Rudolf Trachsel (engineer)

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Rudolf Trachsel (born July 11, 1927 in Bern ; † December 23, 2017 ) was a Swiss engineer and former President of the General Management of the PTT .

Life

His father Fritz Trachsel was an engineer. Rudolf Trachsel attended primary and secondary schools in Bern. This was followed by a degree in electrical engineering at the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPUL), which he graduated in 1951 as a graduate engineer. The French skills acquired in this way were important for his later career in the Swiss federal administration.

A stay in the USA to develop telecommunications switching systems at the Automatic Electric Company (part of GT&E from 1955 ) in Chicago from 1952 to 1954 enabled him to join a US telecommunications supplier. Looking for a job in Switzerland, Trachsel worked for a short time at Kabelwerke Cortaillod SA (now Nexans Suisse SA ) and at Hasler AG in Bern. Then in 1955 he joined the telecommunications department of the Swiss Post, Telephone and Telegraph Company (PTT). As an engineer, Trachsel became a specialist in transmission technology , as evidenced by a lecture he wrote on carrier frequency systems for Heinrich Emil Weber at the ETH Zurich . He was promoted to head of the long-distance networks department in 1971. In 1977 he became head of the telecommunications engineering department . Large investment projects in the telecommunications sector were being carried out in this area at that time. Beyond his area of ​​expertise, he influenced other developments such as the introduction of new telephones with buttons and tone frequency dialing. From 1981 to 1989 Trachsel was the general director of the entire telecommunications department, which later became Swisscom . During this period, decisions were made such as the introduction of the mobile network Natel , the data transmission system Telepac and the renouncement of the Swiss in-house development of a new digital switching system called the Integrated Telecommunication System IFS. In July 1989 Trachsel was appointed President of the General Management of the PTT. In the remaining term of office up to his retirement in 1992, structural changes were looming. A division into a liberalized telecommunications division and the post office became apparent.

After his retirement, Trachsel was a member of the board of directors of Siemens-Albis AG, Zurich, from 1993 to 1998. He also ran his own consulting office.

literature

Manuel Balmer: Trachsel, Rudolf. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The former PTT general director Rudolf Trachsel has died
  2. ^ Rudolf Trachsel: Half a century of telecommunications in Switzerland. Sauerländer, Aarau 1993, ISBN 3-7941-3680-2
  3. ^ Rudolf Trachsel: Carrier Frequency Systems. Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich 1968
  4. ↑ Christian Kämmerling: Take it in God's name. Die Weltwoche , edition 35/2003
  5. ↑ Mischa Stünzi: He brought the PTT to rethink. An obituary. In: Der Bund , January 8, 2018, p. 7
  6. ↑ Trachsel's board mandate at Siemens-Albis AG, Zurich , accessed on January 20, 2016
personal data
SURNAME Trachsel, Rudolf
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss engineer and former President of the General Management of PTT
DATE OF BIRTH July 11, 1927
PLACE OF BIRTH Bern
DATE OF DEATH 23rd December 2017