Ralf Hartmann is currently serving as President of the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) in 2024 and 2025. He has been an active and engaged INCOSE member since 1996, and is a founding member of GfSE, the German Chapter of INCOSE. He was selected as an INCOSE Fellow in 2005 and received the prestigious INCOSE Founders Award in 2008. From 2008 until 2014, Ralf served as INCOSE Director for Strategy and ensured sponsorship of the former SE Vision 2025 during this period. 

Ralf received a Diploma in Electrical Engineering from the University of Karlsruhe (KIT) and is a certified project management professional (GPM/IPMA). He retired from Airbus at the end of 2021 after a career of nearly 35 years in space and defense systems, covering robotics, automatic control, simulation, S/W development and primarily Systems Engineering. During that time, he held various positions as project manager and vice president of international teams for engineering, research, and technology.

Ralf joined the Digital Transformation Office at Airbus Defense & Space in 2017, where he created and led the organization for “Digital Design, Manufacturing and Service” (DDMS). Additionally, he was Head of Airbus Group Systems Engineering Governance. During his whole career, Ralf was an engaged evangelist and promoter of Systems Engineering, the digital transformation, and especially their combination.

Today Ralf is a self-employed management and systems engineering consultant.