Dr. Klemens Kohlgrüber undertook a metalworking apprenticeship and completed further training as a mechanical engineer in Cologne. He studied mechanical engineering in Wuppertal, followed by a diploma and doctorate at RWTH Aachen University. From 1986 to 2015, he worked for Bayer AG, among other things as Head of High Viscosity, Mixing, and Reactor Technology. At the same time, he gave lectures for several years at the University of Dortmund for chemists in the master's program on polymer processing/preparation. For several years he was head of the High Viscosity Technology working group of the Forschungsgesellschaft Verfahrenstechnik (German Research Association for Process Engineering) and he is a former member of the Association of German Engineers (VDI) advisory board for plastics processing technology. Dr. Kohlgrüber also leads annual VDI seminars on extruders.
Dr.-Ing. Michael Bierdel studied process engineering at the University of Stuttgart and received his doctorate in 2001. Since 2001 he has been working in research and development at Bayer Technology Services GmbH (Bayer AG), now Covestro Deutschland AG (Covestro AG), in the High Viscosity Technology group, which he has led since 2012.