The University of Paderborn and the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Computer Science and Mathematics mourn the death of Prof. Dr.-Ing. Horst Grotstollen, who passed away on February 28 at the age of 82. Grotstollen was head of the Power Electronics and Electrical Drive Engineering (LEA) department at the Institute of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology from 1981 until his retirement in 2003. "Grotstollen worked diligently and with scientific expertise to build the outstanding reputation that our department enjoys today," said Prof. Dr.-Ing. Joachim Böcker, head of the LEA department. "As we celebrate the 40th anniversary of our department this year, we should also remember that Mr. Grotstollen laid the foundations for the use of the permanently excited three-phase synchronous machine in servo drives very early on - together with Prof. Dr.-Ing. Gerhard Pfaff of Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg." Today, this type of machine can be found in electric road vehicles and, to some extent, wind turbines, among other applications. It was also Grotstollen who, together with Prof. Dr.-Ing. Joachim Lückel from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, initiated the innovative rail transport project "RailCab" in 1997, which formed the nucleus of Collaborative Research Center 614 on self-optimizing systems.
Grotstollen was highly regarded in the faculty as a friendly, helpful and reliable colleague. "In particular, he was a kind and always loyal boss to his staff, who gave them great freedom and encouraged their scientific and personal development at all levels," recalls Dr. Norbert Fröhleke, the then Academic Director of the department.
Until 2002, Grotstollen was chairman of his institute's doctoral committee. He established international collaborations with Beihang University, Beijing, China, and Witwatersrand University, Johannesburg, South A
Sincere sympathy and condolences of the university and faculty go out to his family.
