Since August, the new steering committee led by Tobias Piekatz has been meeting once a month. Twenty colleagues are involved, coming from all areas and groups such as MKK, BAU, SAVE, IT, D6, V4 and Financial Controlling. In addition, Piekatz has deputies in Nadja von Neuhoff, group leader of MKK, and Axel Simon, group leader of BAU. The committee discusses upcoming construction projects and makes proposals to the Directorate. "We are like a kind of filter ", says the 37-year-old. "We check projects for feasibility and make prioritisation suggestions." On this basis, the Directorate can make better building decisions. This speeds up processes, simplifies agreements, and saves costs.

DESY's construction projects are diverse. They range from the bouldering wall of the company sports group to the planned DESYUM visitor centre and the development plan for DESY's future project PETRA IV. Challenges such as climate change or the increasing need for space while the campus area remains the same are taken into consideration by the Campus Infrastructures Steering Committee at an early stage.

A concrete example: when planning the Girder Assembly Building (GAB), a later secondary use is also taken into account. Initially, the girders for PETRA IV will be assembled there. When the X-ray light source is completed, workshops and laboratories can move in. Alos when it comes to climate change, possible effects and consequences are taken into account in a construction project. "Thirty years ago, for example, heavy rain did not play a role," says Tobias Piekatz. "Today we have to plan functional roofs, seepage troughs, and cisterns that can withstand extreme weather situations."

The Covid pandemic, energy crisis, rising costs – Piekatz senses the tension in construction projects, also in DESY's major project PETRA IV. "We have to be able to start construction in three years. Otherwise, the costs for the billion-euro project will continue to rise." An ambitious goal. "We are currently drawing up the development plan for PETRA IV. There we are creating cool solutions for science," he says. "But we also have to think about the ecological facets and recreational aspects, because we are also building this huge project in a public park."

Piekatz needs staying power and a certain passion for bureaucracy – so far, no rubber boots. "I'm not the type to stand on the construction site. My heart beats for planning and coordination processes."