The "Friedrich List" Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences remembers Prof. Gerhard Heimerl, who passed away in Stuttgart on 2 June 2021 at the age of 87. He was a formative personality for the faculty during the integration of the former Hochschule für Verkehrswesen "Friedrich List" (HfV) as a faculty into the TU Dresden.

Gerhard Heimerl was Professor of Railway Engineering at the University of Stuttgart and headed the Institute of Transport Sciences there between 1975 and his retirement in 2000. Between April and September 1992, he was chairman of the "Integration Commission for Transport Sciences" appointed by the Saxon State Ministry for Science and the Arts to profile the content and structure of the new faculty within the TU Dresden. From 20 July 1992, he was also an advisory member for engineering problems in the founding commission for the faculty.

The task of the Integration Commission was to derive recommendations for the integration process of a new faculty to be initiated from ideas already presented and those to be further elaborated. Under the leadership of Prof. Heimerl, the commission came to the conclusion "that the constellation of a complex interdisciplinary transport faculty, which is unique in Germany (...) represents an interesting experiment worthy of support and an extraordinary challenge and opportunity for the entire TU Dresden". (Paper: 15 Years Faculty of Transport Sciences "Friedrich List", 2007, p. 23f)

On 1 October 1992, the "Friedrich List" Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences started teaching and research at the TU Dresden. More than 2,000 students enrolled at the HfV continued their studies. In 2010, Gerhard Heimerl wrote about the reasons for his altruistic commitment: "The joy about the (German) reunification (...) made me want to contribute to this process in a suitable way, both professionally and personally. (...) What had been created in Dresden in the past decades in the field of interdisciplinary and cross-modal teaching and research should serve as a good basis for the future." (Brochure: The Dresden School of German Transport Sciences, 2010, p. 190f.)

For his work for the faculty and as a scientist, Gerhard Heimerl was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Faculty of Transport Sciences "Friedrich List" in 1995.

The memory of Gerhard Heimerl as a committed scientist and supporter will always be held in honour at the "Friedrich List" Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences at TU Dresden. Our sympathy goes to his grieving relatives.

On behalf of all colleagues and staff of the "Friedrich List" Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Günther Prokop, Dean

Dresden, July 2021