Our Founders
The Founder
Professor Hasso Plattner (born January 21, 1944, in Berlin) has been successfully linking business and science for decades. Plattner, majored in Communications Engineering at the University of Karlsruhe and graduated with an advanced degree in engineering.
He began his professional career in 1968 at IBM. Four years later, together with four former colleagues, Plattner founded the enterprise software group SAP. Today, the company has 80,000 employees worldwide.
In addition to his business career, Plattner is also passionate about research and science. In 1994 Plattner received an honorary professorship in Business Informatics from the University of Saarbrücken. Since 2004 Hasso Plattner has been active in this capacity at the University of Potsdam and as a member of the Board of Trustees of Stanford University.
Our Founder
Dr. Claudia Nicolai is co-director and academic director of the HPI School of Design Thinking in Potsdam. Together with her team, she designs the academic programs for participants, the design thinking coaching programs, develops innovation projects with partner institutions (companies, non-profit organizations and research institutions) and conducts research on business design, innovative workplaces, leadership and teamwork.
Claudia is also responsible for collaborating with international academic institutions in design thinking and related fields. She has co-created the Genovasi D-School in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and the HPI D-School at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, as well as the international Biothinking program at Charité.
In addition to his activities as professor, Plattner made plans to establish his own institute. In the summer of 1998, he announced the founding of the Hasso Plattner Institute for Software Systems Engineering (HPI).
The Berlin native chose the state capital of Brandenburg as the location. Potsdam is "the ideal location for future-oriented research and teaching, with the strong appeal of the Havel landscape and historical heritage," says Plattner.
The first 77 students began their studies at HPI just one year later. The following year, in the immediate vicinity of the Griebnitzsee lake, the cornerstone was laid for the institute's own building. Now, in 2019, HPI is celebrating its 20th anniversary.
Since then, Hasso Plattner has supported the institute’s continuous growth. In the fall of 2016, the patron of science announced the comprehensive expansion of HPI. A few months later, HPI and the University of Potsdam jointly founded the "Digital Engineering Faculty"—the first privately financed faculty of a public university in Germany.
She is currently involved in the development of Design Thinking schools in Central and Latin America (Mexico and Chile). She teaches as Visiting Professor, Assistant Professor at the University of Witten, Herdecke, RWTH Aachen University, Berlin University of the Arts, Openlab Stockholm and Elisava School of Design, Barcelona.
In addition to teaching and learning, she leads design thinking research at HPI D-School with three funded research projects in the areas of innovation networks, future of work and team leadership. She also strives to impact future education, change management, and entrepreneurship through close collaboration with schools as well as international leadership programs (e.g., Montessori schools, Melton Foundation’s Young Global Leadership Program). She serves as a mentor at Startupbootcamp, Impact Hub, and various startups.
Claudia studied Business Administration, Economics and Social Sciences and received her PhD in “Strategic Innovation”. She has gained experience by founding her own companies as well as by working as a strategic consultant and as a business manager in the consumer goods sector. She loves to encourage participants and professionals to become innovators, entrepreneurs and change agents.
Areas of Expertise
Consumer Ethnography – Innovation Management – Business Design
Design Thinking Program Development & Teaching – Project Management
Team Management – Collaboration – Creative Spaces – Cross-Cultural Management
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Our Founder
Dato’ (Dr.) Siew Ka Wei is presently the Founder Chairman of Genovasi University College; Executive Chairman of Ancom Nylex Berhad; Group Managing Director of Nylex (Malaysia) Berhad; and Executive Vice Chairman of Ancom Logistics Berhad.
In year 2012, Dato’ Siew founded the d.school Malaysia together with the Government of Malaysia and various technical advisors from local Malaysians as well from abroad.
Dato’ Siew received his secondary and tertiary education in the United Kingdom, first studying at Marlborough College from the age of 13 years before completing his tertiary education at Imperial College London. He obtained both his Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Chemical Engineering and Master of Science in Operational Research degrees from the prestigious Imperial College, United Kingdom
Dato’ Siew has extensive experience in the field of petrochemicals, accumulated over more than 30 years in the local and international sectors. He was an active member of the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO) from 1993 until 2006 serving as the Chairman of the Malaysian Chapter of YPO and Co Chairman of the first Regional Conference in Kuala Lumpur in 1998.
During his tenure as a member of the International Board of YPO from 2000 to 2003 he was Chairman of YPO’s Global Leadership Congress in Beijing in 2003 He was also a past President of the Imperial College Alumni of Malaysia and a past Governor on the Board of Governors of Marlborough College Malaysia