Peter Lutz studied electrical engineering at the University of Stuttgart with a focus on computer science. He then worked as a research assistant at the Institute for Control Engineering of Machine Tools and Manufacturing Facilities (ISW) at the University of Stuttgart in the field of open control systems and industrial communication systems. Afterwards, he was appointed managing director of the Sercos user group, responsible for the coordination of worldwide activities for the automation bus Sercos and active in different national and international standardization committees. Since April 2019 he has been managing the OPC Foundation’s Field Level Communications (FLC) Initiative with the goal of extending OPC UA for field level communications in the factory and process industries.