Dr. Karl Busch died on 17 July 2025 at the age of 96. The inventor, entrepreneur, family man and pioneer in the field of vacuum technology was born on April 20, 1929 in Lörrach and grew up in Zell im Wiesental.
From 1949, he studied mechanical engineering at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), where he also met his future wife Ayhan Gökay. In 1960, he completed his doctorate on the subject of friction and wear in water-cooled rotary compressors. In 1963, Karl Busch and his wife Ayhan Busch founded the company Busch Vacuum Solutions with only 5,000 Deutschmarks in start-up capital, which he expanded over the following decades into a globally active technology group with an annual turnover of over two billion US dollars. Today, more than 8,000 people in 44 countries work for the Busch Group, which includes the two well-known brands Busch Vacuum Solutions and Pfeiffer Vacuum+Fab Solutions. His life's work continues to shape the innovative power of vacuum technology in various industries worldwide.
His most important inventions include the Huckepack and R5 vacuum pumps for food packaging. The R5 was revolutionary in its design and became the world's most successful vacuum pump with millions sold. Even in today's thin film and plasma technology, the vacuum pump is indispensable for creating the necessary vacuum environments for processes such as vacuum coating, sputtering and surface modification.
