Fritz Fahrni

Fritz Fahrni, PhD, born 1942, was Professor for Technology Management and Entrepreneurship at the ETH Zurich and at the University of St. Gallen (HSG), Switzerland (2000-2007). His research activities are in technology-, quality- & innovation management as well as in entrepreneurship & venturing. Dr. Fahrni graduated in Mechanical Engineering from the ETH Zurich (1966), got his PhD from the Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago (1970) and completed the Senior Management Program at Harvard Business School (1981).

During his successful industry career of more than 30 years, he worked as a scientist in the USA in NASA projects (1967-1970), afterwards for Ciba-Geigy Photochemistry in several development projects in the UK and Switzerland (1970 – 1976). As of 1976, he worked for Sulzer in leading positions in gas turbines and textile machinery. From 1988 until 1999 he was CEO of the Sulzer Corporation, then one of the largest Swiss industrial enterprises. Under his leadership, Sulzer changed from a traditional machinery manufacturer into a globally successful technology corporation with a new focus in medical engineering.

He is Chairman of the board of u-blox AG (Thalwil), an ETH-spinoff, now an internationally successful GPS/Semiconductor growth company (quoted at the Swiss stock exchange), and of INSYS AG (Münsingen), a private high-tech mechatronic company. Furthermore he is a member of the board of the private University Hospital Balgrist (Zürich). Dr. Fahrni is also an “individual member” of the Swiss Academy of Technical Sciences and was a member of the Swiss Federal Counsel for Science & Technology, the advisory body to the federal government (2000 – 2012).