Jan Merker has held the position of Chief Operating Officer (COO) at Brainlab since 2017. As COO, he is responsible for managing corporate operations and strategy to facilitate the consistent, profitable and efficient growth of the company. On the whole, Jan strives to strengthen the company’s path toward the future while managing people, processes and sustainable organizational development.

At Brainlab, Jan oversees the strategic growth of the robotics, image guided surgery and digital healthcare areas of business. Having worked for years in operations and general management, Jan leverages his expertise to successfully establish a sustainable foundation on which the supply chain, human resources, service & support and IT departments can grow.

Digitalization remains a top priority for Brainlab. As such, part of Jan’s efforts at the company are to strengthen internal and external digital development, particularly as it relates to products and service offerings. For his work with the human resources department, he is focused on establishing an employee-oriented management model. This approach is characterized by guaranteeing employees have access to the right tools, resources and support they need. This management model also promotes a high-performance culture and integrates the baseline concept that managers should be highly motivated to support their employees in succeeding.

In general, Jan is driven to secure sustainability for all departments and to position Brainlab as an attractive employer. He draws his professional motivation from working for a leading medtech company with pioneering technologies that make a difference for doctors and patients.

Jan holds a degree in industrial engineering and business administration from the University of Applied Sciences Karlsruhe – Technology und Economy. Prior to joining Brainlab, Merker served as Chief Operating Officer at Swedish medtech company, MAQUET Group, a subsidiary of GETINGE Group. Before this he held various management positions.

Since founding Brainlab in 1989, Stefan Vilsmeier (born 1967) has served as its CEO and has been the driving force behind the company’s innovation and customer focus. A self-taught computer programmer, Vilsmeier prepared the ground for his enterprise at the age of 17 when he wrote a book on 3D Graphics. With more than 50,000 copies sold, it turned into a bestseller in its category.

In 1989, Vilsmeier enrolled at the Technical University of Munich, Germany, to study Computer Programming and The Theory of Medical Technology. However, his enterprising nature and burgeoning business in computer-assisted medical technology left little time for theory. While still in the first semester, Vilsmeier founded Brainlab GmbH from the proceeds of his book. During the following years, Stefan Vilsmeier spearheaded new developments in the area of neuro-navigation and radiotherapy.

With hospitals in Asia, North America and South Africa as some of its first customers, Brainlab has been an international company from the very beginning. Today, Brainlab generates more than 40 percent of its revenues in the US and has strategic partnerships with some of the world’s leading healthcare companies.

Vilsmeier has evolved the company’s vision beyond software solutions for medical treatments that are more precise, less invasive, and less expensive than traditional methods. Brainlab is now able to bring entire medical centers to a new level of integration and patient care by providing the infrastructure and support for state-of-the-art access and management of digital medical information.

Connecting advanced diagnostic and surgical technology, this Intelligent Treatment Framework enables physicians to manage and select the right data necessary for better-informed medical decisions at their discretion, at any desired time and place. From diagnostics through treatment, Brainlab solutions better leverage medical expertise and advanced technology, transforming knowledge into superior patient outcomes.

For his outstanding contributions to economic growth and achievements as an entrepreneurial role model, Stefan Vilsmeier has been honored with several awards. In December 2002, the World Economic Forum (WEF) selected him as one of their ‘Global Leaders for Tomorrow 2003’. In the same year, Ernst & Young, a provider of Management Consulting and IT Services, honored him with the title of ‘World Entrepreneur of the Year 2002’ after he had already been awarded the national title in 2001.

At the Bavarian Innovation Awards in 2000, Stefan was the only nominee to receive a special award for innovative leadership methods and marketing concepts. Prime Minister Edmund Stoiber also presented him with the highest decoration of the State of Bavaria. Vilsmeier was the youngest recipient of this prestigious decoration at that time.

In 2018 he was appointed to the advisory board for SME of the German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy as well as the German Chancellor’s Innovation Dialogue.

Rainer Birkenbach is the Chief Technology Officer at Brainlab AG. He was appointed to this position in 1998 and has since been responsible for Research & Development as well as Quality Management at the company. In this role, Birkenbach oversees the ongoing strategic development of both existing and new technologies and products. He also manages quality assurance for the international market approval of Brainlab medical products.

Birkenbach’s core work focuses on actively connecting with primary Brainlab customers—clinicians, healthcare providers and patients. Through direct contact and collaboration with end users, he has been able to transform ideas and unmet medical needs into tangible solutions. Birkenbach’s goal is to enhance and expand existing technologies and develop the next generation of innovative medical products that support doctors and patients in the fight against cancer and a range of other diseases.

Prior to studying electrical engineering at the Saarland University of Applied Sciences, Birkenbach was a Red Cross volunteer which laid the foundation for his future career in medical technology. Building on top of that initial exposure to healthcare, during his time at university, Birkenbach met a neurosurgeon who helped him discover his interest in, and enthusiasm for, combining software and medicine to make an impact for patients.

Following the completion of his Master of Science, Birkenbach first worked for Deutsche Telekom before joining Brainlab as a software developer in 1994. Two years later, he was appointed Director of Research & Development, a position he held until 1997.

During his 25+ year tenure at Brainlab, Birkenbach has been instrumental in driving the company’s growth by leveraging his vision and passion for new, emerging technologies as well as sharing his commitment to team spirit and a collaborative company culture. As part of his efforts to inspire future innovators, Birkenbach has worked closely with many universities and is often a guest lecturer at the Technical University of Munich (TUM).