On June 24, 2018, the Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Systems and Device Technology IISB

Prof. Dr. Lothar Frey

died suddenly and unexpectedly at the age of 60.

Prof. Frey was both holder of the Chair of Electron Devices at the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg and Director of Fraunhofer IISB. His visionary work led him to focus Fraunhofer IISB on the future-oriented topic of power electronics. His name is inseparable from the strong and sustainable growth that the institute has experienced. The outstanding working atmosphere is the result of his collegial and cooperative leadership style.

Prof. Frey was a motivator, a driving force, and a mentor for the personal and professional development of many students, up-and-coming young scientists, and staff. With extraordinary dedication, he initiated and fostered strategic cooperation between various partners in industry, science, and government. He is one of the founding fathers of the Leistungszentrum Elektroniksysteme LZE. At a national level, he was the initiator of important forums for the promotion of young researchers. 

Lothar Frey was born in Würzburg in 1958. He studied physics at the Julius-Maximilians- Universität Würzburg. In 1986, he completed his doctorate at the Faculty of Sciences. Three years later, he moved to Erlangen, where he started his career at the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft as the head of the Analytics and Measuring Techniques group within the Fraunhofer Working Group AIS-B. In 2004, he qualified as a university lecturer at the Friedrich- Alexander-Universität (FAU) Erlangen-Nürnberg. Two years later, he was appointed Director of the Institute of Experimental Physics at the Technische Universität Bergakademie Freiberg. In 2008, Prof. Frey returned to Erlangen and took over the Chair of Electron Devices at the FAU and the directorship at Fraunhofer IISB.

Our thoughts go out to his family, particularly his wife and two daughters.

Prof. Martin März

on behalf of all colleagues at Fraunhofer IISB, at the Chair of Electron Devices and the Chair of Energy Electronics at the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg.