Dr. Lothar Schäfer is Deputy Director at Fraunhofer Institute of Surface Engineering and Thin Films (IST) and responsible for Research Strategy and Coordination. He has been working in different research and managing positions for Fraunhofer IST since its foundation in 1990 with a focus on chemical vapour deposition of diamond films. Before he joined Fraunhofer he has been working for Philips Research Laboratories Hamburg. He is a co-founder and board member of the company Condias, a spin-off of Fraunhofer IST. He has been awarded the Technology Transfer Award of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce, Braunschweig, and the Award for Science for Joint Projects in Applied Research of the Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft. His current focus is in technology transfer and strategic development of surface engineering and coating technologies.