The chair of Environmental Fluid Dynamics and Modeling
The professorship is part of the Institute of Hydraulic Engineering and Technical Hydromechanics.
It was established in 1931 as the Chair of Hydraulic Machinery and Technical Hydromechanics and was initially held by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Otto Kirschmer (until 1945). In the following decades, Technical Hydromechanics in teaching and research was represented by several professors: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Günter Preißler (1970–1973 and 1975–1982), Prof. Dr. sc. techn. Gerhard Bollrich (1983–1992), Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Helmut Martin (1992–2004), and Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Kai-Uwe Graw (2004–2023).
Since January 1, 2026, the newly named Chair of Environmental Fluid Dynamics and Modeling has been held by Prof. Dr. Daniel Caviedes-Voullième.
© Reinhard Pohl
Subareas of technical hydromechanics
Hydrostatics describes the properties and effects of liquids at rest, such as the load on systems and structures. Hydrodynamics deals with the modeling of flows and their effects on the environment. These include effects on structures, river beds and pipe walls. An important task is the description of the relationship between water level or pressure height and flow.