Short & sweet
RWTH Water Expert Hani Sewilam Appointed as Minister in Egypt
Professor Hani Sewilam, deputy head of the Department of Engineering Hydrology at RWTH and Rector’s Delegate for African Countries, has been appointed Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation in Egypt as part of a recent cabinet reshuffle. In addition to his work at RWTH, Sewilam is a professor at the Institute of Global Health and Human Ecology and director of the Center for Applied Research on the Environment and Sustainability (CARES) at the American University in Cairo (AUC). He is also the director of the UNESCO Chair in Hydrological Change and Water Resources Management. After studying in his Egyptian home city of Zagazig and then in Southampton, UK, Sewilam came to RWTH Aachen University in 2002 for his doctorate, which he was awarded with honors.
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RWTH Water Expert Hani Sewilam Appointed as Minister in Egypt
High Japanese Award for Professor Jun Okuda
In June, Professor Dr. Jun Okuda from the Institute of Inorganic Chemistry at RWTH, received an award of merit from the Japanese Foreign Minister at a ceremony held at the residence of the Japanese Consul General in Erkrath. The honor is bestowed on individuals who have made outstanding efforts to promote German-Japanese relations. Consul General Kiminori Iwama, who personally presented the award, emphasized in his greeting that it was a special honor and pleasure for him to be able to present the certificate after two postponements due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He expressed confidence that the current effective and successful exchange between Japan and Germany would continue in the future: "Thanks to Professor Okuda's great commitment to German-Japanese scientific exchange, RWTH Aachen University has been able to build a stable network with Japan."
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High Japanese Award for Professor Jun Okuda
Highest Prize in Production Technology for RWTH Alumnus
At this year's General Assembly of CIRP (College International pour la Recherche en Productique), the leading international organization for research in production technology, in Bilbao, Dr. Yavuz Murtezaoglu, RWTH alumnus and founder and CEO of ModuleWorks, Aachen, was presented with the General Pierre Nicolau Award. This award in recognition of significant and outstanding scientific contributions is the world's highest honor in the field of production technology. Throughout his career, Dr. Yavuz Murtezaoglu has focused on adding value to manufacturing engineering through the development of sophisticated software algorithms and has trained more than 200 software developers in his company in this area.
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Dr. Yavuz Murtezaoglu
Professor Lutz Eckstein to Become VDI President
The head of the Institute for Automotive Engineering will succeed Dr. Volker Kefer at the Association of German Engineers on January 1. Professor Lutz Eckstein, head of the Institute of Automotive Engineering (ika) at RWTH Aachen University, was elected future president of the Association of German Engineers (VDI) at its board meeting. Eckstein will succeed Dr. Volker Kefer, who is stepping down as president after four years in accordance with the articles of association, on January 1, 2023. Professor Eckstein has headed the ika since 2010 and is spokesman for the Mobility & Transport Engineering Profile Area at RWTH Aachen University. He is also chairman of the VDI Society for Vehicle and Transport Technology (VDI-FVT), among others. In 2021, he was appointed to the Scientific Advisory Board of the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure.
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Professor Lutz Eckstein to Become VDI President
RWTH Professor Christa Reicher Honored for Her Lifework
RWTH Professor Christa Reicher, Chair of Urban Design, was honored with the Grand Prize for Building Culture by the Association of German Associations of Architects and Engineers (DAI) during the DAI Day, held in Münster. This prize has been presented every two years since 1990 in recognition of special services to building culture in Germany and is the most important honor of its kind, always honoring the individual's lifework. Reicher studied architecture at RWTH and ETH Zurich. She worked in international planning offices, founded an architecture firm, and taught at the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, Bochum University of Applied Sciences, and TU Dortmund University. In the winter semester 2018/19, she took over the RWTH chair and the direction of the Institute for Urban Design and European Urbanism.
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RWTH Professor Christa Reicher Honored for Her Lifework
Mourning for Professor Michael Jansen
On July 13, Professor Michael Jansen, University Professor of Urban History at RWTH, passed away at the age of 75. He did his doctorate in 1979 with a thesis on the architecture of the Bronze Age Indus culture and he habilitated in 1987. He became Dean of the Faculty and from 1996 to 1999, he served as Vice-Rector for Teaching at RWTH Aachen University. in 2007-2008, he was the founding rector of the German University of Technology (GUtech) in Oman. Michael Jansen was closely connected to the architecture faculty until the end; he founded the Friends of Reiff association and initiated the academic graduation ceremonies for students. This was also an essential contribution to establishing various alumni networking activities at RWTH. As a member of the Senate Commission for International Affairs, Michael Jansen contributed to initiating "keep in touch" as the first German university publication for graduates back in the mid-1980s.
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Professor Michael Jansen
Times Higher Education Ranking (THE): RWTH Aachen University Among the Top 100 Universities Worldwide
The THE World University Rankings, published every is one of the world's most influential rankings of universities. The ranking is based on 13 performance indicators such as research quality and output, teaching, number of citations, industry income, and international outlook. In the latest rankings, RWTH moved up in 12 indicators and is now positioned 99th globally, while the University has secured 9th place among German universities. RWTH is among the top 50 in the industry income category, achieving 93.8 out of 100 points. The University also improved its performance in research and reinforced its reputation, according to a survey conducted among 28,000 academics. As in previous years, RWTH achieved close to perfect scores in the categories of publications and research funding. The recent increase in international employees and students has led to a particularly positive assessment in the area of international outlook.
