Georg Böck, Arne Jacob, Martin Vossiek, Robert Weigel
©SHUTTERSTOCK.COM/ANDREY_POPOV
On 27 January 2023, at the age of 74, Reinhard Knöchel, a distinguished professor of microwave engineering, died in the hospital. Figure 1 shows a recent portrait photo of him taken during our last private meeting in Berlin, Germany, in September 2022. Reinhard led pioneering breakthroughs in microwave measurement and sensing technology for industrial applications. He was born in Trittau, a small town in Schleswig-Holstein in northern Germany, on 20 June 1948. He received both his Dipl.-Ing. degree and his Dr.-Ing. degree in electrical engineering from the Braunschweig University of Technology, Germany, in 1975 and 1980, respectively. From 1980 to 1986, he was a principal scientist with the Philips Research Laboratory, Hamburg, Germany. In 1986, he joined the Hamburg University of Technology, where he was a professor of microwave electronics until 1993. Between 1993 and 2013, he held the chair of microwave engineering of the University of Kiel, Germany. During his career that spanned over 40 years, Reinhard was a prolific researcher who has demonstrated a broad background in microwave theory and techniques in general and in microwave measurement techniques, industrial microwave sensing, and radar in particular. In these fields, his work covers the complete value creation chain from new materials via new devices and circuits to new architectures and systems at RF and microwave frequencies.
Figure 1. Reinhard in September 2022 (courtesy of Susanne Weigel).
Reinhard has served the Microwave Theory and Technology Society (MTT-S) as a years-long member of the Technical Program Committee of the IEEE International Microwave Symposium and of the Technical Committees on Broadband Microwave Communication Systems and Radar and on Microwave Systems, the chair of the Subcommittee on UWB Systems, and a member of the Technical Coordinating Committee, responsible for European liaisons. He was also a member of the Technical Program Committees of the European Microwave Conference and of the German Microwave Conference, the latter of which he chaired in the year 2008. In addition, he served the microwave community as a reviewer for many publications; an editorial board member of Journal of RF/Microwave Engineering, Photonics, and Communications; and a guest editor of IEEE Microwave Magazine. In 1978, Reinhard received the German ITG Prize, in 1980 the European Microwave Prize, and in 2003 the Technology Transfer Award of the State of Schleswig-Holstein.
Reinhard liked cycling and swimming, the latter of which he did on a master level, especially in the 100-m breaststroke discipline. He also liked to hang around with his microwave friends, and as is seen from Figure 2, one beer at a time was not enough for this microwave rock.
Figure 2. One beer is not enough: Reinhard in Berlin in September 2022 (courtesy of Susanne Weigel).
Reinhard is survived by Renate, his wife; his daughter Kristina; and his son Florian. His sudden death is a tremendous loss to his family, his friends, and MTT-S and the entire international microwave community.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MMM.2023.3256839