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The History of the Department
1952
Ernst Schmidt succeeds Wilhelm Nußelt. He gains
a reputation chiefly with his research in all fields of
heat transmission, gas turbine design and water
vapour research. The ‘Schmidt number’ is named
after him which describes the ratio between diffusive
momentum transport and diffusive mass transfer.
During Schmidt’s tenure the Chair of Thermal
Engines, Refrigeration Technology, Heating and Ven-
tilation is extended and renamed Chair of Technical
Thermodynamics.
1953
Establishment of the Chair of Process Engineering
with Friedrich Kneule and Hans von Seybel. Process
engineering as a field of study had been set up by
Friedrich Kneule and Hans von Seybel in 1950.
1954
After the signing of the ‘Paris Agreements’, West
Germany regains its air sovereignty. This leads to a
Chair of Aircraft Construction being established with
an affiliated Institute of Lightweight Construction
and Aeronautical Engineering. Julius Kraus, who
had already worked at the Chair of Aircraft Design in
1942 and had been dismissed in 1945 is appointed
as professor at the newly-created Chair of Aircraft
Design. During the 1960s the department puts its
focus on aerospace technology. In 1964 the Chair
of Aircraft Construction is converted into a Chair
of Lightweight and Aircraft Design and, from 1978
onwards, into a Chair in Lightweight Design.
1955
The Chair of Theory of the Wheel Gear and Kine-
matics is renamed Precision Engineering and Micro
Technology and is headed by Richard Unterberger
and Rudolf Beyer.
1956
The Chair of Thermal Engines, Refrigeration Technol-
ogy, Heating and Ventilation is extended in size and
is renamed Chair of Technical Thermodynamics.
1957/58
The Chair of Technical Mechanics and the
Institute of Fluid Mechanics are both taken over by
Erich Truckenbrodt.
1962
Establishment of the Chair of Ergonomics under the
direction of Heinz Schmidtke. In 1965, the Institute
of Labour Physiology is set up, headed by Wolf
Müller-Limmroth. After the latter has been conferred
emeritus status in 1990, the two merge to form the
joint Chair of Ergonomics.
1965
The Chair of Engineering Design is newly-estab-
lished. Based on machine elements and working
with examples of outstanding machines and
engines, it aims to convey the skills necessary for
designing by retracing their design steps. The THM
is thus the first German university to implement this
new discipline.
Pneumatic measuring device testing at the Institute of Machine Tools, 1959
Students in front of the Materials Testing Institute for Mechanical
Engineering, 1961
Maren Heinzerling, mechanical engineering final-year student, working at
the Telefunken RA 436/2 analogue computer, 1964