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International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 50 (2007) 4913–4914
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Professor Erich Hahne on his 75th birthday

For those of us who know Professor Erich Hahne andhis legendary vitality, it may come as a surprise that hehas celebrated his 75th birthday on February 2nd, 2007.
Over the years, he has made outstanding contributions tothe ﬁeld of solar thermal engineering and to heat transfer
in general. Hence, this must be another proof that careful
enjoyment of sunshine and continuous dedication to eﬃcient heat transfer reduces the adverse eﬀects of the Second
Law of Thermodynamics, in this case in the form of ageing.
Erich Wilhelm Perikles Hahne was born on February
2nd, 1932, in Athens, Greece. He subsequently grew up
and studied in Munich, Germany, where he received his
Diplom-Ingenieur degree in mechanical engineering fromthe Technical University of Munich in 1958. Subsequently,
he worked for almost 15 years in the well-known Thermodynamics Institute, initially headed by Professor E.
Schmidt and then by Professor Grigull. In 1964 he wasawarded the degree of Dr.-Ing. Following a one-year
NASA-funded research fellowship at CalTech in Pasadena,USA, Dr. Hahne was, in 1973, appointed full professor anddirector of the Institute for Thermodynamics and ThermalEngineering (ITW) at the University of Stuttgart.
Professor Hahne’s research activities are mainly in theareas of solar thermal energy utilisation, heat storage,
phase change heat transfer and thermophysical properties.
His pioneering work on central solar heating plants withseasonal storage, solar collectors and combi-systems, anddoi:10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2007.08.001

the foundation of the ITW Research and Testing Centre
for Solar Systems have ﬁrmly established him in the forefront of solar research. To date, he has authored and coauthored more than 350 journal and conference papers.
Being a dedicated teacher he has taught a wide range ofundergraduate and postgraduate courses such as: technicalthermodynamics, heat and mass transfer, heat exchanger
design, optimised energy conversion, and solar energy technology. His textbook Technische Thermodynamik is now in
its third edition.
Professor Hahne is well-known as a very active memberof the international heat transfer research community.
Being one of the founding members of the International
Centre for Heat and Mass Transfer (since 1968 as German
representative, later as a member of the Scientiﬁc Council,and between 1978 and 1981 as chairman of the ExecutiveCommittee), he was the recipient of the 20th Anniversary
ICHMT Award in 1988. Presently, he is the German delegate in the Assembly for the International Heat Transfer
Conferences which he has served in many responsible positions. Professor Hahne is an editor or co-editor of important international journals, including the International
Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer (since 1966), the International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer (since1974) and the Journal of Solar Energy (since 1987).
Accepting and enjoying the international nature of his
profession, Professor Hahne has hosted many visiting sci-4914

H. M€uller-Steinhagen et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 50 (2007) 4913–4914

entists from all over the world. As the University of Stuttgart liaison oﬃcer for Chinese universities, he visited China
several times and became an Honorary Professor at theShanghai Institute of Mechanical Engineering in 1983.
In his private life, Professor Hahne is a devoted husband, father and grandfather, and an accomplished sportsman (tennis and skiing). He also enjoys the theatre,
dancing, and the pleasure and leisure of cruise ships.
In April 2000, he retired from his chair at the Universityof Stuttgart. However, not to anybody’s surprise, his is nota restful retirement. He has maintained his oﬃce at theITW, where he continues with many of his activities,
including the supervision of doctoral students, the editorship of journals and the organisation of conferences suchas the recent International Heat Transfer Conferences.
On behalf of his many students, colleagues, and friends
from all around the world, including the editors of thisjournal, we wish him a very happy birthday, many moreproductive years, continued good health, and happinesswith his family and friends.

H. Müller-Steinhagen
K. Spindler
W.J. Minkowycz
R.J. Goldstein
U. Gross
K. Stephan
F. Mayinger
W. Heidemann
G.F. Hewitt
O.G. Martynenko
Institut für Thermodynamik und Wärmetechnik,
Universität Stuttgart,
Pfaﬀenwaldring 6,
D-70550 Stuttgart,
Germany
Tel.: +49 711 685 63536; fax: +49 711 685 63503
E-mail address: pm@itw.uni-stuttgart.de(H.Müller-Steinhagen)Available online 4 September 2007