On September 30, 2020, Prof. Dr. Günter Bräuer's active time as Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST came to an end.
As the planned official ceremony had to be postponed due to the coronavirus, the farewell ceremony took place on a small scale within the campus as a hybrid format. Most employees took part in the event online. However, Günter Bräuer did not have to do without a serenade, which was cut together from individual recordings of the employees. Professor Herrmann and long-time companion and former curator Eckhard Dietrich paid tribute to Bräuer's achievements in plasma technology and his 21 years of service to the institute, while Dr. Andreas Dietz, one of the Fraunhofer IST's very first employees, talked about his time at the institute.
In 1999, Günter Bräuer took over the management of the Fraunhofer IST in Braunschweig and, until 2008, also of the Fraunhofer Institute for Organic Electronics, Electron Beam and Plasma Technology FEP in Dresden. In addition to the IST, he has also headed the Institute for Surface Technology at the TU Braunschweig since 2003 and has supervised around 250 student projects since then. In 2013, he was appointed Visiting Professor at Sheffield Hallam University in the UK.
Günter Bräuer has received numerous honors and awards for his scientific work and commitment in the field of vacuum coating and plasma technology. In addition, he was also awarded the Fraunhofer Medal in 2012 for his special services to the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. He already has many plans for his retirement. The fact that he has nevertheless agreed to continue to support the IST in an advisory capacity is something that not only Institute Director Professor Christoph Herrmann and Deputy Director Dr. Lothar Schäfer, but also the entire team, are delighted about.
Copyright: Fraunhofer IST, Ulrike Balhorn
