Prof. Dr.-Ing. Markus Merkel studied mechanical engineering at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg and earned his doctorate there at the Chair of Engineering Mechanics. He has been a professor at Aalen University since 2004 and represents the finite element method in teaching. Prof. Dr.-Ing. Andreas Öchsner studied aerospace engineering at the University of Stuttgart and earned his doctorate at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg. He has been a professor of mechanical engineering at Esslingen University of Applied Sciences since 2018 and is responsible, among other things, for training students in lightweight construction and structural simulation.