Annual Report 2010 - Fachgruppe Informatik an der RWTH Aachen ...

In a way, the lunch break also marked the transition from the more scientific first part of the
day to the somewhat lighter parts to follow. The after-lunch session was entitled ‘Of i4’s Old
Boys and Girls’. Accordingly, it featured presentations by i4 alumni who have made (or, in
one case, are about to make) their ways in academia and industry.
Prof. Claudia Linnhoff-Popien first gave a light-hearted insight into some of her recent
projects at LMU Munich. Prof. Thomas Meuser, of the FH (University of Applied Sciences)
Niederrhein informed an amused audience about the various differences and, more
astonishingly, similarities between ‘real’ universities and those of Applied Sciences. Dr.
Wilko Reinhardt is with the Gartner Group and had the somewhat thankless task to convince
the audiences, and specifically Otto (a staunch ‘anti-consultant’), that consultants are not
necessarily talking a lot of hot air. Finally, representing the younger generation, Dr. Andriy
Panchenko, Otto’s latest, and last, ‘academic child’, who is now with the University of
Luxembourg, gave an insight into the work that he had just started in Luxembourg.
For many, the ‘Abschied mit Überraschungen’ (‘A
Farewell with Surprises’) probably was the most exciting
part (perhaps not least because it was decidedly nonscientific).
The session started with a greeting from
RWTH’s Rector, Prof. Ernst Schmachtenberg. He talked
about the impact Otto has had on the scientific world, at
both the national and the international level, not least
through the various honorary posts he had taken up
throughout his career.
This was followed – quite surprisingly for some – by a
sketch performed by the honouree himself. Slightly
exaggerating, his talk provided a
glimpse into the daily life of a
(perhaps not exactly typical)
Computer Science chair at a
German ‘Elite-Institution’. He also
introduced the ‘RWTH Computer
Science Alphabet (in the form of a poem in his native Saaland-dialect)
Turning slightly more formal again, the Dean of the Faculty of
Mathematics, Computer Science and Natural Sciences, Prof. Ulrich
Simon, talked about Otto’s achievements that primarily affected
RWTH and the region.
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