Chair Story

On the initiative of the then head of the Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics at the TU, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Harry O. Ruppe, the Endowed Chair of Aeronautical Engineering was founded on September 18, 1989. At the beginning of the winter semester 89/90, Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Gero Madelung, who had worked for many years in the management of Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm GmbH, took over the chair as its first full professor. After 5 years the chair was officially affiliated to the Technical University of Munich. Before the complete Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics was integrated into the newly established Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in Garching in the spring of 1996, all associated chairs were located relatively decentrally in the urban area of Munich. As a result, study operations were associated with considerable difficulties at that time. After the retirement of Prof. Madelung, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dieter Schmitt was entrusted with the teaching assignment in the summer of 1996. Since the departure of Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dieter Schmitt in September 2002, the chair was temporarily managed by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Horst Baier, who was operationally supported in research and teaching by Dr.-Ing. Wolfgang Schmidt from 2005 to 2007. From August 2007 until the end of 2009, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Horst Baier took over the chair again. Since January 2010, the former Chair of Aeronautical Engineering is now headed by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Mirko Hornung as Chair of Aircraft Design.