Prof. Eva Kaßens-Noor, Ph.D.
Prof. Eva Kaßens-Noor, Ph.D. leads the Institute of Transport Planning and Traffic Engineering since February 2022.
Origin of the Institute of Transport Planning and Traffic Engineering
The origin of the Institute of Transport Planning and Traffic Engineering dates back to the beginning of the sixties of the twentieth century. In 1963, at the request of the then Faculty of Civil Engineering, the new chair of “Transport II, Transport Planning and Transport Engineering including Road Traffic Engineering” was created by the Hessian Minister of Education and Cultural Affairs in addition to the existing chair of Railway, Road and Transport Engineering.
The Institute During the Lead of Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dr.-Ing. E.h. Hans-Georg Retzko
In 1965, Hans-Georg Retzko, Senior Government Building Councillor, was appointed to the now renamed “Full Chair of Transport Planning and Traffic Engineering” and one year later, in 1966, he was appointed full professor and then director of the Institute of Transport Planning and Traffic Engineering.
Due to the general shortage of space at the former technical university – the Lichtwiese extension area had not yet been built on – nine empty rooms were rented for the new chair in a building owned by a private company on Steubenplatz in Darmstadt. Here, the material and personnel infrastructure was built from scratch. From 1966 to 1971, the staff rapidly grew from one professor, two research assistants and one employee to one professor, ten scientific associates, one private employee and five employees.
In 1970, the chair and institute were able to move into the first new building on the Lichtwiese (Faculty of Architecture). With the establishment of the Institute of Transportation approved by the Hessian Ministry of Culture in 1976, the former Chair of Transportation Planning and Traffic Engineering became one of the three departments of the new institute.
Under the 31-year leadership of Prof. Retzko´s chair and institute, the focus of research was:
- systematic studies of the traffic flow on road intersections without traffic lights,
- basic studies of the signal program calculation on road intersections with traffic lights,
- studies about the process of urban and regional traffic planning and
- interdisciplinary studies on problems urban and regional transport.
The research results were reflected in teaching. Teaching was also significantly influenced by Prof. Retzko´s freelance part-time work as a consulting engineer for traffic planning and traffic engineering.
After the retirement of Prof. Dr.-Ing. E.h Hans-Georg Retzko in spring 1997, the department moved to the mechanical engineering building, which allowed a spatial allocation of the three departments of transport. In 2017, the Department of Transport Planning and Traffic Engineering was rededicated to the Institute of Transport planning and Traffic Engineering.
The Institute During the Lead of Prof. Dr.-Ing. Manfred Boltze
In autumn 1997, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Manfred Boltze took over the management of the institute. In research and teaching at the Technische Universität Darmstadt, Prof. Boltze was engaged with the common foundations for all means of transport and with the cross-transportation issues of transport planning and traffic engineering. Methods and procedures of transport planning were treated with their interdisciplinary references and as part of interdisciplinary spatial planning. Traffic management and transport telematics were the focal points of research in the coming years. In September 2021, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Manfred Boltze was retired.
