OPC DAY NORWAY 2023

Stefan Hoppe is the OPC Foundation President since end 2018 coordinating the OPC expansion into the Internet of Things & Industrie4.0.
Stefan has been the Global Vice President since 2014 and the President of the OPC Europe organization since 2010 being the catalyst for initiating liaisons with other industrial consortiums that has resulted in OPC working groups developing companion specifications for the organizations respective information models.

Stefan Hoppe studied electrical engineering at the Technical University of Dortmund, Germany. Since 1995 he has worked for BECKHOFF Automation, starting as a software developer later as a lead Product Manager with focus on PC based Automation, connectivity and embedded software products.

You can reach Stefan under stefan.hoppe@opcfoundation.org

Christopher Liehr takes a leading role in the development of OPC UA Companion Specifications as an expert in OPC UA information modeling. In this context, he is in charge of several active working groups at VDMA throughout all phases of development, providing technical advice, leadership and moderation of the committees.

In this regard, currently he is in charge of the working groups OPC UA for Wireless Machine Tool Peripherals, OPC UA for Shot Blasting Technology, OPC UA for Plasma Surface Technology, as well as OPC UA for Conveying (Mining). Furthermore, he is involved in the research project ENLARGE, in which OPC UA Companion Specifications for battery cell production machines are being developed, and he leads a user group for software companies in the context of OPC UA.

 Before joining VDMA, Christopher Liehr studied mechanical engineering at the Technical University of Darmstadt.

Dr. Andreas Würger has combined studies and hands on work in the field of industrial automation since he started as an electrician apprentice at MARS GmbH in 2008, via bachelor’s and master’s degree in automation technology combined with student apprenticeship. From 2017 to 2020 Andreas worked as research associate at the Hanover University of Applied Sciences and Arts in parallel with a PhD thesis at the Helmut Schmidt University in Hamburg. The PhD thesis addressed how engineering of technical energy management components in automation systems can be made more efficient and how production plants can be modeled from an energy perspective and mapped into a standardized OPC UA information model. Since May 2020 Andreas has been employed at PHOENIX CONTACT Electronics GmbH, initially responsible for infrastructure system applications. Since May 2023 he holds the position as technology manager for the topics OPC UA and digital twin for the PLCnext ecosystem.

Julian Thielemann is a Product Manager for TwinCAT with a focus on Connectivity and IoT at Beckhoff Automation. Among other Areas, he specializes in OPC UA and related technologies, such as OPC UA Companion Specifications. Julian has been working in the Automation industry since 2017 and started working with OPC UA in 2021. As part of a Team, Julian is responsible for TwinCAT Functions related to Connectivity and IoT.

Julian graduated from the practice-integrated Bachelor of Engineering «Product-Service Engineering» at the Hochschule Bielefeld. He studied and worked at Beckhoff Automation since then, starting as a Software Developer until he became a Product Manager in May of 2022. During his time at the company, Julian has always been in touch with the communication of automation systems. In addition to his work at Beckhoff Automation, Julian is currently pursuing a part-time master’s degree in «Digital Technologies.»