MAGNOTHERM develops and builds highly-efficient and sustainable cooling as well as heating solutions based on magnetic materials.

We are a young company from Technische Universität Darmstadt with world-leading expertise in permanent magnets and magnetic cooling. We are a spin-off from Functional Materials group, led by Prof. Oliver Gutfleisch. In 2019, MagnoTherm Solutions GmbH was founded.

Our technology, based on solid state materials and water, is capable of revolutionizing the way we provide temperatures. By updating the standard gas compression cycle by our magnetic refrigeration cycle, we can build the next-generation cooling or heating solutions.


Technology Leader

MAGNOTHERM builds the bridge between understanding magnetocaloric materials and engineering magnetic refrigeration devices.

With deep knowledge from producing, processing and implementing magnetocaloric materials on the one hand and building cost-efficient and high-performance magnetic refrigeration devices on the other, we are able to make refrigeration commercially available. Based on many years of pioneering research on first-order magnetocaloric materials and recycling permanent magnets, MAGNOTHERM harnesses this profound experience by designing next-generation cooling solutions.

As a deep tech start-up, we pioneer magnetic refrigeration based on multi-physical simulations, additive manufacturing methods and fast testing cycles. With our interdisciplinary team of engineers, material scientists and physicists, MAGNOTHERM builds the strongest team to challenge the current status-quo of refrigeration technologies.

Learn more about our technology

Team

We are an international group of engineers passionate about technology, sustainability, and cold beer. Building the best refrigeration device on (and for) the planet is our mission we pursue every single day!

Dimitri Benke
Dimitri Benke
Dimitri is our CTO and responsible for all technical developments. He is an expert in permanent magnets, magnetic field simulations, magnetocaloric cooling devices, and more. Dimitri studied physics at Technical University Dresden before joining the research group of Prof. Oliver Gutfleisch to pursue his PhD studies in the fields of magnetic cooling.
Jonathan Chan
Jonathan Chan
Jonathan is our creative lead with a diverse background in product design, prototyping, and photography as well as an alumni from Imperial College London and Royal College of Arts in Global Innovation Design. He is responsible for all design related tasks as well as market analysis and research.
Dr. Max Fries
Dr. Max Fries
Max is our CEO and is responsible for the technical development as well as cooperations. He is an expert in the field of magnetocaloric materials and magnetic cooling devices. Max is a material scientist and an alumni from TU Darmstadt. In 2017, he was awarded a PhD from Prof. Oliver Gutfleisch in the field of magnetocaloric materials.
Nadia von Oesterreich
Nadia von Oesterreich
Nadia is our Head of People & Culture with a background in design strategy, organisational development and coaching. She is responsible for all matters relating to HR and our company culture. She is a Parsons alumni and grew up internationally.
Juan Stockermans
Juan Stockermans
Juan, our Founder's associate, brings a rich and varied background in consulting, entrepreneurship, and project management, coupled with his status as an alumnus of NOVA sbe in Impact Entrepreneurship and Innovation. His key responsibilities encompass a wide range of tasks, including investor relations, market analysis, lead generation, and sales.
Martin Lehmann
Martin Lehmann
Martin is a mechanical engineer and alumni of TU Darmstadt. He is specialised in additive manufacturing, micro controllers and design. At MAGNOTHERM, he is responsible for 3D printing and CAD/CAM.
Michèle van Geldere
Michèle van Geldere
Michèle is an intern at MAGNOTHERM with focus on Content Management, Marketing, Administration and Business Assistance. Before joining us, she worked several years for a politician as well as a waitress. With this background, she combines practical knowledge and diverse experience in communication processes. She is studying Philosophy and Political Sciences at the Technical University of Darmstadt University.
Dr. Falk Münch
Dr. Falk Münch
Falk is a chemist specialised in functional nanomaterials and electrochemistry. After his diploma studies in Ulm and Marburg, he pursued his doctoral studies at TU Darmstadt (Materials Analysis group, Prof. W. Ensinger). During his research career, Falk was working at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel as a guest scientist (Functional Nanomaterials group, Prof. I. Rubinstein). At MAGNOTHERM, Falk is responsible for the characterization, processing and optimization of magnetocaloric materials.
Shahab Nakhjavan
Shahab Nakhjavan
Shahab is an experienced engineer and entrepreneur with expertise in mechanical engineering, 3D printing, electrical engineering and mechatronics. With his 10+ industry work experience, he is responsible for the optimization of electronics, hydraulics, mechanics and production.
Sarah Quehl
Sarah Quehl
Sarah is responsible for software development, especially for the graphical user Interface. She is an mechanical Engineer and is currently pursuing her master's degree in mechatronics.
Thomas Reichert
Thomas Reichert
Thomas is responsible for the system design, system development and prototype testing. Thomas did his bachelor's degree in biomimicry at Westfälische Hochschule Bocholt applying principles from nature to mechanical engineering problems. Before, he has done an apprenticeship as an industrial mechanic between 2015 and 2018 working on measuring instruments.
Jeffrey Pickett
Jeffrey Pickett
Jeff is responsible for the system design, components and integration. He is an alumni from TU Darmstadt in mechanical engineering and management as well as from Imperial College London and Royal College of Arts in Global Innovation Design. Before joining MagnoTherm Solutions, he has pursued his own startup in the field of augmented thinking.
Jonas Stötzer
Jonas Stötzer
Jonas is a Systems Engineer at MAGNOTHERM responsible for product concepts, system design and integration. He is experienced in product development, prototyping and requirements engineering.He studied mechatronics at the Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences combining mechanical design, electrical engineering and software development.
Timur Sirman
Timur Sirman
Timur is our Co-CEO and responsible for business development, finance and operations. He is an alumni from TU Darmstadt (Bachelor's) and TU Berlin (Master's). He has gained profound experience in the fields of entrepreneurship and management.
Arbëreshë Arifi
Arbëreshë Arifi
Arbëreshë, our social media manager, brings a wealth of experience in marketing, social media, and sales. She holds a degree in Management and Economics from the Rochester Institute of Technology. Arbereshe is currently pursuing a Master's program in Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management at TU Darmstadt. Her responsibilities encompass a wide range of tasks, including overseeing our social media presence and effectively conveying our technology to the broader audience.
Filippo Castelli
Filippo Castelli
Filippo is our financial controller, and his main responsibilities include budgeting, liquidity planning, cost reporting and other accounting processes. He is an alumnus of Bocconi University of Milan and counts several years of work experience in the energy sector, with a focus on controlling, corporate finance and investor relations.
Elçin Teymurov
Elçin Teymurov
Elçin is a working student and business developer with a focus on administrative and business assistance. Prior to joining MAGNOTHERM, he worked as an airlines call center agent for a travel agency. Elchin holds a Bachelor's degree in Social Science Management from Riga TU, and he is currently pursuing a Master's program in Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management at TU Darmstadt.
Tim Sittig
Tim Sittig
Tim is responsible for computer aided engineering of magnetocaloric materials, permanent magnet setups, hydraulic components and heat exchanger structures. He is a mechanical engineer and pursued his master's degree at TU Darmstadt.
Abby Kreckel
Abby Kreckel
Abby is our Marketing Manager, responsible for marketing strategy, events, analytics, and social media. With nearly a decade of experience in communications, community building, events, and storytelling, Abby loves driving positive change in the world, whether it’s for climate change, women’s empowerment, or LGBTQ+ issues. Abby comes from the US, where she has a background in nonprofit work and freelancing, and she studied at the University of Pittsburgh.
Milan Strauch
Milan Strauch
Milan is a working student with a bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering, focused on research and development.He is assisting in CAD and 3D printing tasks. Additionally, he is a helping hand in the workshop and the electronics departement.
Maija Laux
Maija Laux
Maija is responsible for administration and office management. She has many years of practical experience in project management in several companies.
Jierong Liang
Jierong Liang
Jierong is a researcher specialised in thermodynamics and fluid dynamics. He pursued his doctoral studies at Technical University of Denmark. During his research career, Jierong was working on the design of magnetocaloric heat pump, large-scale cryogenic refrigerator and heat pump, energy system, and industrial electrification. At MAGNOTHERM, he is responsible for the design guideline and optimization of magnetocaloric refrigerators.
Cornelia Hoppe
Cornelia Hoppe
Cornelia is supporting the Material Development team in characterization, processing and optimization of magnetocaloric materials. She is a working student, currently pursuing her Master's degree in Materials Science at TU Darmstadt.
Maximilian Milo
Maximilian Milo
Maximilian is our Software Engineer and is responsible for IT-administration, hardware development and bringing our services to the cloud. He graduated in computer science at Ulm University and is specialized in distributed systems, internet services, and the Internet of Things.
Jennifer Isabella Wagner
Jennifer Isabella Wagner
Bella is a graphic designer who crafts our brand's visual identity including templates, social media content and other marketing materials. She's drawn to the intersection between art and social change, and with a cross-cultural background herself, she believes in creating functional designs to bridge others voices. Beyond work, she's deeply involved in film festivals, art communities, and magazines. She graduated from the Academy of Visual Arts in Frankfurt.
Jens-Peter Zwick
Jens-Peter Zwick
Jens-Peter is a process engineer (M. Sc.) specialised in powder metallurgy. During his Bachelor studies at Hochschule Trier, he worked at the Institute for Micro Process Engineering and Particle Technology (IMiP) with focus on material and surface technology. During his Master degree he was employed in minting industry and has developed powder metallurgical processes for precious metals over eight years. At MAGNOTHERM he is responsible for characterization, processing and optimization of magnetocaloric materials.
Amal Johnson
Amal Johnson
Amal is a recent graduate in power electronics , his primary focus and interest revolve around hardware design and implementation. He holds the responsibility of crafting electronic hardware for our systems.
Christopher Fujta
Christopher Fujta
Christopher is a simulation engineer who is responsible for multiphysical simulations. After his professional training as a mechatronic he gained a physics Master degree at the TU Darmstadt. He is experienced in simulation, software development and image processing.
Oskar Judt
Oskar Judt
Oskar is supporting the production team, contributing his expertise to the production process wherever it's needed. His journey began with an apprenticeship in carpentry, where precision and skilled craftsmanship is paramount. He later worked in the production of a high end e-bike manufacturer for 1.5 years, and has now finished his vocational baccalaureate in design.
Saurabh Srivastav
Saurabh Srivastav
Saurabh is a working student in the product development team and is currently pursuing Master's Degree in Electrical Engineering and IT from Hochschule Darmstadt. At MAGNOTHERM he works on Prototyping of Electronics Circuits, Designing of Printed Circuit Board (PCB), Implementation and Programming of New Hardware.
Kirit Kaiser
Kirit Kaiser
Kirit is responsible for administration and accounting. She is a trained administrator and has worked for several years in a large organization.
Barış Judt
Barış Ucarsoy
Barış is a working student with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering and works on model-based system simulations and prototyping. He is currently pursuing master's degree in aerospace.
/Max Greifenstein
Max Greifenstein
Max is a mechanical engineer by profession and a maker at heart. After his PhD, where he investigated cooling processes in gas turbine combustors using laser based measurement techniques, he worked as a PostDoc in the field of alkaline water electrolysis at TU Darmstadt. At MAGNOTHERM, he is mainly responsible for hydraulics and testbench development.
/Luca Numrich
Luca Numrich
Luca is a working student in the Materials Development team and is currently working on his master degree at TU Darmstadt. Here at MagnoTherm, his tasks cover processing and characterization of La-Fe-Si alloys up to final heat exchanging architectures. During an internship at Evonik Industries AG Hanau, he gained insight into processing of polymer matrix composites for Li-Ion battery seperator technologies.
Johannes Pfalzgraf
Johannes Pfalzgraf
Johannes is a valuable addition to our production team. Following his successful apprenticeship as a carpenter, he swiftly honed his skills and gained valuable experience working independently in the field of fair construction.
Zeynep Gökce Yildirim
Zeynep Gökce Yildirim
Zeynep is a working student pursuing her master's degree in aerospace at TU Darmstadt. She supports the simulation team by working on improving system designs and enhancing the performance of heat exchangers.
Dr. Tino Gottschall
Dr. Tino Gottschall
Advisor
Tino is a leading scientist at the Helmholtz Centre Dresden-Rossendorf. He has extensive experience in the field of magnetic cooling and is regarded as a young offspring scientist in this field. Tino has published numerous, often quoted scientific papers and holds two patents on magnetic cooling. He advises MAGNOTHERM on the technological development and device improvement.
Prof. Dr. Oliver Gutfleisch
Prof. Dr. Oliver Gutfleisch
Advisor
Oliver is a pioneer in the fields of magnetic cooling and permanent magnets. He is one of the most cited scientists worldwide in this field and holds numerous patents. His international recognition in magnetic cooling can be seen in the organisation of the most important conference in this field (Thermag) at TU Darmstadt in 2018. Oliver also received the prestigious ERC Advanced Grant in the field of magnetic cooling in 2017. Furthermore, due to his role as scientific director of the Fraunhofer Institute IWKS, he provides good advice in the application of recycled magnets. In 2006 Prof. Gutfleisch and his partners founded the company evico magnetics GmbH, which has been successful on the market since then. At MAGNOTHERM, Oliver advises the team on technological, organizational and strategical level.

MAGNOTHERM consists of highly-educated scientists as well as engineers from various disciplines. We are material scientists, industrial engineers, physicists, mechanical engineers, chemical engineers, electrical engineer with 10+ years of industry experience with profound expertise in electronics, electromagnets, 3D printing, and prototyping.

Do you want to join the MagnoCrew?

Notable Publications

Check out a selection of published articles on permanent magnets and magnetocaloric materials highlighting our deep understanding of magnetic materials and heat conversion.