Wilhelm Embacher
Wilhelm Embacher (born November 8, 1914 , † February 7, 2008 in Saalfelden , Salzburg ) was an Austrian geodesist , inventor, engineering consultant and university professor at the Technical University of Vienna and the University of Innsbruck .
Embacher's areas of expertise at the Vienna University of Technology were geodetic astronomy and applications of gravimetry in engineering. The innovative head developed several relevant methods and instruments, of which the Embacher method for geographic location determination and the gravimetric rock appearance are still used today.
Life
Willi Embacher's parents were Anna and Engelbert Embacher, the father's manager of the Saalfelden electricity works. After elementary school in Saalfelden he went to secondary school in Linz , where he graduated with honors in 1932. He then started the physics -Studies at the TH Vienna , moved to three years surveying and received just before the military service in 1939, the absolution . In fighting on the western and eastern fronts, he received several awards for bravery, was badly wounded and lost an eye. Embacher used his convalescence to complete his studies in 1944 with a Dipl.-Ing. to complete, and married the surveyor Paula geb. Winkelmayer. Before he did, she was the first female geodesist in Austria to receive her diploma. At the end of the war, however, Embacher was taken prisoner by the English until 1946/47 .
From this he returned to the Vienna University of Technology in 1948 as a university assistant and received his doctorate in the following year with a dissertation on vectorial compensation calculation - at the same time as Paula Embacher , who had worked on the topic of degree measurement . In addition to this rare event and the birth of the third child, the then rector Friedrich Hopfner was also a geodesist and set a special date for the couple's doctorate in July 1949 - a few weeks before his accidental death.
When Friedrich Hauer became professor for engineering geodesy in 1950 , Embacher took over his assistant position at the Institute for Higher Geodesy ; his professorship had been vacant since Hopfner's death and remained so for a long time because of the consequences of the war. In addition to the duties that arose as a result, Embacher was a popular advisor to the students and refreshed them with an apple every time . His growing experience in surveying practice followed in 1955 with his habilitation in the fields of geographic location and land surveying , and in 1964 he was appointed associate professor. In the same year he received the authorization as engineering consultant for surveying and ran his office in Saalfelden (with his wife) and in Vienna IX.
Academic teacher and inventor
In addition to tasks in engineering geodesy , Embacher mainly worked on topics and new applications of gravimetry and special measurements such as the Tauern motorway . For the astronomical orientation of this and other tunnel projects he developed two special observation methods ( Embacher method and the simultaneous method for directional transmission that he jokingly called "Zwiemandln" ), with the practical testing of which he commissioned the later professors Kurt Bretterbauer and Gottfried Gerstbach . While the first-named method established itself in the specialist literature, the second-named method - except for very experienced observers - did not provide the expected accuracy.
In addition to geodetic courses, Embacher also taught flight navigation at the TH . At the end of 1967 he was appointed full professor to Innsbruck , where he became director of the newly founded Institute for Surveying and Photogrammetry . His lasting merits include the establishment of the Innsbruck building faculty and the introduction of the geodetic weeks in the national sports center (now the university center) in Obergurgl . This combination of specialist conferences and professionally run ski courses , which is highly valued in the entire German-speaking area (and soon also internationally) , was successfully continued after Embacher's retirement in 1985 by his successors Günter Chesi and Klaus Hanke at 2-year intervals (most recently in 2013).
Main areas of work
Embacher's research activities focused on:
- The earth's gravity field , gravimetry and new areas of application for modern gravimeters (see Askania ), including for measuring earth tides . Using precision gravimetry and gravity gradients , he succeeded for the first time in locating underground cavities and rock mutations ;
- Construction of the gravimetric test field Buschberg (Lower Austria);
- The Geodetic Astronomy (Instrument tuition), development of Embacher method for azimuth and wide definition, implementation of relevant night exercises of Geodesy students;
- Engineering geodesy in the mountains, influence of vertical deviations on engineering geodetic work, e.g. B. in traffic route and tunnel construction .
Awards
literature
- Wilhelm Embacher: New proposals for geographic location determination , Österreichische Zeitschrift für Vermessungswesen, year 1952, pages 3 to 13, 50-58 and 82 to 88, Vienna, 1952.
- Institute for Geodesy (Innsbruck): Festschrift Embacher (introduction and contribution by K.Bretterbauer). Inst.Mitt. Volume 7, p. 11-13 and 78ff., Innsbruck 1984
Web links
- Department of Geometry and Surveying - History , University of Innsbruck
- Em. O. Univ.Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Dr. Wilhelm Embacher †
Individual evidence
- ^ Institute for Geodesy (Innsbruck): Festschrift Embacher , Inst.Mitt. Volume 7, pp.11-13 and 78ff., Innsbruck 1984
- ↑ List of all decorations awarded by the Federal President for services to the Republic of Austria from 1952 (PDF; 6.9 MB)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Embacher, Wilhelm |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Austrian geodesist and university professor |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 8, 1914 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Saalfelden , Salzburg |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 7, 2008 |
| Place of death | Saalfelden , Salzburg |