Your professors & lecturers

Matthias Eifler teaches at the IU University of Applied Sciences online studies department since 2020, and he also holds a teaching position at the Technische Universität Kaiserslautern, where he graduated with a degree in Mechanical and Process Engineering in 2013.

Following his graduation, Matthias Eifler has worked as a research assistant at the Chair for Measurement Technology and Measurement in Kaiserslautern, while earning a Master’s degree in Business Administration from IU online.

He earned his PhD in Production Metrology in 2016, after which he has worked in different research projects at both the University of California and the Technische Universität Kaiserslautern, where he was appointed as a Priv.-Doz. of measurement technology in 2019. In addition, Matthias Eifler acts as the managing director of Opti-Cal GmbH since 2018.

His main research topics are industrial measuring devices calibration and signal processing in the context of geometric product specification.

Selected publications:

Eifler, M.; Hering, J.; von Freymann, G.; Seewig, J.: Calibration sample for arbitrary metrological characteristics of optical topography measuring instruments. Optics Express 26 (2018), 13, S. 16609-16623.

Eifler, M.; Keksel, A.; Seewig, J.: Comparison of material measures for the determination of transfer characteristics of surface topography measuring instruments. Surface Topography: Metrology and Properties 7 (2019), 015024.

Eifler, M.; Garretson, I.C.; Linke B.S.; Das, J.; Torner, F.; Seewig, J.: Effects of vibratory finishing of 304 stainless steel samples on areal roughness parameters: A correlational analysis for anisotropy parameters. Journal of Materials Processing Technology 273 (2019), 116256.

Eifler, M.: Tendenzen und Herausforderungen in der geometrischen Produktspezifikation am Beispiel der Rauheitsmesstechnik. Habilitationsschrift. In: Seewig, J.: (Hrsg.): Berichte aus dem Lehrstuhl für Messtechnik und Sensorik 9. Kaiserslautern, Technische Universität Kaiserslautern (2019).

Eifler, M.; Klauer, K.; Seewig, J.; Kirsch, B.; Aurich, J.C.: Model-based design of areal material measures with component surfaces. Surface Topography: Metrology and Properties 7 (2019), 044003.

Prof. Dr. Alexander Lawall is the director of the Bachelor and Master courses in Cyber Security at IU University of Applied Sciences, and a professor of cyber security. His focus is on system and network security, the security of web applications and cloud technology, security in relation to the Internet of Things (IoT) and industrial information technology.

After obtaining his PhD from the Technical University of Dresden, Alexander Lawall turned to work in the private sector as an information security specialist / architect, later advancing to a leading global position as the head of information security management at the REHAU Group.

In addition, he has conducted regular academic research work in the fields of information and cyber security, and his work has been published in international scientific publications. His research focus is on topics related to Industry 4.0, IoT and rights management.

Selected publications:

Alexander Lawall. Hypergraph-Based Access Control Using Organizational Models and Formal Language Expressions – HGAC. In Markus Helfert, Andreas Holzinger, Orlando Belo, and Chiara Francalanci, editors, Data Management Technologies and Applications - Fourth International Conference, DATA 2015, Colmar, Alsace, France, July 20-22, 2015, Revised Selected Papers, Communications in Computer and Information Science. Springer International Publishing, 2016.

Alexander Lawall, Dominik Reichelt, and Thomas Schaller. Resource Management and Authorization for Cloud Services. In Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Subject-Oriented Business Process Management, S-BPM ONE ’15, pages 18:1–18:8, New York, NY, USA, 2015. ACM.

Alexander Lawall, Thomas Schaller, and Dominik Reichelt. Restricted Relations between Organizations for Cross-Organizational Processes. In 2014 IEEE 16th Conference on Business Informatics (CBI), volume 2, pages 74–80, July 2014.

Alexander Lawall, Thomas Schaller, and Dominik Reichelt. Cross-Organizational and Context-Sensitive Modelling of Organizational Dependencies in C-ORG. In S-BPM ONE (Scientific Research), pages 89–109, Heidelberg, 2014. Springer-Verlag.

Alexander Lawall, Dominik Reichelt, and Thomas Schaller. Propagation of Agents to Trusted Organizations. In 2014 IEEE/WIC/ACM International Joint Conferences on Web Intelligence (WI) and Intelligent Agent Technologies (IAT), volume 3, pages 433–439, Aug 2014.

Prof. Dr. Zöller teaches data science at the online studies department at IU University of Applied Sciences. His research revolves around advanced analytics and artificial intelligence, and their relation to digital transformation.

Thomas Zöller studied computer science and mathematics at the University of Bonn, where he also obtained his PhD in Machine Learning for Image Processing. He spent the following years developing his dissertation in various application-based research roles, in institutions such as the Fraunhofer Society. Prof. Dr. Zöller has held several different positions in his professional career, working on business intelligence, advanced analytics and AI in a wide variety of sectors, from finance to the auto industry. 

Selected publications:

Zöller, Thomas und Buhmann, Joachim (2007): Robust Image Segmentation Using Resampling and Shape Constraints. IEEE Transactions on Pattern Recognition and Machine Intelligence (TPAMI), Vol. 29 (7), pp. 1147 - 1164, Juli 2007.

Hügelmeyer, Philipp; Doll, Thomas und Zöller, Thomas (2007): ITSimBw - Das agentenbasierte Simulationssystem der Bundeswehr. IT-Report 2007.

Zöller, Thomas Zöller (2005): Shape and Topology Constrained Image Segmentation with Stochastic Models. Dissertation, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, 2005.

Ralf Kneuper serves as professor of Computer Science (with an emphasis on business applications) at IU University of Applied Sciences since 2016. He is the acting supervisor of the Software Development, IT Management and IT Security study programmes.

Prof. Dr. Kneuper studied mathematics in Mainz and Bonn, and earned his PhD in Computer Science from the University of Manchester. Following his graduation, he has worked for 15 years at different software and IT companies, working in quality management and software and process improvement roles.

He has worked as a freelance consultant for over twelve years, providing support for different companies in issues regarding data protection, process improvement and software quality assurance. Ralf Kneuper is an expert on process models, specifically the CMMI maturity model, topics on which has published several books. He also acts as a member of the management committee of the “Process Models for Business Application Development” think tank, a subdivision of the Gesellschaft für Informatik e. V. (GI).

Selected publications:

Kneuper, Ralf und Macke, Martin (2019): Rolle der Transportverschlüsselung für die sichere E-Mail-Kommunikation. In: DuD Datenschutz und Datensicherheit, Heft 2/2019, S. 76-80.

Kneuper, Ralf (2018): Software Processes and Life Cycle Models. An Introduction to Modelling, Using and Managing Agile, Plan-Driven and Hybrid Processes. Springer International Publishing.

Kneuper, Ralf (2015): Messung und Bewertung von Prozessqualität – Ein Baustein der Governance. HMD – Praxis der Wirtschaftsinformatik, Band 52, Heft 2, April 2015, S. 301-311.

Kneuper, Ralf (2009): CMMI. Improving Software and Systems Development Processes Using Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI-DEV). Rocky Nook, San Rafael (USA).

Prof. Dr. Brückmann serves as a professor and course director of the Business & IT programme at IU University of Applied Sciences.

Following his studies at the Technical University of Dresden, where he studied computer science with a focus on media, Tobias Brückmann obtained a PhD in Software Technology from the University of Leipzig. He then went on to work as a researcher at the Ruhr Institute for Software Technology.

Over the last decade, he has worked on a large number of industrial IT projects for different international companies, in the insurance, banking and media industries. He has also founded CampusLab GmbH, a start-up focused on developing advanced training tools for IT topics.

Throughout his academic career, Tobias Brückmann has done research on the planning and structuring of business information systems, focusing mostly on the interface between IT departments and other branches within technological companies.

Selected publications:

Brückmann, Tobias et. al. (2017): 'Codeless Engineering of Service Mashups – An Experience Report

Proceedings of the Fourteenth IEEE International Conference on Services Computing 2017 (SCC 2017).

Brückmann, Tobias (2017): Mehr Agilität durch Agilität - Crossfunktionale Teams. In: Business Technology Magazin, Ausgabe 4/17, S. 38-40.

Brückmann, Tobias (2017): Digitale Transformation und Flexibilität: Keine Optionen, sondern notwendige Überlebensstrategien. In: Manage it (Nov. 2017), Onlinemagazin, app Verlag GmbH.

Prof. Dr. Benner-Wickner is a professor of Computer Engineering at IU University of Applied Sciences, having joined our teaching staff in 2018. He also serves as the head of the Industrial Engineering & Management and Industry 4.0 online study programmes. His courses cover topics such as software engineering and gender neutral e-learning.

Marian Benner-Wickner has worked in the software industry for many years, among other things as an IT specialist trainer at CampusLab GmbH and as a software developer at the Fraunhofer Institute for Software and Systems Technology.

He obtained a PhD in Software Engineering from the University of Duisburg-Essen in 2016, where he was also in charge of the “Agenda-Driven Case Management” research cluster.

Prof. Dr. Benner-Wickner is a contributing member of several well-known computer science organisations: the Wikimedia Foundation, the CPS.HUB NRW and the Society for Computer Science. His academic works have been published in leading journals, covering issues such as ambient-assisted living solutions and smart home technologies, and the protection of minors in the digital sector.

Selected publications:

Wilhelm Koop, Tobias Brückmann, Marian Benner-Wickner, Markus Kleinschmidt and Volker Gruhn: Situation-Based E-Learning in Software Engineering, 2018 International Conference on Software Engineering ICSE, Gothenburg, Sweden, 2018.

Tobias Brückmann, Volker Gruhn, Wilhelm Koop, Julius Ollesch, Lukas Pradel, Florian Wessling and Marian Benner-Wickner: Codeless Engineering of Service Mashups - An Experience Report, 2017 IEEE International Conference on Services Computing, SCC 2017, Honolulu, HI, USA, June 25-30, 2017.

Marian Benner-Wickner, Matthias Book and Volker Gruhn: Adapting Case Management Techniques to Achieve Software Process Flexibility, in: Managing Software Process Evolution - How to handle process change?, Springer Verlag, 2015.

Ulrich Kerzel is a professor of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence at IU University of Applied Sciences.

Following his studies, Prof. Dr. Kerzel has worked in different research positions at CERN and Cambridge University, before taking up a position at Blue Yonder as a senior data scientist. There, he led the machine learning development team, oversaw industry and trade application projects, and offered seminars for various companies seeking to involve artificial intelligence in their business operations.

Ulrich Kerzel has devoted his research to the topics of modern machine learning and artificial intelligence, and the economic benefits they offer businesses.

Selected publications:

Kerzel, U. und Feindt, M. (2015): Prognosen bewerten – Statistische Grundlagen und Praktische Tipps. Springer-Gabler Verlag, Wiesbaden.

R. Aaij et al. [LHCb Collaboration] (2012): Measurement of the e_ective B0 s ! K+K- lifetime, Phys. Lett. B 716 (2012) 393, arXiv: hep-ex/1207.5993.

S. Chatrchyan et al. [CMS Collaboration] (2012): A New Boson with a Mass of 125 GeV Observed with the CMS Experiment at the Large Hadron Collider, Science 338 (2012), 1569-1575.

Paul Libbrecht is a professor of Data and Computer Science at the IU University of Applied Sciences online studies department. Prof. Dr. Libbrecht teaches classes on computer science applications for web architectures, mathematical models, and intelligent learning systems.

Having studied mathematics at the University of Lausanne and the Université du Québec à Montréal, he obtained a PhD in Computer Science at the University of Saarland, with a focus on developing learning materials for intelligent tutoring systems. Upon his graduation, he worked on NoSQL databases, semantic web and search engines at DFKI GmbH (the German Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence) in Saarbrücken.

Paul Libbrecht then went on to work as a software developer for Cabrilog SAS, Curriki Inc, XWiki SAS and the Leibniz Institute for Educational Research and Educational Information. Throughout his years in the academic and business worlds, he developed expert knowledge on the infrastructure of research data, and its potential uses for learning analytics, web architectures and other data analysis fields. 

Selected publications:

Paul Libbrecht, and Matija Lokar, Issues in Combining the Use of Various Tools in Solving Mathematical Problems – Why is Copy-Paste Often Useless, Acta Didactica Napocensia, Iuliana Zsoldos-Marchis and Csaba Sárvári (Editors). Available online. 2017-05-30.

David Carlisle, Patrick Ion, Robert Miner, and others, Mathematical Markup Language (MathML) Version 3.0, W3C Recommendation, 2010-10-21.

Erica Melis, George Goguadze, Paul Libbrecht, and Carsten Ullrich, ActiveMath – a Learning Platform With Semantic Web Features, Semantic Web Technologies for e-Learning, a book edited by D. Dicheva, R. Mizoguchi and J. Greer (eds), Volume 4 The Future of Learning, IOS Press, ISBN 978-1-60750-062-9. 2009-11.

James H. Davenport, and Paul Libbrecht, The Freedom to Extend OpenMath and its Utility, Journal of Mathematics and Computer Science, number 59, SpecialIssue on Mathematical KnowledgeManagement, Manfred Kerber (ed)., 2008, Birkhäuser Verlag.

Jessica Hastenteufel teaches business administration at the IU University of Applied Sciences online studies department, with course topics that cover banking and corporate finances.

Upon earning her PhD, along with the Venia Legendi award for academic excellence in the field of business administration studies, Prof. Dr. Hastenteufel has spent several years working in the banking sector. She was the head of sales management at Bank 1 Saar eG, and a managing partner at the Institute for Banks and SME Financing.

Prof. Dr. Hastenteufel currently holds several teaching posts: at IU, the Saarland University in Saarbrücken and other academic institutions. In addition, she regularly co-authors academic works, with her works being published in a wide range of scientific publications.

Selected publications:

Schuster, Hannes und Hastenteufel, Jessica (2019): Die Bankenbranche im Wandel – Status Quo und aktuelle Herausforderungen. Schriftenreihe: Wettbewerb und Regulierung von Märkten und Unternehmen (Band 36), 2. Auflage. Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft, Baden-Baden.

Waschbusch, Gerd und Hastenteufel, Jessica (2017): Branchenspezifische Besonderheiten der Bewertung von Banken, in: Handbuch Unternehmensbewertung – Anlässe, Methoden, Branchen, Rechnungslegung und Rechtsprechung, hrsg. von Karl Petersen und Christian Zwirner, 2. Aufl. (Bundesanzeiger Verlag) Köln 2017, S. 1519-1532.

Waschbusch, Gerd/ Hastenteufel, Jessica/ Staub, Mareike (2017): Gründungswettbewerbe als besonderes Instrument der Gründungsförderung, in: Der Steuerberater, 68. Jg., 2017, Heft 7/8, S. 221–228.

Hastenteufel, Jessica (2016): Gründungsfinanzierung - Eine Betrachtung unterschiedlicher Finanzierungsmöglichkeiten für Existenzgründer unter besonderer Berücksichtigung von Mikrofinanzierung und Crowdfunding, Bd. 32 der Schriftenreihe "Wettbewerb und Regulierung von Märkten und Unternehmen", hrsg. von Justus Haucap, Gregor Krämer, Jürgen Kühling und Gerd Waschbusch, (Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft) Baden-Baden 2016.

Prof. Dr. Mirko Bendig is a professor of Innovation and International Management at the IU University of Applied Sciences online studies department. He specialises in innovation management, entrepreneurship and international management. He also teaches courses on micro- and macroeconomics.

His alma mater is the University of Göttingen, where he completed his Bachelor in Economics, a Master in International Economics, and a PhD titled “Empirical Analysis of Participation Patterns in Microfinancial Markets: The Cases of Ghana and Sri Lanka”.

Mirko Bendig has worked in the private sector, as a corporate and innovation consultant, since 2007. In 2014, he founded a digital innovation management start-up, where he served as the managing director until 2020. His business work is marked by the use of agile, customer-focused methods, their pragmatic implementations, and a results-oriented approach.

Selected publications:

Bendig, M./Arun, T. (2016): Uptake of multiple microinsurance schemes – Evidence from Sri Lanka, Special Issue of Microinsurance by the Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance, 41(2).

Bendig, M. / Arun, T. (2011): Microfinancial Services and Risk Management: Evidences from Sri Lanka, Journal of Economic Development, Vol. 36, No. 4, 2011, pp. 97-126.

Prof. Dr. Gerhard Sälzer teaches business administration and corporate finance at IU University of Applied Sciences. In addition, he has been appointed as study programme director of the IU online study programmes Controlling M.A. and Financial Management B.A. Gerhard Sälzer is both an experienced tenured professor, and a well-established private sector manager, with over two decades of experience in different business positions, from working in finance and controlling to managerial roles in telecommunications, IT and cleantech companies. 

He began his professional career in 1995, at the telecommunications branch of the RWE Group. Between the years 2000 and 2010 he was the chief financial officer of several venture capital and private equity financed telecommunications companies. Also in 2000, he co-founded and acted as CFO of a start-up that was later acquired by Deutsche Bank. Since 2010, he has been working as an advisor to various companies. Gerhard Sälzer’s key professional competencies and expertise revolve around business ​​administration, corporate finance, controlling, mergers & acquisitions (in particular due diligence and company valuations), as well as corporate restructuring and start-up management.

He has studied business administration at the Universities of Münster and Innsbruck. After graduating with a degree in business administration from the Westphalian Wilhelms University of Münster in 1993, he worked as a research assistant for the Department of Business Administration, Human Resources and Organization at the Julius Maximilians University of Würzburg, where he obtained his PhD. Among his various private sector roles, Gerhard Sälzer also worked as a lecturer at the RheinMain University of Applied Sciences in Wiesbaden. Prof. Dr. Sälzer teaches at IU since 2012, and has become a part of the institution’s academic administration team in 2018.

Selected publications:

Deipenbrock, S./ Landewee, L./ Sälzer, G. (2019): Digitale Transformation des Controllings bei Deutsche Post International Potentiale und Herausforderungen durch Nutzung von Predictive Analytics. In: Controller Magazin, 1/2019, S. 45-51.

Sälzer, Gerhard. (2000): Die Effizienz deutscher Winzergenossenschaften - institutionelle und empirische Analysen, Gabler Verlag, Wiesbaden.

Sälzer, Gerhard (2002): Shareholder Value und Humankapitalmanagement - Herausforderungen der Personalpolitik in Telekommunikations Start-Up’s, erschienen in: WunderbareWirtschaftsWelt - Die New Economy und ihre Herausforderungen, Verein der Freiburger Wirtschaftwissenschaftler (Hrsg.), Baden-Baden.

Prof. Dr. Muhammad Ashfaq is widely recognized as an outstanding and experienced business and finance expert with more than 16 years of international experience. He is currently working as a professor of business administration with a focus on finance and accounting at IU International University of Applied Sciences in Germany. In addition to his professorship at IU, he is the Academic Director International and Program Director of Digital Business. He is also a regular visiting faculty member at Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands, LSi Business School Cambodia, and the international MBA program at Coburg University, Germany. His research interests include FinTech, Islamic finance, sustainable finance, and banking.

Prof. Ashfaq earned his doctor of philosophy on the topic: “Knowledge, Attitude and Practices toward Islamic Banking and Finance: An Empirical Analysis of Retail Consumers in Germany” from the University of Tübingen Germany. Prof. Ashfaq holds an MBA in Financial Management from Coburg University in Germany. He was awarded the Young Scholars Research Award by Bilkent University, Turkey in 2015 for his cutting-edge research contribution to the area of Islamic finance. He was also awarded the prestigious LGFW (Baden Württenberg Government Germany) scholarship for his Ph.D. at the University of Tübingen, Germany. Prof. Ashfaq has worked for several years in the industry and has obtained valuable experience in various management and leadership roles in international companies in various countries.

He has played a key role in the conceptualization, development and accreditation of study programs in various countries such as the Netherlands, the UK, Pakistan, Germany, and most recently developed an extensive and innovative study program Digital Business for undergraduate and students and M.Sc. Finance, Accounting & Taxation at IU International University of Applied Sciences, Germany.

Selected publications:

Ashfaq, M., Hasan, R. and Mercon, J. (2023) Central Bank Digital Currencies and Global Financial System: Theory and Practice, DE Gruyter, Germany

Ashfaq, M. and Bochert, V (2020) Socially Responsible Investments in Europe, University of South Florida M3 Centre, Florida

Ashfaq, M. (2017) Islamic Banking and Finance in Europe: The Case of Germany and United Kingdom, Peter Lang Verlag GmbH, Frankfurt Germany

Nooren, M., Shafique, A., Ahmed, Z. and Ashfaq, M. (2023), "Banking 4.0: Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Banking Industry & Consumer’s perspective", Sustainability, DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su15043682

Hasan, R., Ashfaq, M., Parveen, T and Gunardi, A. (2022), "Financial inclusion – does digital financial literacy matter for women entrepreneurs", International Journal of Social Economics, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSE-04-2022-0277.

Shafique, A., Ayub, U., Shariq,M. and Ashfaq, M. (2022), "Does voracious behavior efficient market hypothesis? Role of performance measures ", Scientific Annals of Economics and Business (69)4, pp:631-649 DOI: https://doi.org/10.47743/saeb-2022-0029

Ali, M., Khan, S. M., Puah, C., Mubarik, M.S and Ashfaq, M. (2022), "Does stakeholder pressure matter in Islamic banks’ corporate social responsibility and financial performance", International Journal of Ethics and Systems, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/IJOES-10-2021-0183

Naveed, A., Shabbir, G., Khan, M.A., Ashfaq, M. and Syed, S.H. (2021) Can a path to peace promote export growth? Evidence from Pakistan and its trading partners, Quality & Quantity (International Journal of Methodology) (Springer), https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-021-01272-x

Hassan, M.k, Hasan, R., Miah, M.D. & Ashfaq, M. (2021), " Corruption and Bank Efficiency: Expanding the “Sand or Grease the Wheel Hypothesis for Islamic and conventional banks ", Journal of Public Affairs, e2737. https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2737

Hasan, R. and Ashfaq, M., (2021) Corruption and its diverse effect on credit risk: global evidence, Future Business Journal (Springer), Vol.7, No.18, pp.1-14.

Hasan, R., Ashfaq, M. and Lingli, S. (2021), "Evaluating drivers of FinTech adoption in the Netherlands", Global Business Review, DOI: 10.1177/09721509211027402. pp.1-14.

Rauf, A.M., Ashfaq, M., Hassan, R. and Manju. M.A. (2021), "A comparative study on the impact of artificial intelligence on employment opportunities for university graduates in Germany and the Netherlands: AI opportunities and risks", International Journal Environment, Workplace and Employment, Vol.6, No.3, pp:185-204. 10.1504/IJEWE.2021.10037212

Saleem, I., Khan, M.N.A., Hasan, R. and Ashfaq, M. (2020), "Corporate board for innovative managerial control: implications of corporate governance deviance perspective", Corporate Governance, Vol. 21, No.3, pp.450-462. https://doi.org/10.1108/CG-04-2020-0151