CEO, ZAL Center of Applied Aeronautical Research
Hamburg Aviation Series "Hamburg's Pilots" - Episode 7
Loops, rolls, daredevil manoeuvres - but Roland Gerhards has his hands firmly on the controls. The CEO of ZAL has been a passionate aviator since his youth, and has specialized in aerobatics for the past ten years. "I regularly train for ups and downs in the air. The experience is also helpful in my worklife on the ground: keeping calm in stressful situations, always keeping track of where I am, and not losing sight of the ground - from a bird's eye view," he says with a grin.
As Managing Director and CEO, he has guided ZAL, Hamburg's Center of Applied Aeronautical Research, through a few manoeuvres in recent years - with success. At the start of 2016, after several years of construction work, the ZAL TechCenter in Finkenwerder has been made ready for the researchers to move in. Some 600 people will work at the new 26,000-square-meter research center, so that Hamburg's aviation sector is now well and truly playing in the global Champions League. All the big names in aviation in Hamburg - Airbus, Lufthansa Technik, DLR, the universities, Diehl - will have a presence at the TechCenter, using the new infrastructure for collaborative innovation projects.
ZAL and the new facility are focussed on six fields of research, the so-called Technical Domains, covering areas such as aircraft cabins, fuel cells, and new production methods. The research partners have access to test infrastructures such as an acoustic test chamber the size of a gym, a virtual reality room, and a fuselage test rig. The latter is compatible with cabin cross-sections from all modern airliners, all the way up to the Airbus A380. There is a large auditorium, too, which can also be used by external partners for their events - for example during the Hamburg Innovation Summit in May 2016. The enthusiastic pilot and executive couldn't resist the master stroke of integrating some aviation "extras" in the complex, such as apron-style car parking signage and blue taxiway lighting to guide visitors to the main entrance after dark.
The TechCenter, including the test infrastructure, is operated by ZAL GmbH, the company which Roland Gerhards leads. The company is also responsible for the overall coordination of research projects at the site. At present, some 30 people are currently employed directly by ZAL, to be joined by a further 20 over time. "In the future, we want to press ahead with our technologies on the basis of our own know-how, expanding our role in the network," says Gerhards.
But first, the CEO explains, the focus is on "getting this thing off the ground". For the past three years, he has spent the majority of his time on building-related issues. "Now the building is finished. Finally, I can put my focus back on the technology. So I am excited about the time ahead. This is what I have always done best," says the 47-year-old.
Everything in view: Roland Gerhards in the construction phase of the ZAL
Topping-out ceremony ZAL TechCenter November 2014
Bird's eye view: ZAL TechCenter summer 2015
Roland Gerhards, CEO, ZAL Center of Applied Aeronautical Research
Who are the 40,000 people who shape Hamburg as Germany's largest aerospace site? One of them is Roland Gerhards - aerobatic pilot and CEO of the ZAL Center for Applied Aeronautical Research. In less than two years, the ZAL has become a widely visible beacon for research and development. In order to pursue this goal you need passion - and sometimes courage to turn things upside down. Just like in aerobatics. This is our second film about the 40,000 people behind the network Hamburg Aviation. Production: Simon & Paul www.simonundpaul.com
Before taking on the leadership of ZAL in May 2012, the graduate aeronautical engineer spent 15 years working in various positions with Airbus in Hamburg and Toulouse. He experienced many decisive moments in the company's history at first hand, from the establishment of EADS to the problems with on-board electrical systems during the development of the A380. His last role with the company was heading up the fuselage development for the A330, where he led a team of 300.
"The management and technology experience that I gained at Airbus has been a solid basis on which to build here," says Gerhards, who also has an American MBA to go along with his German engineering degree. In terms of completely new areas he has had to master, the main focus has been on legal issues, particularly during the revision of the funding concept. But he never stopped enjoying his work. "I may well have been close to banging my head against the wall once or twice. But I am an optimist, and even when the going got tough, I never lost my faith in the ZAL project," says the CEO.
It's not just insiders who are enjoying ZAL, though. "Absolutely everyone is impressed by the building the first time they see the ZAL TechCenter with their own eyes," enthuses Gerhards. But it's not just the building, it's also the concept behind it. "ZAL is a unique chance for Hamburg to establish a new form of collaboration in aeronautical research, securing the region's future over the long term. ZAL's job is twofold: on the one hand, it has to be a political guarantor for the viability of the research sector here; and on the other hand, it needs to achieve commercial success by means of research results finding their way into the industry. This is the ground that ZAL has to occupy and it defines the standards by which the TechCenter and our company will be measured."
Gerhards aim is that products developed at ZAL will already be ready for deployment in aviation within three to five years. "As the name says, we are focussed on applied aeronautical research - on products and concepts which that will be implemented in the real world. We are not going to conduct research just for the sake of research!"
This means, too, that an individual research emphasis may have to be abandoned if it is holding development back. "The industry may look very different in 10 years. New aircraft programs may mean a whole new dynamic and direction, and we must be flexible enough to respond by reassigning our space and facilities at short notice. And maybe we will have to expand the building again - although, to be honest, I've had enough of that for now," he says with a laugh.
A definite and fixed goal for the next 10 years, however, is to build ZAL into a world-renowned major player with an established position in the aviation industry. And at the same time, to still find the time to go flying. In the frantic last months of the final construction phase, flying time drew the short straw, according to Gerhards. But he has taken care of this problem now: he obtained his night flying permit at the end of October 2015, so that he could theoretically take off after work. He won't be doing loopings, rolls, or any of the other daredevil manoeuvres then, but it's a start.
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