Management bodies

Kurt Bengel
CEO

Kurt Bengel joined the Management Board on 1 January 2007 and became Chief Executive Officer of CENIT AG on 31 July 2012. As CEO, he is responsible for the Investor Relations and Marketing departments, and international business operations

Kurt Bengel, born in 1962, graduated from Aalen University of Applied Sciences in 1987 with an engineering degree. He went on to work as a CAD/CAM assistant and CATIA Trainer for TW Trans GmbH. In 1988, Kurt Bengel joined CENIT AG in Stuttgart and held various positions in sales and consulting, including as a CAD-CAM application consultant, in CAD/CAM solution sales, as a sales manager, business unit manager, international sales manager, director of PLM solutions and an authorized officer of the firm.

Matthias Schmidt
CFO

Matthias Schmidt has been a member of the Management Board at CENIT AG since 1 February 2013, where he is responsible for Finance and Human Resources

Matthias Schmidt, born in 1969, trained to become a data processing specialist from 1986 to 1989. He completed his studies at the Technical University of Dortmund in 1994 with a degree in business informatics. He went on to hold various national and international positions in finance at Hewlett-Packard GmbH, including as Director of Finance for HP Germany. In 2013, Matthias Schmidt joined the CENIT AG Management Board, where he is responsible for Finance and Human Resources.

Dr. Markus Wesel
Member of Board

Dr. Markus Wesel joined the CENIT Group as a member of the Executive Board on July 1, 2020

Dr. Markus Wesel, born in 1978, graduated in 2003 from the University of Osnabrück with a degree in economics. Following his studies, he worked as a project and audit manager in the consulting & auditing department of PricewaterhouseCoopers AG until 2010. In parallel, Markus Wesel completed his doctoral studies at the University of Osnabrück from 2005-2009 and earned the title of Dr. rer. pol.

From 2010 to 2015, Dr. Wesel led the Controlling Department at KME Germany AG & Co. KG (Osnabrück) and later the department of Accounting & Processes at Paulaner Brauerei & Co. KG / Schörghuber Group (Munich). In 2015, Dr. Wesel joined the NEMETSCHEK Group / Allplan GmbH in Munich where he held the position of Senior Vice President Finance, Legal & Operations. Parallel to his professional career, Dr. Wesel is active as a lecturer: In the years 2004-2011 he taught in the Accounting & Controlling department of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce in Osnabrück/Emsland. Since 2014, Dr. Wesel has been an associate lecturer in the Economics Department at the Fresenius University of Applied Sciences in Munich.

Univ.-Prof. Dr.-Ing. Oliver Riedel
Chairman of the Supervisory Board

Univ.-Prof. Dr.-Ing. Oliver Riedel is Chairman of the Supervisory Board and a university professor at the University of Suttgart and head of the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering (IAO)

Prof. Dr. Oliver Riedel completed a degree in technical cybernetics at the University of Stuttgart and did his PhD in the Faculty of Engineering Design and Production Engineering. He led a number of projects for large international corporations in the automotive and energy sectors for the introduction of virtual methods. Amongst others, he was responsible for process integration and information management in the production process at AUDI AG. In 2010, Prof. Dr. Oliver Riedel assumed management of information technology and process integration / production processes at the VW Group. At AUDI AG, he took over management of planning processes and coordination of product-relevant IT in 2012. Since 2016, he has been head of the Institute for Control Engineering of Machine Tools and Manufacturing Units (ISW) at the University of Stuttgart, holder of the production information technology chair and head of the the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering.

Stephan Gier 
Deputy Chair of the Supervisory Board

Stephan Gier is Deputy Chair of the Supervisory Board as well as a tax adviser and accountant

Stephan Gier, born in 1963, graduated from Saarland University in 1988 with a degree in business. Until 2013 he was Assurance Partner at EY and worked mostly with capital market oriented companies in addition to a company-wide, internal function as Compliance Manager. Stephan Gier began working as a self-employed accountant and tax adviser in 2013.

Ricardo Malta 
Employee Representative on the Supervisory Board

Ricardo Malta is the Employee Representative on the Supervisory Board and a department head at CENIT AG

Ricardo Malta, born in 1967, studied engineering science at the Polytechnic School of the University of São Paulo, Brazil, from 1987 to 1989. From 1990 to 1991, he attended the Studienkolleg (a form of preparatory college) at Ludwig-Maximilian-University in Munich, and until 1993 he studied engineering science and aerospace at the Technical University of Munich. Ricardo Malta joined CENIT GmbH in 1996 and CENIT AG in Stuttgart in 1998. He held various roles including AMS support for BMW AG and Porsche AG and project management at BMW and Allianz AG. He has been Service Manager at MTB AG and department head since 2012.