At university, Hoai My Van found her way to artificial intelligence. Making AI reliable for industrial manufacturing is now at the heart of her work at Fraunhofer IKS. In her spare time, however, somebody else calls the shots: Biffi.
August 19, 2026
© iStock/ollo
For a Berlin native, the route to Ampfing, a municipality in Upper Bavaria, is unusual—if not downright curious. Nearly 20 years in Munich lie in between. Hoai My Van was in fourth grade when she moved to the Bavarian capital. It was there, at secondary school, that she discovered both her interest in and talent for science. “In upper secondary school, you have to choose two science subjects, but I would have preferred three,” My says. “Unfortunately, that was not possible, so I chose physics and chemistry. I would have loved to take computer science as well.”
My, incidentally, is not a nickname or pet name. In Vietnam, it is the name she officially goes by. Her parents came to East Berlin as workers during the GDR era, where they met. My was born in the German capital. Now 31, she started attending daycare at an early age and went to after-school care from primary school onwards. Her parents placed great importance on integration, on My learning German first and on her receiving a good education.
© Fraunhofer IKS
Hoai My Van is a member of the Automation Systems team at Fraunhofer IKS.
She completed that education at the Technical University of Munich, where she studied Electrical Engineering and Information Technology and earned a master’s degree. “This programme was a bit like my version of a business administration degree, because I did not yet know exactly where I wanted to go,” she recalls with a smile. “Someone recommended it to me, so I enrolled.”
During her studies, My realised that software appealed to her more than hardware. Particularly during her master’s programme, she found her path to artificial intelligence.
Her time at university also taught her something else: how to play Schafkopf, a traditional Bavarian card game. My played regularly in a close-knit group and remembers the games with great fondness. After graduation, however, the group broke up. “I would really like to play Schafkopf again,” she says. “I just do not know how good I still am.
Games and game nights have been part of My’s life since her student days. “I am more the kind of person who invites people over to play games or cook than someone who is drawn to bars and clubs,” she says. For cooking evenings, the shared experience is what matters most. My particularly enjoys meals that everyone can put together individually. Asian dishes often feature—Korean barbecue, summer rolls and hotpot, for example—but raclette and burritos are also on the menu.
When she is not cooking or playing games, My enjoys taking long walks with Biffi, her five-year-old female Eurasier. She and her husband find ideal conditions in the countryside, while their large garden gives Biffi plenty of space to run around.
With Biffi in mind, My and her husband moved to Ampfing in 2022—two years after My joined Fraunhofer IKS. There, she works as a research engineer in the Automation Systems department. Her speciality is the reliable use of machine learning—and, more recently, large language models—in manufacturing applications and rail transport. She initially focused exclusively on project work but has since also become involved in business development. It is a varied role that My greatly enjoys.
Her start at Fraunhofer IKS, however, was not auspicious. “I had been working at the institute for two weeks when the COVID-19 lockdown began,” My recalls. Fortunately, that time is now behind her, and she regularly comes to the institute again to meet her colleagues. “You can coordinate online, of course,” she says, “but face-to-face exchange is still important if you want to feel at home in a team.”
