Ulrich Walter

After studying physics at the University of Cologne, he spent a year at the U.S. research laboratory Argonne National Laboratories, Chicago, then a year as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, Berkeley. From there he was appointed to the German Astronaut Team in 1987 and trained at the German Aerospace Center, DLR, in Cologne-Porz and at NASA's Space Center in Houston until his Shuttle Mission D-2, April 26-May 6, 1993. In 1994, he moved to the German Remote Sensing Data Center of DLR in Oberpfaffenhofen near Munich as project manager of the large-scale project "German Satellite Data Archive". In 1998, he moved to the IBM Development Laboratory in Böblingen as Program Manager, where he was responsible for the development and consulting of IBM software products as Project Manager and Lead Consultant.

Since March 2003, he is heading of the Department of Astronautics at the Technical Univer­si­ty of Munich and teaches and conducts research in the field of applied space technology and systems engineering. His focus is on real-time and service robotics using AI, in particular robotics assistance for the elderly (geriatronics). He researches and teaches systems engi­neer­ing, the empirical science of developing and optimizing complex products and processes in companies. As a trained project manager, he advises companies worldwide in this field, especially in the areas of quality and risk management.