Dr.-Ing. Thomas Tobie studied mechanical engineering at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), Germany. Today he is head of the Load Carrying Capacity of Cylindrical Gears department at the Gear Research Centre (FZG), where he specializes in gear materials, heat treatment, gear lubricants and gear load carrying capacity research. Concurrently, Tobie brings to that work a particular focus on all relevant gear failure modes such as tooth root breakage, pitting, micropitting and wear, as well as sub-surface-initiated fatigue failures.