I studied Computer Science at the Universität des Saarlandes in Saarbrücken, Germany.  While doing so, I worked for the Computer Service Group of the Max-Planck-Institut für Informatik, where I learned Unix and TCP/IP.

In 1995, I started a project at the Chair of Professor Buchmann which evolved into a portable object-oriented cryptographic library called LiSA. Among the features  of that Library is an automatic internet key retrieval function. I designed the distributed database service for the key distribution which was the main part of my thesis.

In 1997, I finished my studies and received my diploma in Computer Science in Saarbrücken and went to the Vrije Universiteit in Brussels to start working on my Ph.D at the VUB AI lab of Prof. Luc Steels. I worked on hardware and software for embedded systems, in particular for the autonomous robots of the robotics group of Andreas Birk. The main part of my Ph.D Thesis was the design (and the implementation) of a component-based operating system for autonomous systems, CubeOS that has meanwhile been used in several projects in education and research. I completed my Ph.D in the summer of 2001. 

From September 1th, 2001 until August 31st 2004, I worked as a lecturer for electrical engineering and computer science at the International University Bremen 

At IUB, I was working with Andreas Birk on mobile robotics, especially in Robocup Rescue 

In Summer 2003, I visited RSISE of the Australian National University in Canberra to work with Uwe Zimmer on system software for underwater robots.

From August 1st, 2004, to September 30th, 2007 I was the scientific lead of the wearable computing group of the TZI Technologie-Zentrum Informatik in the working group of Prof. Otthein Herzog. 

On October 1st, 2007, I joined Microsoft ATL Europe (then called European Microsoft Innovation Center ) in Aachen to work on embedded systems.

On July 1st, 2013, Microsoft ATL Europe moved from Aachen to Munich and so did I.

In 2014, I joined Microsoft DX, working on Cloud, Open Source, Linux and IoT projects.

In 2016, I moved over to the Partner and Device Solutions group (formerly known as Windows OEM) and now I work on new operating system things, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and the Internet of Things.

In 2019, I joined Microsofts Business Development Organization, looking into Autonomous Systems, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, High Performance Computing, Mixed Reality and Silicon Archtectures. And yes, I was somewhat involved in generative AI, large language models and Microsoft's partnerships in this space.

In 2020, I became a member of the Board of Directors of the OPC Foundation, representing Microsoft. In 2022, I was elected chairperson of the board.

In August 2024, I decided to leave Microsoft.

Next to my scientific work, I founded two companies, one on video electronics and a second one on robotic hardware and started the RIDS project on robotics in highschools. And I participated in RoboCup since 1998.

And somewhere in a drawer, I keep my amateur radio license, a yachtmaster license and some other things.