Professor Manfred Weck to Receive Aachen Engineering Award
The longstanding member of the board of directors of the Laboratory for Machine Tools and Production Engineering, WZL, will receive the honor on September 8, 2017, at Aachen City Hall.
For 31 years, he has been the director of the Laboratory for Machine Tools and Production Engineering at RWTH Aachen University. Thus, for decades, Professor Manfred Weck has decisively contributed to the development of machine tools – machines which can be seen as the “heart of industrial production.” As RWTH Rector Professor Ernst Schmachtenberg explains, “in his research, he has investigated the mechanisms and functions of the machine tool down to its finest details.”
On Friday, September 8, 2017, to honor his life’s work, Manfred Weck will be presented with the Aachen Engineering Award in a celebration event in the Coronation Hall of Aachen City Hall. A week later, on September 16, at the RWTH Aachen Graduation Celebration, he has the honor of talking about his life’s work to graduates in the key-note speech.
The engineering award is presented annually to an individual who has made a significant contribution to the positive perception and further development of engineering with his or her life’s work. The honor is jointly awarded by RWTH and the City of Aachen, with the kind support from the Association of German Engineers and its president, Professor Udo Ungeheuer. Past award recipients include influential, high-profile personalities in engineering, such as Berthold Leibinger, Partner at Trumpf GmbH + Co. KG; Franz Pischinger, Founder of FEV GmbH; and the scientist and astronaut Thomas Reiter.
Manfred Weck, born November 20, 1937 in Solingen, has witnessed and shaped the development of mechanical engineering, from the time of strenuous manual operation through to today’s period of pervasive digitalization. In 1973, after a stint in industry, he returned to Aachen to suceed Herwart Opitz as the director of WZL. In 2004, he retired from his position, but even today, he visits the WZL once a week at the “Manfred-Weck-Haus,” the main institute building named after him.
“Engineers from Aachen have an excellent reputation worldwide, and Manfred Weck is one of the renowned Aachen engineers. He is a role model to all our future engineers, who will continue to spread the reputation of Aachen engineering around the world,” said the Mayor of Aachen, Marcel Philipp.
VDI – Partner of the Engineering Award
With about 155,000 members, VDI, the Association of German Engineers, the largest technical and scientific association in Germany. For about 160 years, it has been providing impetus for new technologies and technical solutions, a higher quality of life, improving the environment, and enhancing prosperity.