Dr Manfred Heim is the Managing Director of R&D, Technology and Operations at Papierfabrik Louisenthal GmbH and is responsible for innovation within the G&D banknote division. He studied physics, completing his PhD at the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry with structural analysis of micro- and nanostructures. In 1998, he joined Louisenthal R&D as a project manager. He was a founding member of the foil production facility, which opened in 2003. From 2008 until 2012, he led the industrialisation project for a significant new banknote series. In 2012, he took responsibility for the technology department as deputy plant manager, and in 2015 he took responsibility for all R&D and technology departments in optical features. In 2025, he became a board member.