During the colloquium "Energia Connecticum", which was also the start of the new theme year Energy at TU Ilmenau, Univ.-Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Jürgen Petzoldt, long-time Head of the Power Electronics and Control Group and Prorector for Education at the University, was ceremoniously retired.
Merits for Ilmenau power electronics
The President of TU Ilmenau, Prof. Kai-Uwe Sattler, thanked Prof. Petzoldt on the occasion of his farewell for many successful years as a power electronics engineer, department head, professorial colleague and prorector for education. He referred to his valuable contributions to the development of electrical engineering and the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology in general and power electronics in particular, as well as to his achievements in the field of education, including the introduction of the Bachelor's and Master's degrees at Ilmenau University of Technology.
Prof. Petzoldt already completed his studies in electrical engineering at the Technischen Hochschule Ilmenau, where he graduated as Dr.-Ing. in 1980 and habilitated in 1988. From 1995 to 2000 he was a university professor at the University of Rostock and returned to his home university in 2000, where he became head of the Power Electronics and Control Group, a position he held for a total of 20 years until his retirement. In 1991 he was also co-founder of TLU GmbH and in 1994 of ISLE e.V. Ilmenau.
Longstanding Vice-Rector for Education
In addition, Prof. Petzoldt held the office of Prorector for Education at the university for 16 years and was confirmed in office a total of five times. During this time, innovative forms of study and teaching concepts such as the Basic Engineering School were repeatedly conceived under his leadership and awarded and promoted in national competitions. At the same time, as Vice Rector for Education, Prof. Petzoldt introduced a comprehensive quality management system and thus laid the foundation for the successful implementation of the mammoth project of system accreditation. The TU Ilmenau was the first technical university in Germany to receive this seal of quality, which certifies the highest level of the university's quality assurance system for teaching and studying. Under Jürgen Petzoldt's leadership, the Central Institute for Education at the TU Ilmenau was also newly founded, in which all of the university's continuing education offerings were bundled. His merits also include the successful introduction of the diploma courses in Electrical Engineering and Information Technology as well as Mechanical Engineering.
Before his farewell, Professor Petzoldt looked back on 60 years of research and teaching in the Power Electronics and Control Group, which he had headed for many years. During this time, under his leadership and that of his predecessor, the later Rector of TU Ilmenau, Prof. Wolfgang Gens, a total of 80 doctorates and 17 professorships were awarded, spread across the whole of Germany.