Dr Christof Langer studied chemical engineering, specialising in coatings technology, at the Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences in Krefeld. Following his M.Sc. thesis at Mercedes-Benz, he started his Ph.D. in physical chemistry at the University of Duisburg-Essen in cooperation with the fem Research Institute (fem).

Since 2015, he has been head of the light metal surface technology department at fem. The main focus of his research is on the development of functional layer systems and innovative processes for light metals.