On 30 September 2025, Associate Professor Johann Wassermann, Dipl.-Ing. Dr. techn., passed away after a difficult period. With his passing, we have lost a highly esteemed colleague, teacher and friend who shaped the Vienna University of Technology – in particular the Institute of Mechanics and Mechatronics – for decades with his extraordinary commitment, expertise and human warmth.

Johann Wassermann was born in Carinthia and grew up in modest circumstances. He originally completed an apprenticeship as a radio and television technician in Innsbruck, graduating with honours and developing a passion for electrical engineering and electronics. In addition to his work, he subsequently completed both the master craftsman course and the HTL evening school – for five years he worked during the day and attended school in the evenings, often working on homework until well after midnight. This extraordinary discipline and determination shaped the rest of his life.

After graduating from high school, he moved with his family to Vienna to study electrical engineering at the Vienna University of Technology, where he completed his studies in 1983. Five years later, he received his doctorate with honours. His path to university was arduous and full of hardship – and it was precisely this experience that made him a personality who impressed others with his perseverance, modesty and deep understanding of the struggles of other students and apprentices. Johann Wassermann had been an assistant at the Institute for Machine Dynamics and Measurement Technology since 1988. With his habilitation in 2004 on mechatronic systems, he finally became an associate professor at the Institute of Mechanics and Mechatronics, where he worked until his retirement in 2019 and also headed the research area ‘Measurement Technology and Actuators’ on an interim basis from 2012 to 2014. His teaching and research focused on active magnetic bearings, digital data acquisition and analysis, electronics and interface technology for sensors and actuators, and experimental modal analysis. Together with Dr Kolerus, he authored a specialist book, published numerous scientific papers and several diploma and doctoral theses. He was particularly passionate about apprentice training at TU Wien, for which he was a strong advocate and trained eight apprentices himself to become ‘electromechanics for low-voltage current’ and ‘mechatronics engineers’.

Hans Wassermann was a passionate mechatronics engineer who saw the boundaries between mechanics and electronics as something creative and fluid. His solutions were often unconventional, but always technically brilliant – a reflection of his extensive knowledge, his technical expertise and his ability to view problems from a wide variety of perspectives. He combined theory and practice not only in his research, but also in his teaching – a combination that was greatly appreciated by students and apprentices alike. He never saw his work at TU Wien as just a job – it was his calling. He was convinced that the success of an institute depends largely on the people who shape it with passion.

In his free time, he found balance in sports, especially tennis and sailing on the Old Danube. We will remember Johann Wassermann as a dedicated researcher, enthusiastic teacher, helpful colleague and lovable person. We will miss his professional competence, his humour, his down-to-earth nature and his humanity – but his mark will remain, in teaching, in research and in the many people he has influenced.