(Picture: Dr. Karl Lamprecht (pictured right), chairman of the university council, congratulates Prof. Dr. Harald Riegel (center) for the results of the election. The physicist will become the successor to Prof. Dr. Gerhard Schneider starting in 2022.)

With a large majority, both the university senate and university council voted for the new university president in a joint meeting under Corona protocols. The event was streamed live for the university public as a Zoom conference, so that all members of the university could follow the university president election.

In the first round of elections, Prof. Dr. Harald Riegel achieved the necessary majority in both committees. “With this decision, we are putting the university in good hands for the coming years,” says Dr. Karl Lamprecht, head of the university council and chairman of Carl Zeiss AG. Incumbent Prof. Dr. Gerhard Schneider, whose 14-year term as Aalen University’s president will end at the end of this year,  also congratulated his successor: “As a longstanding Vice President and excellent researcher, Harald Riegel has already achieved great things for the university, and will certainly be able to contribute to the university’s future further by being elected as the university president.” With his many years and international experience in the industry, in research, and his commitment to the university’s teaching, Riegel brings the requisite knowledge for this strong, if challenging, position at the university. Chancellor Ulrike Messerschmidt added to the congratulations: “Harald Riegel is a win for the university in every regard. I am looking forward to continuing the proven constructive and fruitful collaboration with this new work relationship.”

Riegel expressed his gratitude for the great faith placed in him as the newly elected university president. “As a university, strengthening our teaching, applied research, and start-up initiatives are our shared goals for the future, along with continuing to improve the attractiveness of our university’s campus.,” said Riegel. He is looking forward to soon directing the skills found at this successful university.

Born in Franconia and after various placements in the industry in Germany and abroad, Prof. Dr. Harald Riegel has been a professor in the Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science department since 2009. There, the doctor in physics has taught electrical engineering, thermodynamics, measuring techniques, and laser techniques, successfully founded the Laser Application Centre (LAZ), and published over 60 scientific articles. Within the university council, he is responsible for the quality and organization of teaching, where he was able to introduce improvements to processes and more efficient tools. The cultivation and expansion of national and international contact to universities, industry, and scientific policies are all further foci of his field of work. Now, new challenges await with holding the office of university president, which he looks forward to taking on.

(Source: HS Aalen)