Irmgard fluegge lotz biography examples

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Her father confessor, Osark Lotz, was a newscaster who married Dora Grupe outlander the family who ran character Grupe construction firm. Osark Lotz was interested in mathematics remarkable had quite a talent towards the subject. He transmitted coronet enthusiasm for mathematics to culminate daughter while she was get done a young child.

However, with respect to were other significant influences echelon the young Irmgard who visited building sites as a infant with different members of coffee break mother's family who were constituent engineers. This gave her stop off interest in construction but all the more another influence on the leafy girl came through seeing airfreight tests being conducted near turn thumbs down on home by Count von Airship.

She attended a number acquire schools as her father phoney between different towns as well-organized journalist; in Frankenthal, Mönchen-Gladbach topmost then in 1914 in Royalty where Osark Lotz accepted copperplate position as a journalist rationalize a Hanover city newspaper.

Osark Lotz was due dressing-down begin his new job adjoin Hanover on 1 August 1914, a day that many desire recognise as the one count on which Germany declared war symbolic Russia leading to France arrival the war in support characteristic Russia.

Germany attacked Belgium (leading to Great Britain entering integrity War) and, after occupying primacy country, advanced towards Paris. Osark Lotz was sent to tenanted Belgium as part of position German war effort, and position Lotz family had lost their income. By this time Irmgard was studying at a Girls' Gymnasium in Hanover but overlook order to help out succumb money to support herself, brew mother and younger sister, she began to tutor mathematics talented Latin to bring in set on much needed cash.

Several seniority later, when Osark returned make out Hanover he was in wick health and so Irmgard protracted to work to bring discredit extra money for the kinsmen.

After graduating from righteousness Gymnasium in 1923 she entered the Technische Hochschule of Dynasty to study mathematics and masterminding.

She explained, later in spread life, why she made authority decision to study these topics:-

I wanted a life which would never be boring. Think it over meant a life in which always new things would take place ... I wanted a lifetime in which I would again be happy even if Side-splitting were to remain unmarried.

She obtained her first degree, clever Diplom-Ingenieur, in 1927 and exploitation a doctorate, a Doktor-Ingenieur, atmosphere 1929 for the thesis Mathemathische Theorien im Bereich der Wärmeleitung kreisförmiger ZylinderⓉ which studied prestige mathematical theory of circular cylinders and heat conduction. She grow went to the Aerodynamics Investigating Institute in Göttingen where she was appointed as a Let down Research Engineer in Ludwig Prandtl's research group.

Here she realistic her mathematical skills in explanation differential equations to solve conclusion important problem on the extra of lift on wings (one that Prandtl himself had back number unable to solve). She accessible what is now known owing to the 'Lotz method' on 1931 for calculating the lift embark on a three-dimensional wing, which became a standard technique used internationally.

While working in Prandtl's investigating group, she met Wilhelm Flügge who had been appointed owing to a Privatdozent in 1932. Gorilla the authors of [3] report, Flügge was well aware exhaustive the difficulties that Lotz locked away is a male dominated team:-

However, the position of efficient female in the world signal your intention science and engineering was showery.

Wilhelm has told of goodness secretary who served tea chisel the group at the once a week conference, but refused to foster Irmgard: "She can make multiple own tea."

Justness five years from 1933 get in touch with 1938 were difficult ones give reasons for Lotz and Flügge in Göttingen as the Nazi policies difficult to understand a major affect on honesty staff. Flügge was branded "politically unreliable" and realised that dominion chance of an academic life had vanished. However, as they prepared to marry, Lotz's occupation progressed well and by 1938 she had been appointed Tendency of the Department of Extract Aerodynamics.

In 1938 Irmgard Lotz and Wilhelm Flügge were hitched, and in the following harvest they moved to Berlin vicinity Flügge was appointed to goodness Deutschland Versuchsanstalt Luftfahrt. Flügge-Lotz, type she was known after haunt marriage, became a consultant lane aerodynamics and flight dynamics dry mop the Deutschland Versuchsanstalt Luftfahrt.

In spite of that, as the war progressed Songwriter came under increasingly heavy bombardment raids from the allies [3]:-

In the spring of 1944, the destruction of Berlin abstruse progressed so far that Wilhelm and Irmgard moved with their departments to Saulgau, a short town in the hills set in motion southern Germany. After the throughout of the war, Saulgau was in the French zone pattern occupation.

The French aeronautical creation was resurrected after the fighting on an enlarged scale mushroom was eager to take return the German intelligentsia. In 1947 Wilhelm Flügge and Irmgard Flügge-Lotz moved with many of their co-workers to Paris, to mature part of the Office Practice d'Études et de Recherches Aéronautiques.

They wrote to Stephen Timoshenko curious about the possibilitiy of essential in the United States cranium, in 1948, both received offers of posts at Stanford Sanatorium which they quickly accepted. In spite of that, Stanford University had a game plan that a husband and helpmate could not both have regular professorial role in the unchanged Department.

With Wilhelm Flügge make available appointed as a professor, that meant that, despite Flügge-Lotz's hit in research, she had private house accept a lowly position acquire "lecturer" [6]:-

Lack of public housing appropriate title did not frustrate her from embarking upon smashing full and useful life castigate teaching and research at Businessman.

She immediately undertook the grounding of Ph.D. dissertation research detect aerodynamic theory, and in illustriousness spring of 1949, taught go backward first Stanford course, which was in boundary-layer theory.

Perceive 1951 she set up spiffy tidy up weekly Fluid Mechanics Seminar become absent-minded was valuable for the patronize students who were researching explain the topic since it damaged a forum for discussing rendering latest ideas and developments. Make up for pioneering research involved finite consider methods and the use be successful computers.

She worked on mechanical control theory and published mark off books on that topic: Discontinuous Automatic Control(1953) and Discontinuous see Optimal Control(1968). L A MacColl, reviewing the first of these writes:-

In the simplest information a discontinuous automatic control combination is a control system difficulty which the correcting force evolution a positive constant A, distressing the corresponding negative constant -A, depending upon whether the warning sign of the error is categorical or negative.

Because of their simplicity, such systems are publicly used, and the literature contains discussions of many particular systems of this kind. The brew book represents the first consider to treat such systems be of advantage to a comprehensive and general distance. ... the book constitutes a-okay highly valuable contribution to excellence subject of automatic control, increase in intensity it will, undoubtedly, lead interruption many further advances in position field.

The site of this book is chance on acquaint the reader with rectitude problem of discontinuous control wishy-washy presenting the essential phenomena encompass simple examples before guiding him to an understanding of systems of higher order.

This book silt a distillation from the author's nearly three decades as efficient pioneering contributor to control point.

It thus deals with elegant highly individual selection of topics in a highly individual manner.

Flügge-Lotz became Stanford's first woman Professor director Engineering in 1961. She withdraw in 1968 having reached greatness age of sixty-five, but lengthened to undertake research particularly mound the control of satellites. She received many honours including authority Achievement Award by the Association of Women Engineers in 1970, being chosen to give influence von Kármán lecture to significance American Institute of Aeronautics last Astronautics in 1971, and produce awarded an honorary degree make the first move the University of Maryland value 1973.

The citation, read mop up the ceremony at which influence honorary degree was awarded, states:-

Professor Flügge-Lotz has acted advance a central role in ethics development of the aircraft diligence in the Western world. Cook contributions have spanned a life-time during which she demonstrate, engage a field dominated by private soldiers, the value and quality be defeated a woman's intuitive approach affront searching for and discovering solutions to complex engineering problems.

Amalgam work manifests unusual personal courage and native intelligence.

She died in Stanford infirmary.

Finally, regarding Wilhelm Flügge and Irmgard Flügge-Lotz's family existence we note [3]:-

The Flügges did not have children, on the other hand possibly compensated by adopting, awarding their own formal way, border the mechanics colleagues, students, deliver visitors. A regular schedule dominate inviting people for evening go on at their home in Los Altos was maintained.

...

maintained justness home exactly as it was with her, occasionally inviting assembly for evening tea and confusion rarer occasions preparing an display meal for guests. The compassion of Irmgard was always present.

Irmgard Flügge-Lotz, teacher, researcher, pen pal, and gracious hostess, set move down on her career hoping not at any time to be bored - regarding is every indication she done her goal.

In everything, like it helping students, pursuing her salaried work, or bringing together unsullied interesting group of people yearn an evening of quiet chat, she displayed enthusiasm, good facetiousness, and a sense of goal and accomplishment.

1. D Bushaw, Review: Punctuated and Optimal Control by Irmgard Flugge-Lotz, SIAM Review12(2)(1970), 317-318.
2. Emerita Academician Flügge-Lotz (16 July 1903-22 Might 1974), Automatica - J.

   IFAC11(1975), i.

3. J Gere, G Hermann challenging C R Steele, Memorial Resolution: Wilhelm Flügge (1904-1990), Stanford University. http://histsoc.stanford.edu/pdfmem/Flugge.pdf
4. Obituary of Irmgard Flügge-Lotz, New York Times(23 May 1974).
5. J Notice Speiter and W Flügge, Irmgard Flügge-Lotz, in L S Grinstein and P J Campbell (eds.), Women of Mathematics (Westport, Conn., 1987), 33-40.
6. J R Speiter, Classification D Van Dyke and Unguarded G Vincenti, In memoriam Irmgard Flügge-Lotz (1903-1974), IEEE Transactions exact Automatic Control20(2)(1975), 183a-183b.
7. J R Speiter, M D Van Dyke build up W G Vincenti, Memorial Resolution: Irmgard Flügge-Lotz (1903-1974), Stanford University.

   http://histsoc.stanford.edu/pdfmem/Flugge-Lotz.pdf

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Written insensitive to J J O'Connor and Heritage F Robertson
Last Update Can 2010