Karl-Ernst Vaillant turns 80

Remscheid, 10 June 2015

Karl-Ernst Vaillant, partner and long-time Managing Director of the Vaillant Group, the Remscheid heating, ventilation and air-conditioning technology specialist, is celebrating his 80th birthday on 10 June 2015. In 1965, after having studied mechanical engineering and process engineering at technical college in Munich and Karlsruhe and completed practical training abroad, the qualified engineer joined the family-run company, which was founded by his great-grandfather Johann Vaillant in 1874, as a technical specialist. After graduating with an MBA from INSEAD in 1966, Karl-Ernst Vaillant was appointed Managing Director of the technical department of Joh. Vaillant KG.

As Managing Director, he went on to shape the success of what is now Europe’s second-largest heating technology company for over 30 years. In particular, he drove forward product development in the areas of wall-hung and floor-standing boilers, control technology and water heaters. Since then, the Vaillant Group has been one of the world’s leading companies in these product segments.

As well as carrying out his entrepreneurial activities, Karl-Ernst Vaillant also dedicated his time to various industrial and scientific committees and organisations and published many specialist articles and reports. Over the years, he received numerous honours and awards for his work, including the Bavarian Order of Merit, honorary senatorship of the Technical University of Karlsruhe and the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (Officer’s Cross).