Elmar Schrüfer

Elmar Schrüfer private (2014)

Elmar Schrüfer (born May 23, 1931 in Edelbach , Spessart ) is a German physicist and emeritus professor of measurement technology . He is one of the pioneers of university training in electrical measurement technology at home and abroad, as well as in the associated specialist areas of reliability of measurement and automation equipment and signal processing .

Career

Elmar Schrüfer was born in Edelbach im Spessart in 1931 as the oldest of four children. His father was a teacher. Schrüfer attended the Humanist High School in Aschaffenburg until 1950 , then studied physics at the Julius Maximilians University of Würzburg , where he received his doctorate in 1958. rer. nat. with a thesis on the distribution of energy in the spectrum of the X-ray brake radiation of a 35 MeV betatron .

Industrial activity

His field of work in the subsequent industrial activity at Allgemeine Elektricitätsgesellschaft (AEG) and Kraftwerk Union (KWU) was based on this and initially included radiation measurement technology on research and power reactors. The book Radiation and Radiation Measurement Technology in Nuclear Power Plants arose from this work , with which he received appropriate attention not only from the energy supply companies, but also from the Technical Inspection Associations (TÜV) as an expert for operating permits.

Later he was responsible for the design, procurement, assembly and commissioning of the entire instrumentation (nuclear and conventional, measurement and signal processing) of nuclear power plants . One focus of the work was the safety of the systems. The principles for the design had to be further developed, agreed with the experts and the systems implemented. With the control rod drive computer, it was possible for the first time to use a software system for safety tasks. Most recently, Schrüfer was the main department manager at Kraftwerkunion.

Working in the university sector

Teaching and Research

Even while he was working in industry, Schrüfer received a teaching position from the University of Karlsruhe in the field of reactor instrumentation . At almost the same time (1970 to 1980) his rich experience led to his participation in the Reactor Safety Commission (RSK).

In 1975 he was appointed full professor and head of the chair for electrical measurement technology at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), faculty for electrical engineering . Electrical measurement technology is a compulsory subject for all electrical engineering students at TUM. The number and the demands on the content of the courses are correspondingly large. These were well supported by his widespread textbooks “Electrical Measurement Technology”, “Reliability of Measurement and Automation Systems” and “Signal Processing”, which were also used at other universities and colleges.

The reliability and safety of industrial systems was an important area even during Schrüfer's industrial activity. This work was continued at his chair. The methods and procedures required to demonstrate safety have been improved. Another focus was signal processing. The latest microelectronic components were used here in order to obtain more powerful measuring systems. Demanding measuring tasks were carried out with new types of sensors such as B. Surface Acoustic Waves (SAW) solved. Due to the increasing computer performance, his research also succeeded in finding complex systems such as B. use the Fourier spectrometer for practical measurements.

Schrüfer's list of scientific publications includes textbooks that have become standard (up to 11 editions) and many articles in reference works such as B. VDI encyclopedias, more than 50 journal articles and a large number of lectures. During this time as a university lecturer, around 650 diploma theses and 35 dissertations were written. Ten of his doctoral students have also become university professors after working in industry.

Cooperation with foreign universities

The cooperation with foreign universities, especially with those in Eastern Europe and the People's Republic of China , was a particular concern of Schrüfer. His wife Anna supported him as much as possible. At an early stage he tried to get in touch with his colleagues in the GDR . The East Scholarship Program was set up together with Professors Hans-Rolf Tränkler (University of the Federal Armed Forces, Munich) and Friedrich Schneider (TUM) . As part of this program, graduates from Eastern European universities were able to complete their theses in the laboratories of Munich universities for six months. This program was not financed by the state, but by third-party funds. More than 70 students had taken part in this program by 2004. Some of them later did their doctorate at the Technical University of Munich and the University of the Federal Armed Forces.

Since 1983 Schrüfer has been regularly to lectures and discussions at universities in the People's Republic of China. Research was carried out jointly and he has participated in doctorates.

The Chinese-German University College (CDHK) at Tongji University in Shanghai has been a focus since 1993 . The CDHK, which specializes in mechanical engineering, electrical engineering and economics, is supported and partially financed by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). Schrüfer helped plan, set up and officially headed the electrical engineering branch until 2005. As part of this project, over 200 Chinese electrical engineering students came to TUM between 1998 and 2013, 150 of whom achieved double masters from Tongji University Shanghai and TUM. The program is supported by German industry. More than 90% of the graduates work for Sino-German companies in the People's Republic of China, some in prominent positions. Twenty of these graduates completed their doctorates at various universities in and outside Germany. After his retirement in 1999 , Schrüfer continued to look after foreign students .

Participation in committees

The teaching and research activities of Schrüfer were closely linked to his numerous functions within and outside the university. From 1989 to 1991 he was Dean of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, for many years a member of the Faculty Council and a reviewer for the German Research Foundation (DFG), the Alexander von Humboldt Society and the Volkswagen Foundation . On the occasion of an honorary colloquium on the occasion of the 70th birthday of Theodor Gast, professor of measurement technology at the TU Berlin , the idea of founding a working group of university teachers for measurement technology (AHMT) arose in 1986 . Schrüfer was first chairman until 1991. The annual meetings of the AHMT have become an essential part of scientific communication in the field of colleges and universities as well as in the measurement technology industry.

Honors (selection)

• 1993 Federal Cross of Merit
• 1998 Karl Max von Bauernfeind Medal from the Technical University of Munich
• 2000 Honorary doctorate (Dr. hc) from the George Asachi University of Iasi (Romania)
• 2004 Honorary Doctorate (Dr. hc) from the National Aviation University Kiev
• 2013 Honorary Senator of the Chinese-German University College (CDHK) at Tongji University Shanghai.

Publications (selection)

• About the jet shape when air flows into negative pressure rooms. Z. f. A. Physik, Volume 9, Issue 2 (1957), pp. 88-95.
• Energy distribution in the spectrum of the X-ray brake radiation of a 35 MeV betatron. Natural Sciences 45, 509, 1958.
• A magnetic Compton spectrometer for the investigation of high-energy X-ray bremsstrahlung. Nuclear Instruments and Methods 10: 295-300 (1961).
• Instrumentation and control of power reactors. Kerntechnik (1966) issue 8/9, pp. 358-362.
• The nuclear flow instrumentation of large power reactors. Atom and Strom 15 (1969) 5/6, pp. 84-89.
• Proof of reliability for computer protection systems. 8th IRS technical discussion Cologne 1972; IRS-T-24 (1973), pp. 113-126.
• Ed .: Radiation and radiation measurement technology in nuclear power plants. Elitera Verlag, Berlin 1974 (with Karl-Heinz Fischer and others). ISBN 3-87087-047-8 .
• Electrical measurement technology. Hanser Verlag, Munich; Vienna. 1st edition 1983, Fachbuchverlag Leipzig in Hanser Verlag, 11th edition 2014 (with L. Reindl and B. Zagar). Chinese edition, 1st edition, Huazhong Univ., Wuhan 1983, Chinese edition, 8th edition, Publishing House of Electronics Industry, Bejing 2004. ISBN 978-3-446-44208-5 .
• Reliability of measuring and automation equipment. Hanser Verlag, Munich; Vienna 1984. Chinese edition, Translation and Publishing Corporation, Shanghai 1989. ISBN 3-446-14190-1 .
• Introduction to Reliability Modeling. Proceedings of the IFAC Workshop on Reliability, The Hague 1986, Pergamon Press, Oxford 1987, pp.1-20.
• Online identification of the time response of sheathed thermocouples. Proc. of the 1st Int. Symp. On Measurement-Technology and Intelligent Instruments ISTMTII, Wuhan PR China, 1989, p. 801-803 (with B. Sarnes).
• Signal processing - Numerical processing of digital signals. Hanser Verlag, Munich; Vienna 1990, 2nd edition 1992. Ukrainian edition: Lybid ', Kiev 1992, Russian edition 1995. ISBN 3-446-16563-0 .
• NUMERI - Training Software for Numerical Data. VDI report 856, VDI-Verlag, Düsseldorf 1990, p. 189-196 (with P. Haschberger and T. Prufer).
• Ed .: Lexicon measurement and automation technology. VDI-Verlag, Düsseldorf 1992. ISBN 3-18-400895-9 .
• Calculation of the signal power in the time and frequency domains. tm Technisches Messen 65 (1998), pp. 370-377 (with F. Palme).
• Principle and Application of Fourier Spectrometers. Proceedings of the Indonesian-German Conference on Instrumentation, Measurements and Communications, July 2001 Bandung, Indonesia, p. 10-16 (with R. Windpassinger).
• Measurement Systems for Mechanical Strain Using BAW and SAW Sensors. Proceedings of the Tunesian-German Conference on Smart Systems and Devices, March 2001, Hammamet, Tunesia, p. 229-235.

literature

• Prof. Elmar Schrüfer 60 years. measure & check, issue 6/1991, p. 261.
• Booklet with articles from the chair on the occasion of Prof. E. Schrüfer's 60th birthday. tm Technical Measurement, Issue 9/1991.
• Booklet for the 60th birthday of Prof. E. Schrüfer. measure & check, issue 10/1991.
• Werner Kriesel , Hans Rohr, Andreas Koch: History and future of measurement and automation technology. VDI-Verlag, Düsseldorf 1995, ISBN 3-18-150047-X .
• Hans Hart , Werner Lotze, Eugen-Georg Woschni : Measurement accuracy . 3. Edition. Oldenbourg, 1997, ISBN 978-3-486-22774-1 .
• Elmar Schrüfer 70 years. Technical University of Munich, Communications 4-00 / 2001.
• Chinese - German University College CDHK 1993 - 2003. www.schruefer-messtechnik.de
• Yulian TUZ, NTUU Kiev, 5/2006: The quarter of the century of cooperation and friendship.
• National Secretary IASTE Ukraine Prof. Tamara Stryzhak, Annual Report 2006, Interview Prof. Schrüfer by Katharina Bader.
• Martin Pabst and Margot Fuchs, Technical University of Munich. Metropol Verlag 2006, p. 676, Prof. Schrüfer, international partnerships.
• Frank Dittmann, Martin Kahmann (Ed.): History of electrical measurement technology. Measuring with and from electricity. VDE-Verlag (History of Electrical Engineering, Vol. 25), Berlin; Offenbach 2014, ISBN 978-3-8007-3520-4 .
• Werner Richter and Manfred Engshuber: Alexander von Humboldt's measurement technology - instruments, methods, results. epubli Verlag, Berlin 2014, print edition ISBN 978-3-8442-8969-5 , eBook ISBN 978-3-8442-9056-1 .
• Werner Kriesel : Future models for computer science, automation and communication. In: Fuchs-Kittowski, Frank; Kriesel, Werner (ed.): Computer science and society. Festschrift for the 80th birthday of Klaus Fuchs-Kittowski . Frankfurt a. M., Bern, Bruxelles, New York, Oxford, Warszawa, Vienna: Peter Lang Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften, PL Academic Research 2016, ISBN 978-3-631-66719-4 (print), E- ISBN 978-3-653 -06277-9 (e-book).

Web links

• Literature by and about Elmar Schrüfer in the catalog of the German National Library