastics technology put IKV in a unique position in Germany. The possibilities for cooperation with IKV are many and varied. In publicly funded projects of Industrial Joint Research, and in bilateral industry research through IKV services such as consulting, plastics testing, damage analysis etc., our partners benefit from IKV's expertise and know-how. As part of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at RWTH Aachen University, IKV is embedded in RWTH and responsible for the academic training of young engineers of plastics technology. In interdisciplinary cooperation with other institutes, IKV carries out basic research, which often forms the cornerstone for further industrial joint research. IKV's research focuses on the key topics of additive manufacturing, integrative plastics technology, plastics industry 4.0 and lightweight technologies. In its research projects, IKV looks not only at individual processes and products, but also at the entire process chains as well as integrated processes and products. Through their integrative approach to part design, materials technology and plastics processing, IKV scientists achieve optimum solutions in terms of the research and also to the benefit of its industrial partners.