Professor Wahlster Receives Europe’s Oldest Innovation Award
Celebrating Excellence: Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Wahlster Receives Europe’s Oldest Innovation Award
Professor Wolfgang Wahlster, a Distinguished Fellow at ICSI and a foundational figure in European AI research, has been honored with the 2025 Rudolf Diesel Medal for “Best Innovation Promotion”—Europe’s oldest and most prestigious innovation award.
The award recognizes Prof. Dr. Wahlster’s life’s work in artificial intelligence and his pioneering leadership in shaping Industry 4.0, a term he coined in 2010 to describe the fourth industrial revolution driven by cyber-physical systems and AI-powered production. The medal was presented at a formal gala in Augsburg on July 10 by the Rudolf Diesel Board of Trustees, in the presence of leading figures from science, industry, and policy.
As the Founding Director and former CEO of the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), and currently its Chief Advisor, Prof. Dr. Wahlster played a central role in transforming DFKI into one of the world’s top AI research institutions. His research has influenced a broad range of fields—from worker assistance systems and digital twins to autonomous vehicle architecture and semantic technologies.
In addition to his contributions at DFKI and Saarland University, Prof. Dr. Wahlster has been a longstanding member of the ICSI community, serving on both the Executive Board and the Board of Trustees. His interdisciplinary impact, prolific scholarship (with over 200 technical publications and 15 books), and dedication to international collaboration exemplify ICSI’s mission to advance science for the public good.
To learn more about Prof. Dr. Wahlster’s work and achievements: Full DFKI press release Google Scholar profile Personal website https://www.icsi.berkeley.edu/icsi/about/board/wahlster ICSI is proud to celebrate Prof. Dr. Wahlster’s contributions and congratulates him on this well-deserved honor.
To learn more about Prof. Dr. Wahlster’s work and achievements:
ICSI is proud to celebrate Prof. Dr. Wahlster’s contributions and congratulates him on this well-deserved honor.
