CLIB members set the course for a sustainable future of the association – CLIB

At this year’s general assembly on September 19 at Yncoris in Hürth, the members of the association set the course for a sustainable and continued positive development of CLIB. For the first time since the foundation of the association, the membership fees were adjusted to meet the rising costs and to take into account the grown service portfolio. This enables stable planning of the association’s budget and the preservation of the current range of services.
The dynamic development of the organisation in recent months is also reflected in the appointments to the Extended Board. We have said goodbye to two long-standing members of the Executive Board, who are gradually taking their well-deserved retirement. Ludo Diels (VITO) and Hans-Jürgen Mittelstaedt (VCI NRW) have shaped the association for years and had a decisive influence on its development. Ludo Diels also stood and stands as a person for the close cross-border cooperation between NRW, Flanders and the Netherlands, which is always of particular importance for the CLIB strategy. Hans-Jürgen Mittelstaedt has been involved in the development of CLIB from the very beginning and is one of the brains behind the original application development for the BioIndustrie 2021 competition, which led to the founding of the association. For many years, he had also served as treasurer on the Executive Board.
Heleen De Wever, Group Leader for Bioprocesses and Biomass Processing at VITO, and Winfried Golla, future Managing Director of VCI NRW and successor to Hans-Jürgen Mittelstaedt in this position from January 2025, have now been newly elected to the Extended Board. These by-elections show continuity in the continued close involvement of VCI and VITO in the extended board, as well as the integration of subsequent generations in both organizations. As of January 2025, the Extended Board will thus consist of the following persons:
Dr. Cornelia Bähr, b.value AG
Dr. Roland Breves, BCB – Biotech Consult Breves
Dr. Heleen De Wever, VITO
Prof. Dr. Winfried Golla, VCI NRW
Dr. Silko Grimm, Evonik Industries AG
Dr. Claas Heise, NRW. BANK
Dr. Gernot Jäger, Covestro AG
Dr. Frank Kensy, b.fab GmbH
Prof. Dr. Stephan Lütz, TU Dortmund University
Dr. Rainer Simmering, Henkel AG Co. KGaA
Dr. Peter Welters, Phytowelt GreenTechnologies GmbH
Prof. Dr. Volker F. Wendisch, Bielefeld University