Irmgard Lotz

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Irmgard Flügge-Lotz , née Irmgard Lotz (born July 16, 1903 in Hameln ; † May 22, 1974 in Stanford , USA ) was a German mathematician , aerodynamicist and control engineer , later head of department at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Flow Research , Göttingen , as well later professor at Stanford University .

Life

After her Abitur in 1923 at the Realgymnasial-Studienanstalt in Hanover , she began studying mathematics and its applications at the TH Hanover , which she completed in 1927 with the main diploma examination in mathematics. From 1927 to 1929 she worked as an assistant at the chair of practical mathematics and Performing geometry of Horst von Sanden at the Technical University of Hanover. In 1929 she did her doctorate on "The warming of the stamp during the upsetting process". From 1929 to 1938 she was employed at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Flow Research in Göttingen (headed by Ludwig Prandtl ), first as an assistant, then as a group leader and finally as an unofficial department head (theoretical aerodynamics). In 1938 she married the mathematician and aerodynamicist Wilhelm Flügge (1904–1990) and since then has been called Irmgard Flügge-Lotz. The couple moved to Berlin in 1938, where he worked as a department head at the German Aviation Research Institute (DVL) , Berlin-Adlershof , until 1945 , in particular on automatic flight control. During this time she worked there as a consultant and from 1941 as one of the four experts for price assignments of the Lilienthal Society . In 1944, parts of the DVL were outsourced to Lake Constance . After the unconditional surrender in Paris , both came to the Office National d'Études et de Recherches Aérospatiales (ONERA) , where she worked as a research group leader from 1946 to 1948. In 1948 both came to the United States , where both worked at Stanford University . Her husband immediately became a professor there, she became a lecturer, but she fulfilled all the duties of a full professorship: she regularly gave lectures on hydro- and aerodynamics and automatic flight control and supervised doctorates. It was not until 1961 that she became a full professor and became the first female engineering professor at Stanford University. In 1968 she retired. In 1971 she gave the von Karman Lecture ( Trends in automatic control in the last two decades ).

Irmgard Flügge-Lotz did important work on aerodynamics, including in particular on boundary layer theory . The “Lotz method” is named after her work on the solution of differential equations in the distribution of lift of wings . As part of her occupation with the theory of automatic control techniques and aircraft controls ( autopilot ), she contributed significantly to the design and understanding of the special phenomena of switching ("black and white") controls.

Fonts

  • The heating of the punch during the upsetting process. Dissertation. Technical University of Hanover, 1929.
  • Discontinuous Automatic Control. Princeton University Press, 1953.
  • Discontinuous and Optimal Control. McGraw Hill, 1968.

literature

  • Marilyn Ogilvie, Joy Harvey: The biographical dictionary of women in science. Pioneering lives from ancient times to the mid-20th century. Vol. 1. New York 2000, pp. 456-457.
  • Günther Schmidt: Irmgard Flügge-Lotz - first German control engineer. In: at - automation technology. Oldenbourg Verlag, (57) 2009, pp. 217-218.
  • Barbara Sichermann: Notable American Women. The modern period. A Biographical Dictionary. Cambridge (Mass.) 1980, pp. 241-242.
  • John R. Spreiter: In Memoriam: Irmgard Flügge-Lotz, 1903–1974. In: IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control. AC-20 (1975) 2, pp. 183a-183b.
  • John R. Spreiter, Flügge Wilhelm Flügge: Irmgard Flügge-Lotz (1903–1974). In: Louise Grinstein, Paul J. Campbell (editors): Woman of Mathematics. Greenwood Pub., 1987, pp. 33-40.
  • Annette Vogt: Women in Army Research: Ambivalent Careers in Nazi Germany. In: Annie Canel: Crossing Boundaries, Building Bridges. Comparing the History of Women Engineers, 1870s – 1990s. Amsterdam 2000, pp. 199-204.
  • Andrea E. Abele, Helmut Neunzert, Renate Tobies : Dream job mathematics! Career paths of women and men in mathematics. Birkhäuser, 2004, ISBN 978-3-7643-6749-7 , pp. 60 f.
  • Annette Vogt: From the back entrance to the main portal? Lise Meitner and her colleagues at the Berlin University and in the Kaiser Wilhelm Society. Stuttgart 2007 (= Pallas Athene, Vol. 17).
  • Annette Vogt: Scientist in Kaiser Wilhelm Institutes. A – Z. Berlin 2008, 2nd edition, pp. 115–117.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Lotz, Irmgard
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Flügge-Lotz, Irmgard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German mathematician and aerodynamicist
DATE OF BIRTH July 16, 1903
PLACE OF BIRTH Hamelin
DATE OF DEATH May 22, 1974
Place of death Stanford , USA