Prof. Hahn, the founder of the Laboratory for Materials and Joining Technology (LWF) at the University of Paderborn, celebrated his 80th birthday.
Ortwin Hahn started his academic career by studying production engineering at RWTH Aachen University. From 1968 to 1972 he was a member of Prof. Eichhorn's staff and from 1972 to 1976 senior engineer at the Institute for Welding Technology Manufacturing Processes (isf).
In 1972 he received his doctorate in engineering and was awarded the Borchers plaque of the RWTH for his excellent doctoral achievements.
In 1975 he habilitated in the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at RWTH Aachen University and obtained the venia legendi for "metal bonding and brazing".
In 1976 he was appointed as a full professor to represent the Department of Materials and Joining Technology at the Gesamthochschule Paderborn, where he subsequently built up the Laboratory for Materials and Joining Technology into a nationally and internationally recognised research institution with unique selling points in the fields of joining lightweight materials in a material mix (hybrid construction) and full mould casting (lost foam casting process).
Together with material manufacturers, system technology companies and in particular companies from the automotive industry from Germany and abroad, pioneering research results in the fields of hybrid construction with high-performance materials and lost foam casting processes were developed both in bilateral cooperation and within the framework of large joint projects and presented in numerous technology transfer events in cooperation with industry and research associations in Paderborn.
To support the work of the LWF in teaching and research, the Freundeskreis LWF e.V. was founded on 1 March 1980 as a non-profit association, which today has more than 150 industrial and personal members.
Then, in 2003, the "Lost Foam Council e. V." was also founded in Paderborn with Dipl.-Ing. Reinhard Woltmann as chairman and Prof. Hahn as vice-chairman.
The following can be mentioned as special awards for LWF research work and technology transfer:
Award of the Steel Innovation Prize, the Erich Siebel Commemorative Coin, the DVS Ring of Honour and the Lost Foam Award.
Reference can also be made to numerous honours for the presentation of excellent research results at national and international conferences.
During his professional career in Paderborn, Prof. Hahn was Dean for five years.
In the scientific field, he worked for several years as an expert in the area of humanisation for the BMFT and during this time also chaired a steering committee on humanisation of the DVS.
Furthermore, he was involved for several years in numerous scientific organisations and committees of various research associations, including as a national expert for adhesive bonding technology in the IIW, as an elected member of the board of the Adhesive Bonding section of Dechema, the research council of the Research Association for Welding and Allied Processes, the scientific advisory board of the GFaI, and as an elected expert in the AiF.
In the period after his retirement in 2006, he continued the successful research work of the LWF with the support of the presidium of the University of Paderborn, until in 2011, thanks to the endowment of a professorship by the company Heggemann AG, the succession of Prof. Hahn and the continuation of the successful research of the LWF could be arranged with the appointment of Prof. Meschut in Paderborn.
As a member of the management of the LWF, Prof. Hahn continues to support its activities in teaching and research.
We congratulate him on his birthday and wish him continued creative energy and many more joyful years!
The LWF team
