Verein Deutscher Ingenieure (VDI) (English: Association of German Engineers) is an organization of about 135,000

engineers Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while consider ...

and natural scientists. More than 12,000 honorary experts process the latest technical findings each year to promote the technology location. Established in 1856, it is the largest engineering association in Western

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. Its role in

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 ...

is comparable to that of the

American Society of Civil Engineers The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) is a tax-exempt professional body founded in 1852 to represent members of the civil engineering profession worldwide. Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, it is the oldest national engineering soci ...

(ASCE) in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Engineers Australia Engineers Australia (EA), known formally as the Institution of Engineers, Australia, is an Australian professional body and Non-profit organization, not-for-profit organisation whose purpose is to advance the science and practice of engineerin ...

(EA) in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, but includes broader field work. It is not a union, but promotes the advancement of technology and represents the interests of engineers and engineering businesses in Germany.

History

The organization was founded on May 12, 1856 by fellow researchers from the Academic Fraternity Hütte, in the small town of

Alexisbad Alexisbad is a small spa town, part of Harzgerode in the Harz (district), district of Harz, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Geography Alexisbad is located about northwest of the Harzgerode town centre on the Bundesstrasse 185 road to Ballenstedt. It i ...

, with the first journal officially being released to the public in 1857. In 1866 the VDI helped establish the predecessor of Technischer Überwachungsverein, the Dampfkesselüberwachungsvereinen (English: Steam boiler inspection association). At the time, engineering was not regarded to be of the same ranking as scientific disciplines, which the VDI changed in 1899, with the re-categorisation of the

Technische Hochschule A ''Technische Hochschule'' (, plural: ''Technische Hochschulen'', abbreviated ''TH'') is a type of university focusing on engineering sciences in Germany. Previously, it also existed in Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands (), and Finland (, ) ...

as a type of

University A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

. In 1923 the VDI Verlag was founded, publishing monthly newspapers which are distributed to members. After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

the VDI moved its headquarters from

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

to Düsseldorf, where it remains now today. It also helped establish the Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Kerntechnik (English: Society for Nuclear Technology) in 1956, which resulted in the German Atomforum, in 1959. In recent times, the VDI worked in conjunction with EXPO 2000 Hannover GmbH to establish the first worldwide engineering day.

Structure

Throughout its history, the VDI has been served by many presidents, including: *

Carl von Linde Carl Paul Gottfried von Linde (11 June 1842 – 16 November 1934) was a German scientist, engineer, and businessman. He discovered the refrigeration cycle and invented the first industrial-scale air separation and gas liquefaction processes, ...

(1904–1905) *

Oskar von Miller Oskar Franz Xaver Miller, since 1875 von Miller (7 May 1855 – 9 April 1934), was a German engineer and founder of the Deutsches Museum, a large museum of technology and science in Munich. Biography Born in Munich into an Upper Bavarian family ...

(1912–1914) *

Fritz Todt Fritz Todt (; 4 September 1891 – 8 February 1942) was a German construction engineer and senior figure of the Nazi Party. He was the founder of '' Organisation Todt'' (OT), a military-engineering organisation that supplied German industry w ...

(1939–1942) *

Hans Bluhm Hans may refer to: __NOTOC__ People * Hans (name), a masculine given name * Hans Raj Hans, Indian singer and politician ** Navraj Hans, Indian singer, actor, entrepreneur, cricket player and performer, son of Hans Raj Hans ** Yuvraj Hans, Punjabi a ...

(1947–1952) *

Hans Schuberth Hans Schuberth (April 5, 1897 in Schwabach – September 2, 1976 in Munich) was a German politician who from 1949 to 1953 was the first Federal Minister of Post and Telecommunications in Konrad Adenauer's first cabinet. Biography After gr ...

(1953–1956) *

Gerhard Wilhelm Becker Gerhard is a name of Germanic origin and may refer to: Given name * Gerhard (bishop of Passau) (fl. 932–946), German prelate * Gerhard III, Count of Holstein-Rendsburg (1292–1340), German prince, regent of Denmark * Gerhard Barkhorn (1919– ...

(1978–1982) * Karl Eugen Becker (1983–1988)''Absatzwirtschaft:'
Meldung
vom 1. Dezember 1988 *

Joachim Pöppel Joachim was, according to Sacred tradition, the husband of Saint Anne, the father of Mary, mother of Jesus, Mary (mother of Jesus), and the maternal grandfather of Jesus. The story of Joachim and Anne first appears in the Gospel of James, part of ...

(1989–1991) *

Klaus Czeguhn Klaus is a German, Dutch and Scandinavian given name and surname. It originated as a short form of Nikolaus, a German form of the Greek given name Nicholas. Notable persons whose family name is Klaus * Billy Klaus (1928–2006), American base ...

(1992–1994)''Absatzwirtschaft:'
Meldung
vom 1. Juni 1994 *

Hans-Jürgen Warnecke Hans-Jürgen (or rarely Hansjürgen) is a German masculine given name. Notable people with the name include: * Hans-Jürgen Abt of Abt Sportsline, a motor racing and auto tuning company based in Kempten im Allgäu, Germany *Hans-Jürgen von Arnim ( ...

(1995–1997) * Hubertus Christ (1998–2003) *

Eike Lehmann Eike is a masculine, as well as feminine, given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name * Eike Batista (born 1956), entrepreneur * Eike Bram (born 1965), handball player * Eike Duarte (born 1997), actor * Eike Duckwit ...

(2004–2007) *

Bruno O. Braun Bruno may refer to: People and fictional characters * Bruno (name), including lists of people and fictional characters with either the given name or surname * Bruno, Duke of Saxony (died 880) * Bruno the Great (925–965), Archbishop of Cologne ...

(2007-2012) *

Udo Ungeheuer Udo is a masculine given name. It may refer to: Medieval era *Udo of Neustria, 9th-century nobleman * Udo (Obotrite prince) (died 1028) * Udo (archbishop of Trier) (c. 1030 – 1078) * Lothair Udo II, Margrave of the Nordmark (c. 1025 – 108 ...

(2013–2018) *

Volker Kefer Volker may refer to: * Volker (name), including a list of people with the given name or surname * Volker, Kansas City, a historic neighborhood in Kansas City * Volker Boulevard, Kansas City * ''Alien Nations'' (German: ''Die Völker''), a real-time ...

(2019–2022) *

Lutz Eckstein Lutz is a surname and given name, occasionally a short form of Ludwig and Ludger. People with the name include: Surname *Adolfo Lutz (1855–1940), Brazilian physician * Aleda E. Lutz (1915–1944), American Army flight nurse * Alois Lutz, Aus ...

(since 2023)

Notable Members

* Blake R. Van Leer, United States Army officer and president of

Georgia Institute of Technology The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public university, public research university and Institute of technology (United States), institute of technology in Atlanta, ...

Blake Van Leer Named Dean Of Engineering
/ref> *

Membership

In 2013 the VDI had over 150,000 registered members worldwide, which also included

scientists A scientist is a person who researches to advance knowledge in an area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engaged in the philosophical study of nature ...

and

I.T professionals I.T is a Hong Kong fashion and investment conglomerate founded in November 1988. It owns a number of Hong Kong brands which it retails as well as distributing European and Japanese brands such as French Connection and A Bathing Ape. It has a ...

. Members have opportunities to ask for help regarding job prospects and opportunities, receive news about the engineering profession, especially in Germany, as well as other services such as specialized insurance. Members are also able to attach the suffix ''VDI'' upon becoming a member, and is classified as a legitimate name suffix.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Engineering societies based in Germany