Obituary for Prof. Ullrich Masberg

Prof. Ullrich Masberg studied mechanical engineering at RWTH Aachen University and obtained his doctorate in 1981 at the Institute of Plastics Processing under Prof. Georg Menges. Following this, he started his career in industry, where he became a sought-after expert of rubber technology. He took over increasing responsibilities in a series of eminent companies, right through to the post of Chairman of the Board of Directors of Clouth Gummiwerke AG in Cologne. It was there that he developed the pioneering idea of the Integrated Starter Alternator Damper (ISAD), which can now be found in a number of modern vehicles as the “Mild Hybrid”. He was awarded the 1997 German Industry Innovation Prize for this.

Prof. Masberg was involved in a large number of institutions: up until 2003, he was Chairman of the German rubber association “Deutsche Kautschuk-Gesellschaft e. V. (DKG)” and, as of 1998, honorary professor of RWTH Aachen University for the subject “Application of material fundamentals in plastics processing” on the university’s plastics engineering course. Prof. Masberg was always enthusiastic about passing on his knowledge to young people.

In 2008 he returned to IKV at RWTH Aachen University, where he had received his training – first as a consultant and then as an employee. There he advised and supervised young people in their scientific development with a great deal of dedication and enjoyment. He also forged key contacts with a large number of companies and played an active role in initiating and shaping joint research projects with the university’s partner institutes. He represented the IKV in matters of rubber technology for many years.

Prof. Masberg was an esteemed author of our publishing house with several publications in our journals GAK and RFP. We will hold Prof. Masberg in honorable remembrance.