Prof. Dr.-Ing. Ralf Förster has been Professor of Machine Tools and Machine Design at the Berliner Hochschule für Technik (BHT) since 2011. He is Head of the Production Engineering Laboratory and served as Chair of the Association of German Engineers (VDI) Working Group on Production Engineering in the Berlin/Brandenburg region from 2012 to 2022. From 2020 to 2022, he also served as Vice Dean of Department VIII.
His research focuses on advanced manufacturing technologies, including electrical discharge machining (EDM) and micro-EDM of ceramic materials, electrochemical machining, microstructuring and micromachining, metrology applications, friction welding of organic materials, ultrasonic soldering of ceramics, glass, metals, and renewable materials, as well as friction welding of wood, bamboo, and other natural materials.
Prof. Förster studied Mechanical Engineering at TU Berlin, where he graduated with a Dipl.-Ing. degree in 1999. He subsequently worked as a research associate at TU Berlin and later at the Institute for Microsystems Engineering (IMTEK) at the University of Freiburg, conducting research in micro-EDM, electrochemical machining, and metrology. In 2004, he received his doctorate (Dr.-Ing.) from the University of Freiburg with a dissertation on the potential of electrochemical sinking processes using oscillating tool electrodes for microstructuring applications.
Before joining the BHT, he held positions in industrial research and development, including project management in manufacturing technology and machine development at Berliner Glas GmbH & Co. KGaA, Technical Director at Christian Dunkel GmbH, and Managing Director of Mikrosystemtechnik und Service GmbH in Berlin.
In addition to his academic activities, Prof. Förster has held numerous international teaching appointments. He has been a lecturer at Hefei University (China) since 2016, a guest professor at Universitas Pancasila in Jakarta, Indonesia, since 2017 (following an earlier guest professorship at ISTN Jakarta from 2014 to 2017), and a lecturer at KGST Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, since 2018.
Prof. Förster has successfully acquired and led numerous externally funded research projects in sustainable materials, manufacturing technologies, and medical engineering. His projects include the development of bamboo-core cross-laminated timber (CCLT), friction welding technologies for wood and bamboo without adhesives, lightweight materials based on renewable resources, MRI-compatible surgical drilling systems, precision lens structuring technologies, and water-lubricated compressors. These projects have been funded by organizations including the German Federation of Industrial Research Associations (AiF), Project Management Jülich (PtJ), and other national funding agencies.
He has also established an extensive network of national and international research collaborations with academic institutions and industrial partners. These include strategic cooperation agreements with the German Archaeological Institute, Universitas Pancasila (Indonesia), ISTN Jakarta, and numerous industrial companies in the fields of mechanical engineering, wood construction, optics, manufacturing technologies, and microsystems engineering.
Cooperative Doctoral Supervision
Cholpon Balayiewa
Doctoral project: 2022 – present
Institution: KGSTU Bishkek
Role: Co-supervisor
Albina Omorova
Doctoral project: 2023 – 2027
Institution: Berliner Hochschule für Technik
Role: Co-supervisor (in collaboration with Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT))
