In March 2000, Dr. Thomas Schmitz joined Ulm Technical University of Applied Sciences. Here he works as Professor for Automotive Engineering and is Vice Dean of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering. In addition, he has founded the Steinbeis Transfer Center Vehicle Dynamics & Chassis Engineering, Vehicle Systems & Concepts to foster knowledge transfer between universities and industry. Before his academic career, he spent 25 years with Ford Motor Company in different management positions within Vehicle Engineering. From 2010 to 2020, he was global manager for suspension.