Dr. Karsten Danielmeier is Senior Vice President and head of growth businesses at Covestro Deutschland AG, Leverkusen. He was born in Werl in 1967. After graduating from the Mariengymnasium in Werl in 1986 and subsequently serving his basic military service, he studied chemistry at the University of Bonn from 1987 and, after receiving his doctorate under Prof. Eberhard Steckhan in 1995, joined Bayer AG in Leverkusen in 1996, where he was active in numerous positions of increasing responsibility in Leverkusen and Pittsburgh (USA). In 2015, with the demerger of Covestro, he became head of Research for the CAS (Coatings, Adhesives, Specialties) segment at Covestro to take over the Growth Business Unit in 2021. Since 2017, he has taught the Applied Innovation Management course at the University of Cologne. In 2019, he published the book Polyurethanes, Coatings, Adhesives and Sealants with three colleagues. He supported Jugend Forscht as a juror for many years and held various positions in the GDCh. He has been on the board since 2020 and the president of the GDCh since 2022.