Distinguished Engineer Citations

                 

Henning Oeltjenbruns, Ph.D.

Distinguished Engineer

2015

Degree

Industrial Engineering – 1993

 

Citation

At Time of Nomination in 2015

Dr. Henning Oeltjenbruns grew up in Northwest Germany. He enrolled at Wilhelmshaven University, a partner university of Texas Tech, in 1987, and earned a Bachelor of Science in industrial engineering. During that time, he participated in the relatively new student exchange program with Texas Tech. He later returned to Lubbock and earned a Master of Science in industrial engineering in 1992.

In 2000, after having worked for Daimler AG, also known as Mercedes-Benz, in various functions and locations including Germany, Spain, Alabama, and Brazil, he finalized his studies on “Lean Manufacturing and the Implementation of the Toyota Production System in Western Industries” with a Ph.D. from the University of Clausthal-Zellerfeld.

Oeltjenbruns has spent almost 25 years working for Daimler in various leadership functions and locations. He was part of the initial engineering team setting up the first auto assembly plant of Mercedes-Benz outside of Germany in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. As global product line manager for Mercedes-Benz Trucks, he implemented a new truck model line in Europe, Turkey and Brazil. From 2007-2012, Henning served as general manager and vice president of Detroit Diesel Corporation in Redford, Michigan, launching a global platform of new EPA10 heavy-duty truck engines.

He has served the last three years as head of product planning and strategy for Daimler Trucks headquarters in Stuttgart, focusing on new truck markets and supporting Daimler’s China joint venture with Auman Trucks.

Just recently, he has been named the new general manager for Daimler Trucks North America’s Freightliner Plant in Cleveland, North Carolina. Together with his wife Meike, a former graduate student at Texas Tech in the Department of Classical and Modern Languages, and their nine-year-old daughter Anna, they will relocate this summer back to the United States.

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