Helmut Kaufmann is the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of AMAG Austria Metall AG since September 2007. Prior to his role at AMAG, he served as the Managing Director of ARC Leichtmetallkompetenzzentrum Ranshofen GmbH from 1997 to 2007. He also worked as the Manager for Market Development and Technical Consultant at UBE Europe GmbH from 1994 to 1997. Earlier in his career, he held various positions at AMAG R&D, including Research Assistant, Project Leader, and Head of the Casting Research Division from 1988 to 1994. Helmut Kaufmann pursued his education at Leoben University of Mining (MUL) in Austria, where he graduated as Dipl. Ing. in 1987. He furthered his academic endeavors as a Visiting Scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, USA, in 1989. He received his doctoral degree from MUL in 1992 and obtained a post-doctoral teaching qualification from RWTH Aachen in Germany in 2005.