In the course of 2014 two scientists, who have shaped the Linz Center of Mechtronics over the last few years, were appointed full professors at Austrian universities. Dr. Johannes Gerstmayr, Area Manager of the Business Area Mechanics and Control, at the University of Innsbruck, and Dr. Michael Krommer, Area Coordinator of the Research Area Mechanics and Model Based Control, at the TU Vienna.

Dr. Johannes Gerstmayr, lecturer at the Institute for Technical Mechanics at the Johannes Kepler University Linz (JKU) and former head of the Business Area Mechanics and Control of the Linz Center of Mechatronics (LCM), began his duties as a university professor for Mechanical and Industrial Design at the University of Innsbruck on November 1, 2014. Dr. Michael Krommer, former associate professor at the Institute for Technical Mechanics at JKU and scientific coordinator of the Research Area Mechanics and Model Based Control at LCM, began his duties as a university professor of Mechanics of Solids at the TU Vienna on October 1, 2014.

The position in Innsbruck is as founding chair in support of the development of a new mechatronics group at the university. The position at the TU Vienna is a traditional professorship position at the Institute of Mechanics and Mechatronics succeeding the academy members Heinz Parkus and Hans Troger.

Both appointments were primo loco against strong international competition. Both colleagues studied Mechatronics, earned their doctorate degrees with distinction, and completed their post-doctorate degrees in Technical Mechanics at JKU.

Besides their duties as business area manager and research area coordinator within LCM, both colleagues also contributed significantly to the scientific development of LCM as key researcher. Prof. Gerstmayr was mainly concerned with the dynamics and control of flexible multi-body systems and their computational simulation, Prof. Krommer with modeling, analysis and design of intelligent structures and machines with integrated smart materials.

Impact and effects

The numerous publications of Johannes Gerstmayr und Michael Krommer resulted into a significantly increased international visibility of the LCM. It can also be expected that the appointment of the two colleagues to internationally renown Austrian universities and their future contributions to mechatronical engineering will have a positive effect for the Linz Center of Mechatronics in general and for the further development of the field of mechatronical engineering in Austria in particular.

 

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