Hans Hoffmann, head of media fundamentals and production at the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), has been elected by the SMPTE membership to serve as SMPTE president for the 2021-’22 term. He currently serves as SMPTE executive vice president and, on Jan. 1, 2021, will become the first European to serve as the Society’s president.
“Hans is a wonderful leader in so many ways,” said Barbara Lange, executive director at SMPTE. “While he has a uniquely deep understanding of emerging technology in the modern media landscape, he also is a proven talent-builder. He has great instincts, a knack for defining a clear direction, and the leadership skills to bring everyone along. With Hans at the helm, SMPTE will be well-positioned to meet our industry’s rapidly changing requirements and opportunities with purpose and agility.”
Hoffmann, a SMPTE Fellow, joined the Society as a young engineer and progressed through roles leading standardization groups, acting as chair of various technology committees, and serving as a Board governor for the EMEA Region, vice president of standards, and vice president of finance before becoming executive vice president. He has been involved with SMPTE, the EBU, the ITU, and other international standards bodies throughout his career, and more recently with newer groups including founding the Inter SDO, an informal but valuable group of international standards bodies that meets regularly to compare work. Hoffmann has decades of experience working on future media production technologies, with a current focus on media in the cloud.
From 1993 to 2000, Hoffmann worked at the Institut fuer Rundfunktechnik in research and development for new television production technologies. In 2000, he joined the EBU as a senior engineer in the technical department. Hoffmann has chaired the EBU project groups P/BRRTV and P/PITV, which were both involved in standardization activities such as SDTI and file formats. Hoffmann is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the FKTG (Germany). He earned his diploma in telecommunication engineering from the University of Applied Sciences in Munich and earned his Ph.D. at Brunel University West London, at the School of Engineering and Design.
Hoffmann is the 2020 winner of FKTG’s Richard Theile Medal for outstanding services in television technology. The honor recognizes his services in the development of HDTV and UHDTV television systems and his significant contribution to international standardization committees.
“It’s an honor to be elected to this leadership position at SMPTE,” said Hoffmann. “I look forward to collaborating with the fantastic SMPTE team in White Plains, the SMPTE Board, and our membership to identify the Society’s gravity points–strengths and areas we need to develop to grow now and in the near future. We have a world of opportunity ahead of us, and we need to be agile in positioning the Society to delve into the areas that address the rise of the cloud, IP, remote workflows and media creation, artificial intelligence and machine learning, software in place of hardware, and personalization and ‘immersiveness’ in media consumption.
“Equally important, we need to consider the perspectives of younger generations of media professionals and engineers and provide them with purpose and solutions that will help carry them forward. While SMPTE already is a global organization, we will continue to think more broadly and work more closely with industry and partner organizations worldwide in delivering concrete initiatives that speak to the interests and needs of our diverse industry. I am thankful that the EBU is supporting this important post, as it will obviously bring mutual benefits to user organizations and industry.”
