DVN Munich Lighting Workshop
February 4 – 8:00 am | February 5 – 6:30 pm
39th DVN Munich Lighting Workshop – February 4-5, 2026
Small Olympia Park, Munich, Germany
SOCIAL COCKTAIL & DINNER • CONFERENCE • PANEL DISCUSSION • AWARD CEREMONY • EXPO
2035 AUTOMOTIVE LIGHTING: WHAT’S NEXT ?
Automobile is born in Europe more than one century ago. With new ways on mobility, climate change and strong worlwilde competition, Automotive industry has to be reinvented.
This is impacting also our automotive lighting community and our supply chains.
Exterior lighting has never been in such a big role at IAA Munich last September, with new technology release, new design language and strong marketing usage.
We have now to bring an holitistic approach to lighting. It is not only safety and design.
It is time to think together about the next step. What will be our automotive lighting world in 10 years?
For this purpose, the agenda will include different sessions:
- Lighting and design
- Innovative technology including EE to support
- Simulation and AI : how to accelerate and change our way of working
- Sustainability and how to move forward
- Niche market and special needs (2W, trucks, sport cars, luxury cars)
Including round tables and award ceremony.
For the first time we are inviting design schools to give us input and vision and we have defined a Jury to select the best design proposal.
This Munich DVN Workshop will bring together more than 500 participants from all over the world. Experts, researchers, managers, designers, engineers…and you!
Paul-Henri Matha
DVN Chief Executive Officer and Lighting General Editor
Preliminary Program
PARRALLEL SESSIONS
02:00 pm to 5:30pm:
ROOM 1 — DEEP DIVE INTO AUTOMOTIVE LIGHTING SUSTAINABILITY STAKES
EXPERT DISCUSSION BETWEEN OEM, TIER1 AND TIER2
Chairman: Gerd Banhmuller, DVN
PARRALLEL SESSIONS
02:00 pm to 5:30pm:
ROOM 2 — DEEP DIVE INTO EXTERNAL DISPLAY: STATUS ABOUT RESEARCH FROM
INSTITUTE & INDUSTRY
Chairman: Paul Henri Matha, DVN
Day 1 – February 4, 2026
08:00 am: Registration & Welcome coffee
09:30 am: OPENING KEYNOTE SPEECHES
Geely Group – Thomas Ingenlath, Senior Design Advisor
• 30 years of personal automotive experience – How automotive lighting changed from zero to a major topic
China Academy of Art – Professor & Head of Transportation Design Institution
10:30 am: SESSION 1 – LIGHTING, COMMUNICATION & DESIGN – THE NEW 3 PILLARS FOR OUR COMMUNITY
Mercedes-Benz – Lara Kapp, Research & Development Engineer
• Mercedes front panel development
Audi – Michael Krupa, Head of Front Light Development
• Essence of Lighting – Technical precision and radical simplicity
Bentley Motors – Maxim Sykes
• Bentley EXP15
Polestar – Christophe Ferreira Da Silva, Design Manager
• Polestar 5 lamp details
Stellantis – Richard Brevet, Lighting Leader Style Citroën
• Citroën C5 and ë-C3 lighting design
OPmobility – Michael Rosenauer, Director Innovation Exterior & Lighting
• Transforming automotive lighting design with advanced decoration and sustainable manufacturing
SL Corporation – Hyeongdo Kim, Research Engineer
TactoTek – Dominique Heilborn, Director Ecosystem Partnerships
• SEAMLESS SKIN – A designer’s dream
Microrelleus – Raúl García, CEO
• Production tool engraving vs. direct PMMA processing with femtosecond laser: a comparative study on homogeneity and efficiency
SABIC – Erhard Bruss, Sr. Manager Automotive Marketing
• Trends and opportunities in automotive lighting with thermoplastics, including diffusive solutions
Saint-Gobain
ZKW – Gerald Boehm, GSM Advanced Technology & Technology Relationship Management
• Display solutions and challenges
Tata Motors – Salil Kulkarni
• From Tata Motors’ LED lighting evolution to the new Sierra’s lighting journey
12:30 pm: Lunch break
02:00 pm: SESSION 2 – DEEP DIVE INTO FILM TECHNOLOGY: PRODUCT & PROCESS
Niebling
KraussMaffei
Leonhard Kurz
Nissha – Tino Theer, Development Engineer
• Film Insert Molding – Redefining the exterior of tomorrow
04:30 pm: COFFEE BREAK
05:00 pm: DESIGN CONTEST
06:00 pm: DVN AWARD CEREMONY
07:00 pm: COCKTAIL & DINNER
Day 2 – February 5, 2026
09:00 am: WELCOME COFFEE
09:30 am: KEYNOTE SPEECH & ROUND TABLE
Chairman: Hans Schwabe – DVN
AUDI – Stephan Berlitz, Head of Exterior Lighting Development
BMW – Jörg Kälble, Exterior Lighting Development Chief
Mercedes-Benz – Stefan Töpfer, Senior Manager R&D Lighting Systems
10:30 am: COFFEE BREAK
10:45 am: SESSION 3 – NICHE MARKET AND SPECIAL NEEDS
Mercedes-Benz – Anton Nelson, Headlamp Responsible
Dominik Reule, Rearlamp Responsible
Üsame Akkoca, Rear-Display Responsible
• Lamp details on AMG GT XX
Volvo Trucks – Berk Keskin, Head of Exterior Design
Fendt
• Tractor lighting needs
Aspöck
• Light and assistance systems on a 24V trailer
11:45 am: SESSION 4 – INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY INCLUDING E/E TO SUPPORT LIGHTING
ams OSRAM – Lufei Shen, Product Manager
• Novel intelligent LEDs for highly scalable dynamic exterior lighting
OPmobility – Andreas Schramm
• The smart way to an LDM-less headlamp: how the next-generation E/E architecture enables a more efficient approach
Ennostar – Frank Ho, VP
• Mini LED ISD for automotive: a chip-to-module framework
Bosch
• CAN FD light status
12:30 pm: LUNCH BREAK
02:00 pm: SESSION 5 – SIMULATION AND AI: HOW TO ACCELERATE AND CHANGE OUR WAY OF WORKING
Chairman: Benoit Deschamps – Expert Virtual MockUp & eXtended Reality, Renault
Renault – Benoit Deschamps, Expert Virtual MockUp & eXtended Reality
Ansys by Synopsys
• Acceleration in virtual validation: what AI & software customisation can truly deliver in lighting
Dassault Systèmes & Keysight – Stephan Ritz, Director Portfolio Management & Tobias Schmid, Ph.D.
• 3DEXPERIENCE CATIA & LucidShape – a paradigm shift for lighting design workflows
Eclat Digital & Covestro – Covestro & Ocean™
• From pixel to real part – eliminate guesswork in design with predictive optical simulation
United Visual Researchers
EDAG
• EDAG EDlight + Homogenium – AI-based light function detection and measurement evaluation
03:00 pm: COFFEE BREAK
03:30 pm: SESSION 6 – SUSTAINABILITY AND HOW TO MOVE FORWARD
FORVIA HELLA & Covestro
• Summary of the Nalyse project
Valeo – Gregory Planche, Lighting Circular Economy Program Manager
• Remanufacturing headlamps
Emerson Branson – Marian Blasko, Key Account Manager
• Innovating the future: sustainable headlamp assembly process
Sumitomo Chemical
• A solution for sustainable lighting – proposal from new PMMA materials
05:30 pm: CLOSURE
Exhibition
Exhibition is full! Interested by sponsoring the workshop? Contact us!
Emilie Bonnet, Marketing & Communication Director: ebonnet@drivingvisionnews.com
Accomodation
Venue: Small Olympia Park – Munich
Accomodation:
ANDAZ MUNICH SCHWABINGER TOR
Leopoldstr. 170, 80804 Munich, Germany
Room category: Andaz KING/TWIN
Single occupancy: €235.00
Double occupancy: €255.00
Reservation password: G-DVN2
Other hotels:
Arthotel ANA
Motel One Olympia gate
Hotel serviced apartments – The Flag