Fraunhofer Institute for Communication, Information Processing and Ergonomics FKIE
The Pioneer of European radar technology died at the age of 90
It is with great sadness that we bid farewell to an outstanding scientist, fantastic colleague and remarkable man: At the age of 90, Dr. Wulf-Dieter Wirth passed away on February 14, 2025, after a short but serious illness. The research community has lost a trailblazer in the field of radar technology, a creative mastermind and a man who left a long-lasting mark on generations of scientists. Many of us have also lost a cherished friend.
The history of the Fraunhofer Institute for Communication, Information Processing and Ergonomics FKIE in Wachtberg is closely linked to Wulf-Dieter Wirth. However, his research career began in Berlin: After completing his studies at the Technische Universität there in 1959, a research assignment on the subject of “Radar – Signal – Digitalization” initially led him to the High-frequency Technology department at the Heinrich Hertz Institute. In the mid-1960s, he moved to the Rhineland: At the newly founded Research Institute for Radio and Mathematics (FFM), a predecessor to Fraunhofer FKIE, Wirth took over as head of the Electronics department.
Milestone in radar technology
With the design and development of an electronically steerable radar (ELRA) with computer applications for air traffic control and air defence, Wirth created a system for airspace surveillance in the years that followed, which received worldwide recognition and is still considered a milestone in radar technology to this day. He continually worked on developing the ELRA system alongside his colleagues, focusing on aspects including the volume array for extending the field of view, the OLPI radar, plus operating modes and parameters for array radars. In 1999, Wirth officially retired and went straight into a second career as a researcher at Fraunhofer FKIE, where he remained until his death.
Second life as a researcher after retirement
Wirth continued to make his mark during these 25 years: In 2001 – and in a revised edition in 2013 – his seminal work “Radar Techniques Using Array Antennas” was published, in which he summarized decades of his extensive scientific work. Together with his colleagues in the “Sensor Data and Information Fusion” (SDF) research department at FKIE, he conducted research in the domain of battlefield acoustics. Their research work was so innovative that a patent was published in August 2024.
For Wulf-Dieter Wirth, who was once an avid sailor, as well as a cellist and music lover to the end, research was a life's work that he pursued with curiosity, joy, and enthusiasm. At a celebratory colloquium marking his 90th birthday, FKIE Institute Director Professor Peter Martini had this to say about Wirth: “If you ask colleagues who Wulf-Dieter Wirth is to them, you often hear: He is a great scientist, always open to new ideas and very approachable. He is quite simply a wonderful person.”
Wulf-Dieter Wirth will be greatly missed.