On 31 March 2021 the new President of TU Ilmenau, Prof. Kai-Uwe Sattler, was inaugurated in a ceremonial event. Due to the corona situation, the inauguration was broadcast live on the YouTube channel of TU Ilmenau.
The university assembly of TU Ilmenau had elected Prof. Sattler as the new president of the university for a term of six years in December 2020. The certificate of appointment was handed over by the Thuringian Minister for Economy, Science and Digital Society, Wolfgang Tiefensee, in February of this year. Also in February, the TU Ilmenau Senate elected the three vice presidents for a term of three years. They were also introduced during the president's inauguration.
Due to the current situation, the inauguration was broadcast live as an online event on TU Ilmenau's YouTube channel. The video is still available on the net until 30 June.
Honorary senator for long-time rector Professor Peter Scharff
The inauguration of the new president was also an occasion for TU Ilmenau to thank the long-time rector, Prof. Peter Scharff, for his work.
For his outstanding services to the successful development of the university, research, teaching and internationalisation, and furthermore as chairman of the State Rectors' Conference and board member of the German Academic Exchange Service DAAD, TU Ilmenau awarded Prof. Scharff the dignity of honorary senator.
Thuringian Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow and other companions as well as colleagues from Thuringian and foreign partner universities paid tribute to the achievements of the retired rector in video greetings.
Research-strong, attractive university
In the second part of the event, Professor Kai-Uwe Sattler was introduced to the office of President of TU Ilmenau and the new management team introduced themselves and their goals. Professor Sattler brings extensive experience with university management tasks to the office of president. Appointed to the professorship of Databases and Information Systems at TU Ilmenau in October 2003, Prof. Sattler's excellent research achievements have earned him a high national and international reputation as a renowned expert in data management and Big Data. From 2011 to 2017, he was Dean of the department of Computer Science and Automation, before being elected Vice-Rector for Science at TU Ilmenau in 2017 and President of the University in 2020. Via video, Minister Tiefensee congratulated Professor Sattler on becoming President of TU Ilmenau:
With Professor Sattler we are gaining an experienced university lecturer and renowned scientist who has been actively involved in shaping university operations for many years and knows the university well.
In a pre-recorded video presentation, Professor Sattler presented the plans for his term of office. The new president's main goal is to position TU Ilmenau even more as a university that is strong in research and attractive for students and young scientists, and to strengthen the transfer of research results to industry. As Vice Rector, he had already set the course for this with the development of a research and transfer strategy and the establishment of a Graduate Center.
New Presidential Board introduces itself and its goals
In addition to Prof. Sattler as President and the Chancellor of the University, Dennys Klein, the new management team includes three Vice Presidents, whose term of office is three years. They also introduced themselves and their goals with a short video.
The office of Vice President for Teaching and Learning is held by Prof. Anja Geigenmüller. The former Dean of the department of Economics and Media and Head of the department of Marketing was already elected Vice President for Education in July 2020 and re-elected in February 2021.
The new Vice President for Research and Young Academics is Prof. Stefan Sinzinger, Head of the group of Technical Optics at the department of Mechanical Engineering and Scientific Director of the Center for Micro and Nanotechnologies (ZMN) and Director of the Institute for Micro and Nanotechnologies (IMN), which unites around 40 departments at TU Ilmenau.
With the newly created third vice president position, TU Ilmenau is also focusing even more on international relations and transfer as the university's third mission alongside research and teaching. The office of Vice President for International Affairs and Transfer is held by Prof. Jens Müller, Head of the group of Electronics Technology at the department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology. He, too, had been the scientific director of the ZMN/IMN for many years. Altogether, four of the five departments of the TU Ilmenau are represented in the new presidium.
Panel discussion: "University after Corona"
In the sign of the Corona pandemic, the broadcast of the inauguration ended with a panel discussion on the topic of "The University after Corona - back to normality or a chance for change?" The focus of the conversation, moderated by host and Ilmenau alumna Kristin Lenk, was the further development of university teaching and research and of the TU Ilmenau as a recognized, attractive university. The discussion partners were the President of the University, Prof. Kai-Uwe Sattler, the Rector of the University of Magdeburg and member of the University Advisory Board of the TU Ilmenau, Prof. Jens Strackeljan, Ilmenau's Mayor Dr. Daniel Schultheiß, the young scientist Dr. Meike Hofmann and the student representative Michelle Storandt. Overall, all participants agreed that the pandemic has led to an enormous development in the field of digitalization and especially online teaching, from which the university will also benefit after Corona. At the same time, however, the experiences show how important personal contact and exchange between teachers and learners and among students is. Basically, TU Ilmenau sees itself clearly as a presence university in the future, where the good support of students, the short distances and a lively student life in student bodies and clubs are trademarks that cannot be replaced digitally.
