Professor Siegfried Bauer, Soft Matter Physics chair and head of department at Johannes Kepler University in Linz, Austria, passed away on 30 December, 2018. He was 57.
Earlier that month, he had been newly appointed a 2019 Fellow Member of SPIE. He was a co-organizer of the SPIE Electroactive Polymers and Devices (EAPAD) conference in 2012, and, over several years, a member of the SPIE Advisory Board of the EAPAD Conference Series.
Since 2016, Bauer was also a Fellow of the IEEE, recognized for his understanding and application of electro-active polymer dielectrics. Other honors included the Dr. Wolfgang Houska Recognition Award and the Rudolf Trauner Award, both for exemplary co-operation between academia and industry; a Pioneer of Smart Production Award from the Austrian Society for Environment and Technology; and the Karl-Scheel Award of the Physical Society of Berlin. He served as a reviewer for a multitude of international journals and science organizations including the Nature Publishing group, Soft Matter, Small, Journal of Materials Chemistry, Advanced Functional Materials, American Institute of Physics journals, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, the National Science Foundation, and the US Department of Energy.
A pioneer in the field of ultra-flexible, stretchable electronic devices such as transistors, diodes, and solar cells, Bauer received his PhD in applied physics (summa cum laude), from the Institute of Applied Physics at the University of Karlsruhe in 1990. Most recently, he had participated in initiating the International Winterschool on Bioelectronics with several colleagues: the 2019 session runs from March 16 to March 23, in Kirchberg in Tirol, with a particular focus on the field of biocompatible devices and the biointegration of electronics into medical research and applications.
"Professor Siegfried Bauer served the scientific community with great energy as a referee, editor, supervisor, and mentor, as well as a great educator," notes his scientific collaborator and academic colleague SPIE Fellow and Professor of Physical Chemistry Niyazi Serdar Sariciftci. "He was one of the strong scientific pillars of our physics department at Johannes Kepler University, and will be greatly missed."
Bauer loved tinkering with antique radios - so-called "steam radios." He was an avid fan of cartoonist Carl Barks and comic-book writer and illustrator Don Rosa, both of Donald Duck fame, as well as television's scientifically prescient, empathetic, and groundbreaking Star Trek series.
See Dr. Bauer's memorial page at Johannes Kepler Universität Linz.
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