Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dirk Elias

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dirk Elias held the position of Senior Vice President at Robert Bosch GmbH until the end of 2023, where he led the Corporate Research Division ‘Advanced Digital’ (CR/AD) from 2017. The division focussed its applied research on ICT, software development, systems engineering and simulation. Additionally, Dirk managed the Bosch Research and Technology Center in India and successfully transitioned the outcomes of the internal research project Reliable Distributed Systems to the mobility sector of Bosch, initiating product development.

With a background in electrical engineering from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and a doctorate in computer sciences from the Technical University of Berlin (TUB), Dirk brings extensive expertise. Between 1996 and 2000, he served as Deputy Director of the FOKUS Competence Center for advanced technologies and systems, leading the laboratory for Home and Office Technologies (HOT).

In 2000, Dirk founded IVISTAR AG in Berlin, focussing on IoT products for the organisation of open offices, later extending services to Deutsche Telekom and T-Systems. He held the CEO position for eight years and chaired the Supervisory Board for one additional year after relocating to Portugal in 2008, until IVISTAR's acquisition by an Austrian investor.

In Portugal, Dirk established the Fraunhofer Portugal Research Center AICOS from scratch, and he fulfilled the roles of President of the Executive Board of Fraunhofer Portugal and Director of the Fraunhofer Research Center for 'Assistive Information and Communication Solutions' until February 2017. From May 2008 on, he was also invited full professor at the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (FEUP).

In October 2012 Dirk received the 'Galileo Master 2012' award in the European Satellite Navigation Competition for his work on indoor positioning based on modulated magnetic fields.

From 2017 until 2024, Dirk represented Bosch in the ITEA Board. From 1 August 2024, Dirk Elias will be the new Chairman of ITEA.