Since 2018, Stefan has served as the President and Executive Director of the OPC Foundation. Under his careful tutelage, he has coordinated the expansion of OPC technologies into the Internet of Things and Industrie4.0. Prior to serving as President, Stefan was the OPC Foundation Global Vice President and the President of the OPC Europe organization. He has been a catalyst in initiating relationships with many industrial consortia worldwide, which has resulted in the creation of dozens of Working Groups, each developing OPC Companion Specifications for their respective information models. Since 1995 he has worked for BECKHOFF Automation, beginning as a software developer and, later, as a lead Product Manager focusing on PC based automation, connectivity, and embedded software products.