Professor Dr Gerd Hirzinger
- Section Engineering Sciences
- Location Wessling, Germany
- Election year 2008
Research
Gerd Hirzinger's work focuses on robotics, mainly on robot sensing, sensory feedback, mechatronics, man-machine interfaces, telerobotics and space robotics. He was prime investigator of the space robot technology experiment ROTEX, the first real robot in space, which flew onboard shuttle COLUMBIA in April 1993.
DLR’s (the German Aerospace Center) Institute for “Robotics and Mechatronics” is one of the biggest and most acknowledged institutes in the field worldwide, including not only robot development for space and terrestrial applications, but also aircraft control and optimization, vehicle technology (x by wire components and systems) and medical technology (artificial hearts and surgical robots).
DLR’s (the German Aerospace Center) Institute for “Robotics and Mechatronics” is one of the biggest and most acknowledged institutes in the field worldwide, including not only robot development for space and terrestrial applications, but also aircraft control and optimization, vehicle technology (x by wire components and systems) and medical technology (artificial hearts and surgical robots).
Career
- since 2009 Director of DLR’s Robotics and Mechatronics Center, RMC, Germany
- 2006 Extension of the DLR-Institute for Robotics and Mechatronics by the department “Optical Information Systems” in Berlin, Germany
- since 1992 Co-Director of DLR's Institute for Robotics and System Dynamics, Germany
- since 1991 Joint professorship with the Technical University of Munich, Germany
- 1987-1994 Rejection of different chairs in “robotics” offered by European Technical Universities like the ETH Zurich, Switzerland
- 1987-1993 Initiation and technical direction of ROTEX - the first robot in space that has successfully flown with spacelab D-2-mission in April 1993, Germany
- since 1976 Head of the Automation and Robotics Division at DLR, Germany
- 1974 Dissertation at the Technical University of Munich, Germany
- 1969 Starting scientific work at DLR (the German Aerospace Research Establishment) in the field of optimal and sampled-data control theory
- 1964-1969 Studying electronics and communication theory at the Technical University of Munich, Germany
Functions
- 2012 Continuous reviewer of the German Research Foundation (DFG)
- 2012 Continuous reviewer of the Swiss national Fund
- 2012 Science adviser of ADAC
- 2001-2005 Appointment as coordinator of the Bavarian Competence Network Mechatronics