The founder of FEV will receive the honor officially on September 11, 2015 at Aachen City Hall
Prof. Dr. Franz Pischinger was announced as this year’s recipient of the Aachen Engineering Award on Thursday, May 21, 2015. The announcement was made by RWTH Rector Ernst Schmachtenberg and the Mayor of Aachen Marcel Philipp.
“Technology pervades our world, and this award is to honor the life’s work of distinguished engineers,” explained Rector Schmachtenberg, who considers the awardee’s function as a role model to be particularly important. Mayor Philipp emphasized the significance of science and research for the city and the region: “The universities are the most important institutions in our city. The Aachen Engineering Award illustrates our good collaboration – we want the brightest minds to come to us. The life’s work of Professor Pischinger is admirable in every way.”
High-profile personality in engineering
On September 11, Pischinger will be presented with the award, on the eve of the graduation celebration of RWTH Aachen. In connection with a symposium to commemorate his 85th birthday in the Coronation Hall of Aachen City Hall the achievements of the longtime director of the institute of Applied Thermodynamics and founder of FEV GmbH will be honored.
In the course of the graduation celebration about 5000 participants are expected. Professor Pischinger will deliver the key note speech and give the graduates an understanding of his lifetime achievements.
Life and acts of Prof. Dr. Franz Pischinger:
After completing his engineering degree, Pischinger became research assistant at the Chair of Combustion Engines and Thermodynamics at Graz University of Technology, Austria. He completed his doctorate in 1954. After gaining the post-doctoral lecturing qualification (habilitation), he became head of research at AVL List GmbH in Graz. Between 1962 and 1970, he worked at Klöckner Humboldt Deutz AG, where he became head of engine development.
Pischinger’s time in Aachen began in 1970, when he accepted appointment as professor of applied thermodynamics and director of the Institute of Thermodynamics at RWTH Aachen. Until 1997, he taught at RWTH and passed on his knowledge and experience in combustion engines and applied thermodynamics to about 9,000 students. As part of research activities led by Pischinger, more than 200 engineering graduates completed their doctorate in mechanical engineering.
In 1978, Pischinger founded FEV – initially, a flat on Augustinergasse served as office space for the four-person firm. Rapidly, the company developed into one of the leading development partners of the automotive industry worldwide. In 2003, Franz Pischinger left the operational management of FEV in the hands of his son, Stefan Pischinger, who also succeeded his father as director of the Institute for Combustion Engines at RWTH Aachen University.
Today, FEV, which is headquartered in Aachen and has about 3,800 members of staff in 35 locations, has a hand in all relevant innovations in engine technology. Whether it’s the High Efficiency Combustion System (HECS), the Diesel particulate filter (DPF), turbocharged gasoline direct injection engines, two-stage supercharging, or downsizing, FEV has been – and is – involved.
