
Details
Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Rainer Fechte-Heinen
Chairman of the IWT Board of Directors / Director of MPA Bremen
Phone
Email
Office
Leibniz-Institut für Werkstofforientierte Technologien - IWT
FZB - Room 2370
Badgasteiner Str. 3
28359 Bremen
FZB - Room 2370
Badgasteiner Str. 3
28359 Bremen
Personal data
Research profiles
Materials Engineering:
Heat treatment
Retained austenite
Multiphase steels
Material concepts for additive manufacturing and conventional process chains
Surface technology
PVD
Metallographic analysis
X-ray and micromagnetic material analysis
Atomic probe tomography
Material testing and durability analysis
Academic education with degree
10/2000 – 12/2004 | Studies in mechanical engineering at the Ruhr University Bochum, the University of Seville and the University of California, Berkeley US |
Scientific degrees
02/2008 – 04/2014 | Habilitation at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at Ruhr University Bochum, topic: Energy Methods in Material Modeling of Martensitic Phase Transformations |
02/2005 – 06/2007 | Doctorate (Dr.-Ing.) at the Ruhr-University Bochum Topic: Micromechanical modeling of shape memory materials |
Professional career since graduation
06/2020 – ongoing | Chairman of the Board of Directors and Head of the Materials Technology Department : Leibniz Institute for Materials-oriented Technologies - IWT, Bremen, Director Official Materials Testing Institute of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen University Professor and Head of Department 11 Materials Technology / Metals in Faculty 4 Production Engineering at the University of Bremen |
04/2018 – 05/2020 | Honorary Professor of Materials Mechanics of Phase Transformations in Solids, Ruhr University Bochum (honorary teaching since 10/2009, dormant since 2020) |
01/2017 – 04/2020 | Head of Product Development Hot Rolled Products: Technology and Innovation, thyssenkrupp Steel Europe AG, Duisburg |
10/2016 – 12/2016 | Head of Research and Development: Heavy Plate Business Unit, thyssenkrupp Steel Europe AG, Duisburg |
06/2012 – 09/2016 | Team leader idea generation and validation: Technology and Innovation, thyssenkrupp Steel Europe AG, Duisburg |
02/2011 – 05/2012 | Senior Engineer Project Management: Technology and Innovation - Innovation, Advanced Engineering, ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe AG, Duisburg |
09/2007 – 01/2011 | Technical coordination project management conventional steels: Materials Competence Center, ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe AG, Duisburg |
02/2005 – 08/2007 | Research assistant: Collaborative Research Center 459 Shape Memory Technology, Chair of General Mechanics, Ruhr University Bochum |
Awards
2017 | steeltomorrow: 1st prize internal innovation competition thyssenkrupp Steel |
2008 | ThyssenKrupp Materials Innovation Award of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of the Ruhr-University Bochum for the doctorate |
01/2005 – 06/2007 | Doctoral scholarship: Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes |
2005 | Adam Opel Prize of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at the Ruhr University Bochum for the diploma (grade: 1.1 with distinction) |
08/2004 – 12/2004 | Scholarship abroad: Dr. Jürgen Ulderup Foundation |
10/2003 – 03/2005 | Scholarship: ThyssenKrupp Studienförderung |
09/2002 – 07/2003 | Scholarship abroad: German Academic Exchange Service |
Offices and Memberships
Since 2023 | Member of the Executive Committee of the IFHTSE - International Federation for Heat Treatment and Surface Engineering (Member of the Board of Directors: Governing Council since 2020) |
Since 2023 | Member of WAW - Scientific Working Group of University Professors of Materials Engineering e.V. |
Since 2023 | Member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the INM - Leibniz Institute for New Materials gGmbH |
Since 2022 | Chairman of the Scientific Council and (since 2023) Deputy Chairman of the U Bremen Research Alliance |
Since 2022 | Member of the Board of Trustees and Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM), Berlin, Germany |
Since 2022 | Elected consultant, expert group 1.1 Metallic Materials, German Federation of Industrial Research Associations (AiF) |
Since 2021 | Member of the Board, Research Association "Recycling and Recovery of Recyclable Materials in the Construction Industry" (RWB) |
Since 2020 | Member of the Board, Research Association "Working Group Heat Treatment and Materials Technology e.V." (AWT) |
Since 2020 | Editor-in-Chief of HTM - Journal of Heat Treatment and Materials |
Latest 10 publications
Influence of Different Bainitic Pretreatment Microstructures on the Nitriding Response of EN42CrMo4 and EN31CrMoV9. HTM Journal of Heat Treatment and Materials. 80 (2), 102-118. DOI: 10.1515/htm-2024-0035.
2025.
Effect of intrinsic heat treatment on the precipitate formation of X40CrMoV5–1 tool steel during laser-directed energy deposition: A coupled study of atom probe tomography and in situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction. Acta Materialia. 283 , 120488. DOI: 10.1016/j.actamat.2024.120488. OPEN ACCESS
2025.
Designing Hydrogen Permeation Barriers in Titanium Aluminium Nitride through First Principles Density Functional Theory Calculations. HTM Journal of Heat Treatment and Materials. 79 (6), 311-337. DOI: 10.1515/htm-2024-0020.
2024.
Austempering as a Sustainable and Efficient Alternative to QT Treatment in Nitriding of Heat Treatable Steels - Influence of different Bainitic Pretreatment Structures on the Nitriding Response of EN42CrMo4 and EN31CrMoV9. Mediteranean Conference on Heat Treatment and Surface Engineering, Lecce, Italy, 17.-19.04.2024. Lecce, Italy: 4, 2024,
2024.
Smart‐Alloying – Liquid in-situ re-alloying in additive manufacturing. Additive Manufacturing. 80 , 103988. DOI: 10.1016/j.addma.2024.103988. OPEN ACCESS
2024.
Optimized Compound Layer Design for Highly Loaded Nitrided Gears. Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance. 33 , 13293–13310. DOI: 10.1007/s11665-024-09659-1. OPEN ACCESS
2024.
Effect of Thermomechanical Processing on the Transformation Kinetics, Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of a Continuously Cooled Cementite-free Bainitic Steel. HTM Journal of Heat Treatment and Materials. 79 (3), 130-146. DOI: 10.1515/htm-2024-0008.
2024.
Microscopic Characterization of Compound Layers. Practical Metallography. 60 (4), 212-241. DOI: 10.1515/pm-2022-1028.
2023.
Microstructure evolution during laser-directed energy deposition of tool steel by in situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction. Additive Manufacturing. 63 (February 2023), DOI: 10.1016/j.addma.2023.103408. OPEN ACCESS
2023.
Influence of annealing time on the microstructure and properties of additively manufactured X2CrNiMoN25–7–4 duplex stainless steel: Experiment and simulation. Materialia. 28 , DOI: 10.1016/j.mtla.2023.101720.
2023.