Klaus Riedle (born ,

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; ) is the capital of Tyrol (federal state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the Wipptal, Wipp Valley, which provides access to the ...

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

) is a German

power engineering Power engineering, also called power systems engineering, is a subfield of electrical engineering that deals with the generation, transmission, distribution, and utilization of electric power, and the electrical apparatus connected to such sy ...

scientist who has contributed to the development of more efficient

gas turbine A gas turbine or gas turbine engine is a type of Internal combustion engine#Continuous combustion, continuous flow internal combustion engine. The main parts common to all gas turbine engines form the power-producing part (known as the gas gene ...

s for

power generation Electricity generation is the process of generating electric power from sources of primary energy. For utilities in the electric power industry, it is the stage prior to its delivery ( transmission, distribution, etc.) to end users or its stora ...

. Since 1986, Riedle is an

honorary professor Honorary titles (professor, president, reader, lecturer) in academia may be conferred on persons in recognition of contributions by a non-employee or by an employee beyond regular duties. This practice primarily exists in the UK and Germany, as ...

at the

University of Erlangen-Nuremberg A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

institute of engineering thermodynamics.

Career

Riedle graduated from the

Technical University of Munich The Technical University of Munich (TUM or TU Munich; ) is a public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. It specializes in engineering, technology, medicine, and applied and natural sciences. Established in 1868 by King Ludwig II ...

in 1964. Following two years as visiting

assistant professor Assistant professor is an academic rank just below the rank of an associate professor used in universities or colleges, mainly in the United States, Canada, Japan, and South Korea. Overview This position is generally taken after earning a doct ...

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The institution was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools. In 1912, it became the Carnegie Institu ...

, he joined

Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational technology conglomerate. It is focused on industrial automation, building automation, rail transport and health technology. Siemens is the largest engineering company in Europe, and holds the positi ...

in 1971, specializing in

nuclear reactor A nuclear reactor is a device used to initiate and control a Nuclear fission, fission nuclear chain reaction. They are used for Nuclear power, commercial electricity, nuclear marine propulsion, marine propulsion, Weapons-grade plutonium, weapons ...

security. In the mid 1980s, Riedle changed his focus to

fossil fuel power plant A fossil fuel power station is a thermal power station that burns fossil fuel, such as coal, oil, or natural gas, to produce electricity. Fossil fuel power stations have machines that convert the heat energy of combustion into mechanical en ...

s and eventually became president of the Siemens gas turbines division. He retired from that position in 2006. As of 2010, he headed the Siemens scientific developments department for high-temperature turbines. Riedle’s approach to research and development has been described as characterized by patience and ability to divide the improvement of complex systems into separate tasks, while always monitoring the combined effects on performance and reliability. Since 1986, Riedle is an

at the

institute of engineering thermodynamics, where he has been teaching

thermodynamics Thermodynamics is a branch of physics that deals with heat, Work (thermodynamics), work, and temperature, and their relation to energy, entropy, and the physical properties of matter and radiation. The behavior of these quantities is governed b ...

power transmission Power transmission is the movement of energy from its place of generation to a location where it is applied to perform useful Mechanical work, work. Power (physics), Power is defined formally as units of energy per unit time. In SI units: :\text ...

and other subjects. He has also, until 2015, served on the governing board of the energy and environment society of the Association of German Engineers. In 2005, along with the

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n scientist

Zhores Alferov Zhores Ivanovich Alferov ( rus, Жоре́с Ива́нович Алфёров, , ʐɐˈrɛs ɨˈvanəvʲɪtɕ ɐlˈfʲɵrəf}; ; 15 March 19301 March 2019) was a Soviet and Russian physicist and academic who contributed significantly to the cr ...

, Riedle was awarded the Global Energy Prize for his development of high-temperature gas turbines with improved efficiency and capacity.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Riedle, Klaus 1941 births Living people Siemens people 21st-century German physicists Engineers from Innsbruck Technical University of Munich alumni Academic staff of the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg 20th-century German physicists