Dr.-Ing. Herbert Negele is responsible at BMW for materials development for metals, plastics, and surfaces, as well as lightweight construction. He studied aerospace engineering at the Technical University of Munich (TU Munich) and earned his doctorate there in the field of systems engineering. For more than 25 years, he has held a wide variety of leadership roles in BMW’s development division, including in driver assistance, product strategy, and electrification, as well as serving as a vehicle project manager and head of development in Brazil. Currently, he and his teams are focusing in particular on innovative, more sustainable materials and intelligent lightweight construction. As a member of the VDA Materials Committee and the core team of the VDA project group “Materials from Resource-Efficient and Low-Carbon Manufacturing,” he advocates for more sustainable material concepts and greater transparency in the automotive supply chain.