Gerhard is Vice President ELG Group Strategy and a member of the executive committee at ELG GmbH, a leading supplier of secondary raw materials for the stainless and special alloy industries. He joined ELG in 2017 first overseeing the group's market research activities and building on his profound knowledge in the stainless, scrap, nickel, chromium and superalloys industries gained as an independent consultant and director at a boutique consultancy company. Gerhard is a metallurgical engineer by training and holds a PhD of the RWTH Aachen University. Following graduation, he spent several years as scientific researcher at Aachen University and as a senior technical customer service engineer in the carbon steel industry.