Obituary Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Gottfried Meltzer

The Faculty of Mechanical Science and Engineering bids farewell to Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Gottfried Meltzer as a colleague, companion and friend. He passed away at the beginning of March 2026.

Prof. Meltzer held the Chair of Technical Diagnostics at the Institute of Energy Machines and Machine Laboratory at TU Dresden from 1993 to 2001. Prof. Meltzer devoted himself with great energy and passion to the establishment of this newly founded Chair, benefiting from his rich experience and knowledge as a researcher at the Academy of Sciences.

From March 14 - 15, 1996, the IV Colloquium for Technical Diagnostics took place in Dresden with 142 participants from nine countries, the preparation and scientific direction of which was entirely in the hands of Prof. Meltzer. In his plenary lecture at this conference, Prof. Meltzer introduced his Chair and formulated goals and paths for teaching and research: Diagnostic methods and strategies that had proven themselves in the early detection of faults, diagnosis and condition-based maintenance of machines, systems and structures were to be presented and further developed as a separate area of teaching and research.

This intention was also reflected in the teaching content of his Chair. The central lecture "Introduction to Technical Diagnostics", designed, developed and held by Prof. Meltzer himself, was accompanied by a series of laboratory practicals on machine diagnostics, vibroacoustic machine diagnostics, vibration diagnostics and measurement technology for machine dynamics. Special investigations on a test rig for gearbox diagnostics as well as exercises on the TU's research reactor enriched the practical program.

Prof. Meltzer was also active in imparting knowledge on technical diagnostics beyond the university sphere: under his direction and with his cooperation, series of lectures were held at regular intervals as part of VDI continuing education events in Düsseldorf and Stuttgart.Another example was the Tempus Phare project of the EU (around 1998 - 2000), where Prof. Meltzer cooperated with the maritime universities of Szczecin, Rostock, Barcelona and companies such as Chris-Marin with the aim of modernizing engineering training for ship operation technology, especially maintenance and diagnostics. Prof. Meltzer completely redesigned the lecture "Introduction to Technical Diagnostics", including the laboratory practicals, which was incorporated into curricula and practice, especially in Eastern Europe.

Finally, his stay at the TU Hanoi in October 2003 should also be mentioned here. As part of a short-term lectureship, Prof. Meltzer gave a course on "Machine Diagnostics" in 24 double lessons to 95 Vietnamese students, accompanied by 3 practicals.

In his research, Prof. Meltzer was particularly interested in practical applications such as vibration diagnostics on rotating machines, vibroacoustic methods, measurement of machine forces and dynamic loads, vibration and structure-borne noise control in machine setups. He often carried out these tasks with his team using third-party funding.

On a personal level, Prof. Meltzer was very close to his employees. He was always open to questions and happy to give suggestions and advice at regular work meetings and elsewhere. On company outings, especially to his beloved Ore Mountains, but also to the Czech Republic, for example, he strengthened the personal contact within his team. His former employees still fondly remember how they were able to experience Prof. Meltzer and his wife as warm hosts at his small mountain hut in Lauenstein.

Our thoughts are with his relatives, to whom we wish much strength in this difficult time. We will honor his memory with gratitude.