The Institute of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology at Paderborn University mourns the loss of
Prof. em. Dr.-Ing. Dieter Barschdorff
who passed away on 21 March 2026 at the age of 91.
After completing his doctorate and habilitation at the University of Karlsruhe (TH) and a teaching and research visit to Yale University, Dieter Barschdorff was appointed to the Department of Electrical Engineering (FB 14) at the then still young Paderborn University in 1979, which he headed until his retirement in 2000. He was active in numerous national and international committees, such as the International Metrology Organisation IMEKO, where he headed the Technical Committee TC10 for many years.
In his research, he devoted his attention in particular to the development of acoustic pattern recognition methods for technical process-integrated fault diagnosis, especially on turbines and gearboxes, based on body and airborne sound analysis, and later also biomedical measurement methods, e.g. The SPURT parallel processor system was developed and used for the online processing of numerous measurement data. He also made significant research contributions in the field of process measurement technology for non-contact, rapid IR moisture measurement in gases, solids and bulk materials. In the field of signal processing, the patented process for noise-dependent volume adjustment in car radios should be mentioned. In various fields, he supervised around 30 doctoral candidates to the successful completion of their doctoral theses.
In addition to his research, he was very active in teaching compulsory and elective lectures in the Electrical Engineering, Technomathematics and Industrial Engineering study programmes. On offer here were, for example: Measurement technology, Measurement of non-electrical quantities, Industrial measurement technology, Acoustic pattern recognition, Biomedical and chemical measurement methods, Digital measurement data processing.
With his passing, we have lost a highly committed and much appreciated junior professor and professors who earned the recognition of his students and the high esteem of his colleagues.
The Institute of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology at Paderborn University will always honour his memory.
