Rolf-Dieter Fiebrich

Founder & Principal

Rolf-Dieter Fiebrich is a technology executive, engineer, and computer scientist specializing in the development of complex systems, advanced software, and breakthrough technologies. Over a career spanning industry-defining organizations, he has built and led elite engineering teams to deliver transformative computing and communications products. Currently, he is the Founder and Principal of Sand Hill Technology, where he advises early-stage deep-tech ventures and venture capital firms on technical strategy and due diligence.

Prior to founding Sand Hill Technology Dr. Fiebrich served as Vice President of Engineering at Voyan, where he directed the pioneering development of high performance communication technologies enabling broadband data transmission over legacy telecom loop plants. Before Voyan, he was Director of Software Development at Simulation Sciences, accelerating the creation of real time control software for petroleum plant operations. He strengthened the organization by recruiting key engineering talent and eliminating non essential projects to focus resources on high impact innovation.

Earlier, as Director of Advanced Systems Development at Thinking Machines Corporation (TMC), Dr. Fiebrich served as the overall program manager for the entire CM-5 product ecosystem. He directed a cross-functional organization of roughly 300 internal and external personnel, overseeing hardware and software engineering, manufacturing, quality control, and strategic partnerships for proprietary microchip development and software licensing. Under his end-to-end leadership, the CM-5 became a landmark in massively parallel computing and was at the time as the world’s most powerful supercomputer.

Prior to TMC, Dr. Fiebrich was a Research Staff Member at IBM’s Thomas J. Watson Research Center, contributing to a new generation of computer aided design tools and engineering workstations that fundamentally reshaped microchip and system design.

Before joining IBM, he served as Wissenschaftlicher Assistent at the Ludwig Maximilians Universität (LMU) Munich, while simultaneously working at the Leibniz Rechenzentrum (LRZ) of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences. At LMU he developed novel automatic programming concepts; at LRZ he led the technical procurement and deployment of a major computer network connecting universities across Munich and Bavaria.

Dr. Fiebrich began his career at Messerschmitt Bölkow Blohm (MBB), where—while still a student—he introduced innovative improvements to computer controlled aircraft test systems for platforms including the MRCA/Tornado and Airbus. His work earned him an invitation to present at AGARD/NATO multi city lecture series.

Dr. Fiebrich holds a Bachelor of Science, Master of Science, and Ph.D. in Computer Science, all from the Technical University of Munich