FatDED kickoff meeting in Berlin

News

After many months of preparation, the project FatDED held its kick-off meeting and first General Assembly. The meetings were held on October 13-14, 2025 in Berlin, Germany and hosted by project partner, Gefertec.

Important first steps towards implementing a successful project were made including nomination of the General Assembly and Executive Board members and discussions on initial progress made in each Workpackage.

The project team

Front row (left to right) Irina Boiko (RTU), Robin Blank (Gefertec), Gary Marquis (Aalto), Daniel Angermayr (Fronius), Ari Niemelä (Meyer), Heikki Remes (Aalto), Michael Berz (EU), Matt Collins (Novum). Back row (left to right) Ernests Jansons (RTU), Fawas Moolakadath (TUC), Kevin Höfer (TUC), Pauli Lehto (Aalto), Abinab Niraula (Aalto), Lena Trunova (VABWG), Elise Kovanen (Aalto), Markus Köhler (TUC), Jonas Hensel (TUC).

General Assembly

The General Assembly (GA) is the highest decision making body within the project. One representative from each partner organization votes in the GA. These are:

  • Aalto University – Heikki Remes
  • Fronius International GmbH – Daniel Angermayr
  • Gefertec GmbH – Robin Blank
  • Meyer Turku Oy – Ari Niemelä
  • Novum Structures GmbH – Matt Collins
  • Riga Technical University – Irina Boiko
  • Technische Universität Chemnitz – Jonas Hensel
  • voestalpine Bohler Welding Germany GmbH – Lena Trunova

From Aalto University, Gary Marquis is Chair of the GA and Elise Kovanen is the Secretary.

Executive Board

The Executive Board (EB) follows the implementation of the project plan and reports to the GA. Leaders of the project Workpackages (WPs) comprise the EB.

  • WP1: Project management and coordination and WP3: Fatigue strength and imperfection classification – Heikki Remes (Aalto)
  • WP2: Smart manufacturing and Component Characterization and WP5: Design guidelines and component classification – Jonas Hensel (TUC)
  • WP4: Verification on industrial-scale component – Matt Collins (Novum)
  • WP6: Dissemination, exploitation, and communication – Robin Blank (Gefertec)

Gary Marquis (Aalto) is Chair and secretary of the EB.