Dr. Michael Olbrich
Senior Optical Expert

With nearly two decades of experience in optical engineering and automotive lighting, he is a recognized expert in the development of advanced lighting systems.

He began his career with over a year as a consultant at Askon Consulting Group GmbH, supporting Audi AG in the simulation and validation of optical designs and contributing to pilot projects.

At MENTOR GmbH, he spent over 7 years in roles of increasing responsibility, including more than 3 years as an R&D Project Manager followed by over 4 years as Manager of the Lighting Technology Division. During this time, he led optical design and development for automotive and general lighting applications, specializing in LED illumination optics for injection-molded components. He managed a dedicated lighting team, oversaw series development projects, and drove R&D initiatives for future lighting technologies. In addition, he was responsible for the company’s light laboratory and provided technical support to sales activities. In 2011 he started the research on R,G,B plus white color mixing. He wrote together with his colleague two articles for the elektroniknet.de:

• „Farborte gezielt ansteuern und stabil halten: RGB-LEDs ohne Farbsensor regeln“
• „Weißlicht-LED-Light-Engines: Geregeltes Licht nach Maß“

After the MENTOR employment time he spent nearly 2 years as Head of Regional Office North and Senior Consultant at LurexX optical GmbH. In this role, he led regional operations near Cologne, advised customers across northern Germany on lighting solutions, and drove business development. 

Since 2017 he serves as Senior Optical Expert at Cemm Thome Germany (an Amphenol company), where he has spent over 9 years supporting global sales activities in the automotive ambient and interior lighting sector. His work focuses on the optical design based on OEM interior lighting RFQs, including specification analysis and concept development, as well as serial optical development with RGB and RGB+W light sources. Dr. Olbrich investigate deeply the photometric and colorimetric changes of that light sources regarding binning, driving, and controlling.