Peter J. Uggowitzer (born 24 November 1950 in

Klagenfurt am Wörthersee Klagenfurt am WörtherseeLandesgesetzblatt 2008 vom 16. Jänner 2008, Stück 1, Nr. 1: ''Gesetz vom 25. Oktober 2007, mit dem die Kärntner Landesverfassung und das Klagenfurter Stadtrecht 1998 geändert werden.'/ref> (; ; ; ; Carinthian dialect ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

) is an Austrian-Swiss metallurgist and materials scientist. He has notable contributions in several fields of metallurgy, specially in the development of nickel-free austenitic stainless steels, aluminium crossover alloys and biodegradable magnesium alloys for medical implants.

Academic life

Born in Carinthia, Uggowitzer studied materials science at Montanuniversität Leoben, where he earned his doctorate in 1981 in the field of dual-phase steels. He then joined

ETH Zurich ETH Zurich (; ) is a public university in Zurich, Switzerland. Founded in 1854 with the stated mission to educate engineers and scientists, the university focuses primarily on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. ETH Zurich ran ...

, where he completed his habilitation in 1993 and served as a professor at the Department of Materials from 1996 to 2015. In 2017, he returned to Montanuniversität Leoben, where he was Professor for Alloy Design of Light Metals at th
Chair of Nonferrous Metallurgy
until 2024. His scientific achievements are both numerous and influential. One of his early milestones was the development of a new family of nickel-free nitrogen austenitic steels, which are now widely used in medical devices as well as in the jewellery and watchmaking industries. Later, his research focus shifted to light metals, particularly aluminium and magnesium. He has published extensively on the aging behavior of Al-Mg-Si alloys and on the development of magnesium alloys, including pioneering work on biodegradable magnesium implants for biomedical applications. Uggowitzer’s contributions to the advancement of aluminium research at Montanuniversität Leoben have been foundational. As Chair of the Scientific and Technical Advisory Board of Austria Metall AG (AMAG), he played a key role in establishing an endowed professorship for aluminium materials technology at the university. In 2019, Uggowitzer and co-authors discovered that the phenomenon of

ageing Ageing (or aging in American English) is the process of becoming older until death. The term refers mainly to humans, many other animals, and fungi; whereas for example, bacteria, perennial plants and some simple animals are potentially biol ...

aluminium alloy An aluminium alloy ( UK/IUPAC) or aluminum alloy ( NA; see spelling differences) is an alloy in which aluminium (Al) is the predominant metal. The typical alloying elements are copper, magnesium, manganese, silicon, tin, nickel and zinc. There ...

s does not occur at the atomic scale. In late 2020, Uggowitzer and co-authors initiated the research field of radiation-resistant aluminium alloys for future space exploration. In recognition of his distinguished scientific contributions, Uggowitzer was awarded the Great Decoration of Honor of the State of Styria by Governor Mario Kunasek and Deputy Governor Manuela Khom. Uggowitzer is married with Esther and the father of three adult children.

Awards

* 1987: Masing Memorial Prize of the German Society for Materials Science (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Materialkunde) * 2005 and 2012: ETH Best Teaching Award – Golden Owl * 2014: Tammann Commemorative Medal of the German Society for Materials Science (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Materialkunde) * 2025: Great Badge of Honour of the State of Styria

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Uggowitzer, Peter 1950 births Living people Scientists from Klagenfurt ETH Zurich alumni Academic staff of ETH Zurich Austrian metallurgists University of Leoben alumni