President and Vice-President

Gerhard Breitschaft studied structural engineering at the Technische Universität Berlin. He went on working for several engineering firms, where he drew up structural designs, verified structural calculations and helped develop associated software. In 2003, he joined DIBt as the Head of the Structural Engineering Department. He has been the President of DIBt since 2009. In addition, he heads the Structural Design Control Authority at DIBt. In 2012, he was appointed as the authorised representative of the German Bundesrat to the Standing Committee on Construction (SCC) which advises the European Commission on questions relating to the implementation of the Construction Products Regulation.

Karsten Kathage studied civil engineering at Ruhr University Bochum where he completed his doctorate with a dissertation on ‘Plastic design of continuous composite beams with composite joints’. He joined DIBt in 1995 and was promoted Head of Section ‘Metal and Composite Construction, Special Structures, Bearings and Glass’ in 2005. Since 2011, he has been the Vice-President of DIBt and Head of the Presidential Department.

Karsten is active in many national and European technical committees. He is a member of the Executive Board of the European Organisation for Technical Assessment (EOTA).