Engineer in space

February 20, 2015, Nr. 8

Celebratory colloquium on the 65th birthday of Prof. Hans-Peter Röser

Today, Friday 20 th February 2015 the University of Stuttgart is celebrating the 65 th birthday of Prof. Hans-Peter Röser with an official ceremony and short scientific presentations. From 2002 until February 2014 Prof. Röser managed the Institute of Space Systems (IRS) at the University of Stuttgart, he is the founder of the German SOFIA Institute and initiator of the Baden-Württemberg Space Centre. Even a minor planet in the asteroid belt has been named after the scientist.

 

After being welcomed by the Vice Rector for Teaching and Further Education at the University of Stuttgart, Prof. Alfred Kleusberg, as well as the current Director of the IRS, Prof. Stefanos Fasoulas, Prof. Dieter Fritsch, Director of the Institute of Photogrammetry, gave the ceremonial address entitled “The ‘Space‘ of Hans-Peter Röser“. In the upstream scientific part of the colloquium, companions and doctoral students of Prof. Röser gave an insight into the most diverse research fields at the institute, from astronomy to the student small satellite “Flying Laptop“ to the superconductivity for space systems.

Hans-Peter Röser was born on 8 th October 1949 in Polch (near Koblenz). After studying physics, he did his doctorate in physics and astronomy at the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms University of Bonn and the Max-Planck-Institute for Radio Astronomy (MPIfR) in Bonn. At the beginning of his scientific career, he worked at the MPIfR on the development of monitoring instruments (heterodyne spectrometers) for use in ground telescopes and at the Kuiper Airborne Observatory (KAO). In 1994 Röser changed to the Technical University of Berlin, where he took over the professorship for Space Sensor Technology. Until 2002 he was also the Director at the Institute for Space Sensor Technology at the German Aerospace Centre (DLR).

In September 2002 Prof. Röser was appointed the Managing Director at the Institute of Space Systems (IRS) at the University of Stuttgart and took over the Chair for Space Systems and Applications. He managed the IRS until February 2014 and since then has been the Vice Director of the Institute. Prof. Röser is the founder of the German SOFIA Institute (DSI) at the University of Stuttgart that is responsible for the fulfilment of the German share of the German-American Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA). He initiated the Baden-Württemberg Space Centre (RZBW) at the University of Stuttgart, with around 170 employees one of the largest European university research facilities in space, and is the founder of the Stuttgart Small Satellite Programme.

In honour of Hans-Peter Röser the International Astronomic Union has christened a minor planet in the asteroid belt in his name: (52308) Hanspeterröser. Its distance to earth was around 548 million kilometres on Röser’s 65 th birthday on 8 th October 2014.

The research fields at the IRS are in the areas of space systems, space propulsions and space applications. In terms of university education the IRS offers a range of lectures, practical courses and exercises in space technology and space applications that is unique in Europe.

Further information:

Heidi-Maria Götz, University of Stuttgart, Institute for Space Systems, Tel. 0711/685-69628, Email: goetz (at) irs.uni-stuttgart.de

Andrea Mayer-Grenu, University of Stuttgart, Department of University Communication, Tel. 0711/685-82176,
Email: andrea.mayer-grenu (at) hkom.uni-stuttgart.de

   
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