Dr. Sigmar Wittig (born 25 February 1940 in Nimptsch, former

Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...

region of

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

) has been the chairman of the executive board of the

German Aerospace Center The German Aerospace Center (, abbreviated DLR, literally ''German Center for Air- and Space-flight'') is the national center for aerospace, energy and transportation research of Germany, founded in 1969. It is headquartered in Cologne with 3 ...

(''Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt'') since March 2002. He was the chair of the

European Space Agency The European Space Agency (ESA) is a 23-member International organization, international organization devoted to space exploration. With its headquarters in Paris and a staff of around 2,547 people globally as of 2023, ESA was founded in 1975 ...

Council for a two-year term between 1 July 2005 and 30 June 2007. Professor Wittig was instrumental in starting an exchange program between

Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

and the

University of Karlsruhe The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT; ) is both a German public university, public research university in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg, and a research center of the Helmholtz Association. KIT was created in 2009 when the University of Ka ...

called the Global Engineering Alliance for Research and Education (GEARE).

Curriculum vitae

He studied

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...

at the

RWTH Aachen RWTH Aachen University (), in German ''Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen'', is a German public research university located in Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With more than 47,000 students enrolled in 144 study prog ...

, finishing with a doctorate in 1967. This was followed by a nine-year spell in the U.S., as an

associate professor Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''. In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a position ...

. In 1976, he went back to Germany to the

, to lead the Institute of Thermal Turbomachinery. From 1994 to 2002, he was president of the university.

References

External links

ESA press release on Dr Wittig's appointment

Biography of Sigmar Wittig at the German Aerospace Center
1940 births Living people People from Niemcza European Space Agency personnel People from the Province of Silesia Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany German expatriates in the United States RWTH Aachen University alumni {{Germany-academic-bio-stub