Professor Alexander Hartmaier, ICAMS and Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at Ruhr-Universität Bochum, was elected as the next Chairman of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Materialkunde (DGM) (English: German Society for Materials Science and Engineering) at the annual general meeting on 26 September 2016. His term of office begins on 1 January 2017 and lasts for two years. The DGM is the largest technical-scientific society in materials science and engineering in Europe. Since its foundation in 1919, it has bundled the competencies within the field of materials science and engineering as ambassador of its members from academia and industry – and as a warrantor for the successful advancement of the field.