DAAD Alumni Association Newsletter

Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst Alumni Verein Newsletter


 

 Vol. 15, No. 1   

                               Fall 2014                               

 


IN THIS ISSUE:

 DAAD-NY Liaison:

 Amra Dumisic


BOARD OF TRUSTEES:    

Sigrid Berka   
William Donahue 

Friederike Eigler

Eckhard Groll
Paula Hanssen 
Carol Ann Costabile Heming

Sue Hida

Leroy Hopkins
Daniel Jones

Brian S. Mitchell
Rosmarie T. Morewedge

Juergen Ostertag
Manfred Philipp   
Mechthild Schmidt
Nancy Stuhlmueller Hitscherich 
Lydia Tesfa 
Helene Zimmer-Loew
Rick White 

    

HONORARY TRUSTEES:   

Sebastian Fohrbeck

Monika Riely

Amb. Dr. Klaus Scharioth 

Dr. Irmgard Taylor 

 

Contact:

DAADAA news - c/o German Academic Exchange Service

871 UN Plaza 

New York, NY 10017

 

E-mail:  
alumniassociation@daad.org 

 

Publisher: 

DAAD Alumni Assoc.

 

Editor:

Dr. Manfred Philipp

    

Layout Editor:

Elena Mancini 

Gold Supporters ($ 5000)

Dr. Wolfgang Knapp


 

Bronze Supporters ($1000)

Helene Zimmer-Loew

 

Supporters ($500)

Manfred Philipp 
Rosmarie Morewedge
 

 

Donations $100-$499

Sigrid Berka
Laura and Bred Bueermann
Elizabeth Feder

Antonia Glasse

Paula Hanssen

Andre Lee

Lia Schwartz Lerner

Juergen Ostertag

Nancy Stuhlmuller-Hitscherich

Irmgard and Anthony Taylor

Lydia Tesfa

Mechthild Schmidt

Rick White

Join the Alumni Network   

Manfred Philipp, President
Dear DAAD Alumnus,

  

Your Alumni Association is in the middle of a busy year. We are sponsoring or cosponsoring eight events between May 2014 and May 2015, with more to come. See http://tinyurl.com/DAADEvents for a complete list. The events are spread across the country, including functions in Arizona, Rhode Island, New York, Washington DC, and California.
I would like to especially note our larger events, a Colloquium on International Engineering Education on November 3 in Providence RI, a benefit concert in New York on November 13, and a reception for DAAD students and scholars on January 20 at Stanford University. The web list gives contact details. The main annual event, the Sound Understanding Concert in Carnegie Hall, will be on April 16, 2015 in New York. The concert is free, but tickets will be necessary.
The Alumni Association appreciates your membership renewal and your donations. Donations go to fund the scholarships that we, in collaboration with the DAAD itself, provide to US students going to Germany. Donations and the membership fees also support our functions, all of which feature DAAD participants.

The Association also solicits your involvement. Please get in touch any of the Association officers or board members, who are listed a at http://tinyurl.com/DAADBoard



Thanks for your support!
Manfred Philipp, President
HighlightsUpcoming Event

   

DAAD Alumni Association of the US cordially invites you to our Benefit Concert followed by a reception featuring
Timo Vollbrecht and his quartet on Thursday, November 13, 2014 from 6 -8 pm.

The concert promises to be both exciting and dynamic and will give you the opportunity to meet other DAAD alumni in the New York City area. Among many venues, Timo has played to rave reviews at Jazz at Lincoln Center, Village Vanguard (with Branford Marsalis), Teatro del Lago Chile, and at A-Trane Berlin in his native Germany.  More at: http://tinyurl.com/DAADEvents and http://timovollbrecht.com/

German House, Auditorium, 2nd floor
871 United Nations Plaza (49th St & 1st Ave), NY 10017
(Please bring valid picture ID)
RSVP by November 12th at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/VFHPB8J
$10 suggested donation, free for current grant holders.

The Association is committed to supplementing the activities of DAAD in order to send more US-based scholars to Germany or to support related activities in the US. We can do that only with the help of our strong alumni network and the commitment of members like you. Thank you in advance for your support. We hope that you will make your financial commitment by Wednesday, November 12, so your name can be included in the concert program under your chosen giving level:
Patron - $2500+, Gold - $1000, Silver - $500, Bronze - $300, Supporter - $150.

You may make your contribution online at http://alumni.daad.org/187851
You may also mail a check to the
DAAD Alumni Association,
PO Box 541 
Ankeny, IA 50021.

The DAAD AA is a 401c not-for-profit organization. All donations are tax-deductible as permitted by law.

We look forward to seeing you there!
SoundUnderstanding
Events

  


The DAAD Alumni Association is in the middle of an exciting year of activities. This follows a decision made by the Association Board to engage in a more extensive series of events located across the country. Here is a listing of our events in the current year: Please see http://tinyurl.com/DAADEvents for our complete calendar.

Our Sound Understanding Concert for 2014 took place on April 8, in the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. For more details and photos, see http://tinyurl.com/DAAD-SU-2013.
Conducted jointly by DAAD and the Alumni Association, the concert traditionally features DAAD-supported performing artists who perform German classical music and jazz. We had a full and very enthusiastic house. Prior to the Concert Manfred Philipp expressed our regret at the passing of our honorary Trustee, Garrick Utley. 
Photo by Beowulf Sheehan

Performing at the concert were Kerstin Bauer, soprano; Thomas Berkmann, double bass; Philipp Thomas Gerschlauer, saxophone; Charlotte Greve, saxophone; Aischa G�ndisch, violin;Till K�nkler, trombone; Lukas Pfeil, saxophone; Manuel Schmiedel, piano; and Mareike Wiening, drums.

Our next Sound Understanding Concert is set for Thursday, April 16th, 2015. Please consider this to be your save-the-date and put it and our other upcoming events on your calendar. Please help sponsor the event. Details are available at https://www.daad.org/?p=concertsponsor
 

 In May we cosponsored the 11th International Symposium on the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Age which dealt with Death and the Culture of Death in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Time. See the complete program here: http://tinyurl.com/DAADMiddleAges
This event was conducted at the University of Arizona in Tucson by Albrecht Classen, University Distinguished Professor in the Department of German Studies. Dr. Classen is a former a DAAD Scholar.

In September we cosponsored a major international symposium on Heidegger's Schwarze Hefte. The conference was organized by Richard Wolin, Distinguished Professor at the CUNY Graduate Center in New York. Dr. Wolin is a former DAAD Scholar. The conference also featured two other former DAAD scholars, Steven Crowell of Rice University and Sidonie Kellerer of the University of Cologne. It also featured Emmanuel Faye of the University of Rouen who has conducted reviews for the DAAD program. Other participants were Thomas Sheehan, Stanford University; Karsten Harries, Yale University and Peter Trawny, Director of the Martin Heidegger Institute at the University of Wuppertal. See http://cunyufs.org/academy/HeideggerConference.html

In October we conducted our biannual conference in Washington DC, this year on Public-Private Partnerships: Learning Across the Atlantic. It was cosponsored by the American Bundestag Network, the Robert Bosch Foundation Alumni, and Georgetown University. Moderator was Jeffrey Anderson, the Graf Goltz Professor and Director of the BMW Center for German and European Studies at Georgetown University. Organizing the event were the chair of our Board's Program Committee, Helene Zimmer-Loew, Friederike Eigler of Georgetown University, who is also a member of our Board, and Jacob Comenentz of the American Bundestag Network. That evening, members of the DAAD-AA Board attended the German Embassy's reception to mark the Tag der Deutschen Einheit.

Between Thursday November 6 and Saturday November 8, we cosponsored the Colloquium on International Engineering Education - New Frontiers in Providence, Rhode Island. The colloquium was organized by our Trustee Dr. Sigrid Berka, who is Executive Director, International Engineering Program at the University of Rhode Island. This was a major international event. Participants included New York DAAD Director Nina Lemmens, Anett Geithner (DAAD Lecturer at the University of Rhode Island), DAAD-AA President Manfred Philipp, DAAD-AA Trustee Brian Mitchell (Tulane University) and DAAD-AA Trustee Rosmarie Morewedge (SUNY Binghamton). See the quite extraordinary program at http://web.uri.edu/iep/colloquium/colloquium-program/

On Thursday, November 13, the Alumni Association sponsors a Benefit Concert and Reception featuring Timo Vollbrecht and his Quartet. More details, see http://tinyurl.com/DAADConcert and the invite above. In order to attend, please contribute at http://alumni.daad.org/187851

On Thursday, December 4, the Alumni Association will participate in a Reception for International Visiting Scholars that will be held in the Skylight Room of the CUNY Graduate Center across the street from the Empire State Building in Manhattan. This event is hosted by DAAD-AA President Manfred Philipp and will allow DAAD Stipendiaten in the New York area to meet their Fulbright counterparts.

On Tuesday, January 20, 2015, the Alumni Association will conduct a Reception for Current and Past DAAD Students and Scholars with Nobel Laureate and DAAD Stipendiat Prof. Thomas S�dhof. This will be at Stanford University in California. Details will be posted in December on our website at http://tinyurl.com/DAADEvents

At our Sound Understanding Concert, the 2014 DAAD-Alumni Association Award for International Exchange was given in April to Prof. Eckhard Groll for his work in the internationalization of engineering education at Purdue University. Later in the year, we were pleased to add Professor Groll to our Board of trustees.

Board members have been active in DAAD related events across the country. In addition to those events listed above, Trustees Nancy Stuhlmuller Hitscherich and Rick White attended the September 24 Texas A&M University International Studies Fair and spoke to students about studying in Germany and the DAAD. The next day, on September 25 Trustee Rick White spoke to students about DAAD programs at Tartelton State University in Stephenville, Texas. Trustee Carol Anne Costabile-Heming conducted a DAAD information session for students at the University of North Texas on October 7. Later, on October 23, Trustee Rick White gave a DAAD presentation to a large number of students at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. On November 17, Trustee White will visit Schreiner University in Kerrville, Texas, where he will participate in a Study Abroad Fair. Later that day he will give a DAAD presentation to a German class that will be televised to other schools.
The Alumni Association salutes Trustees Stuhlmuller Hitscherich and White for their outstanding service!

Members of the Association who are interested in hosting receptions for current and past DAAD Scholars or who would like to nominate a person for the DAAD-Alumni Association Award for International Exchange should email Amra Dumisic at dumisic@daad.org. All members are welcome at all of our events.

We encourage all DAAD alumni to participate in events that will spread the word about DAAD's outstanding opportunities.
 

ScholarshipNews
Scholarship News

 

The DAAD organizes Summer Course Grants that enable students to take intensive language and cultural courses at German universities. The DAAD -Alumni Association provided the funds for three of these this year. The awardees financed by the DAAD-AA are Ashley Purdy, who studies Philosophy at SUNY-Binghamton, Ashley resides in New Jersey spent the summer in Hamburg and Hannover; Jessica Raboin, who studies  Sociology and German Studies in the College of Saint Benedict in Minnesota, spent her summer in Munich; Michelle Wilcox, who studies History and German at the University Portland, Oregon. Michelle spent her summer in Aachen and Berlin.

 

Ashley Purdey sent us a report on her activities in Hamburg and Hannover. Here are some excerpts.


 

Through the support of the DAAD, I was given the opportunity to spend a month of the summer preceding my fourth year of university study in Frankfurt, taking a language course and a finance seminar as well as exploring the city and those surrounding it. Being a philosophy student who intends to earn her Ph.D. in philosophy and who is interested primarily in German philosophy from the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, this experience helped me tremendously. To have a better understanding of the culture that shaped philosophers such as Nietzsche, Hegel, and Wittgenstein has already allowed me to read their works through quite a different, more enlightened, lens .... 


.. I gained a new vantage point towards my own culture and learned much about those of my peers. I was in classes with people from Mexico, Ukraine, Russia, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Turkey, France, and other parts of the world. To be able to speak with such a diverse group of individuals and gain a better understanding of their cultures, to be able to identify with them through our common interest in German, was an incredible experience that allowed me to expand my own worldview and see a different side of today's topical events.

 

To no surprise, I also felt my German language skills improve through the weeks. I spoke with my instructors, with cashiers and shopkeepers, with fluent speakers on the street. I noted that the largely unintelligible noises on the S-Bahn shaped into words that I understood that my own responses became instantaneous and unreflective rather than slow and calculated. Though well aware of all the work I have in the future to reach my ultimate goal of German fluency, I grew better acquainted with the tone many Germans use, the fluctuations and speed with which they speak, and the way German is casually used; something I missed in my studies in the United States. 

 

All of this orientation to German language and culture is invaluable for me. Though interested in much German philosophy, my current focus (and I should say one that will remain with me through my career) is on Wittgenstein's works. Without a strong command of the German language and an affinity to the variety of meaning each word carries - which may be missing in the English language and the translations of Wittgenstein's works existing today - one cannot truly read Wittgenstein and understand the aim of his writing. Being that I do aim to study philosophy as my career, that my goal is to be a professor of philosophy and to have the opportunity to study or research in Germany, this orientation and extreme familiarity 
            

with the language and culture is crucial. Spending a month in Germany was a necessary first step for me, and did nothing but heighten my interest in German philosophy, language, and culture. On a more immediate and pragmatic scale, this opportunity will also better pave my path to earning my Ph.D., as it should help to strengthen my application to graduate schools, to prove my dedication to the field and my proficiency in German. The only negative aspect of my stay was its duration - leaving was incredibly difficult, and there is no doubt in my mind that I will return to Germany soon.

            

RISE Scholars' 10th Anniversary Meeting in Heidelberg

 

By Mechthild Schmidt Feist, New York University, Vice President of the DAAD Alumni Association

 

The DAAD Alumni Association supports 10 US Student RISE (Research in Science and Engineering) grants each year. Students participate for a summer in a university research project in Germany. We are one of several organizations contributing to the total of over 300 DAAD RISE grantees from the US, Canada, and Britain.

 

Our RISE grantees this year are:

Husna Anwar, Mount Holyoke College, MA 

Anna Barber, Yale University, CT       

Yoon Hee Ha, Carnegie Mellon University, PA 

Samantha McPeak, Tuscaloosa, AL

Benjamin Musci, Ohio State University, OH 

Francisco Rosales Espinoza, Worcester Polytechnic MA

Mohd Shafi Sattar Sunny, Drexel University, PA 

Andrew Szatkowski, Hamilton College, NY

Ronald Tardiff, University of Connecticut, CT 

and Steven Torrisi, University of Rochester, NY

 

I was invited by the DAAD to give a presentation on the work of our organization at the 10th Annual RISE Scholars meeting in Heidelberg from 3-5. July.  It was a wonderful opportunity to meet DAAD organizers and of course, the students.

 

The meeting began in the old 'Aula' of the 600-year old Heidelberg University. University President Prof. Dr. Bernhard Eitel used part of his welcome speech to explain the symbolism of the impressive 19th century interior murals - but his humor did not miss the fact that 150 years ago architects did not use climate control - a short-coming in the age of climate change that brought 95-degree summer days to Germany.  After live Jazz and several speeches, including the address by DAAD Secretary General Dr. Dorothea Rüland, we were all invited to dinner at the "Kulturbrauerei". Our walk through the old town was accompanied by a lively exchange on structure and value of international experiences. 

            

The second day the DAAD had scheduled many talks combined with information events by German graduate programs and science industry. During my talk "Building International Understanding One Student at a Time "about the DAAD Alumni Association, students expressed interest in maintaining contact to the DAAD and US DAAD scholars. 

Despite much displayed "Fussballfieber" (Soccer fever) I talked to many students and received a very positive echo about their experiences. In order not to leave too scholarly an impression, leisure time included tours of the old town and Heidelberg castle as well as 'researching' German beer, Jazz music and live soccer screenings.

            

The last day was reserved for interim research presentations. Choosing among the 27 demonstrations - I made sure my choice included the two DAAD AA physics grantees. Both research topics concerned our energy future: "Organic Solar Cells to Power the Future" byHusna Anwar and the eloquent presentation "System Studies by Modeling of Future Fusion Power Plants" by Steven Torrisi.

 

Picture Caption:

After fitting 300 students into one group photo I managed to pull aside 7 of our 10 grantees for this newsletter photo. From left to right these are

Mohd Shafi Sattar Sunny, Husna Anwar, Francisco J. Rosales, Steven Torrisi,

Trustee Mechthild Schmidt Feist, Ronald Tardiff, Benjamin Musci , and Anna Lee Barber.

  

All students have returned now, and following their wish to be involved I contacted them. Following up, our board member Dr. Sigrid Berka, Executive Director of the International Engineering Program at the University of Rhode Island sent the DAAD AA and other RISE scholars within driving range an invite to the upcoming 17th Colloquium on International Engineering Education, in Providence, RI Nov. 6-8, 2014 (http://web.uri.edu/iep/colloquium/) she organizes every 2nd year in R.I. Now we are happy to have Prabudhya Bhattacharyya from Cornell University presenting on his DAAD RISE research on colloidal particles designed to simulate a physical model of spin at the Helmholtz Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf.

 

I like to close by bringing you the student's own voices, rather than mine on their experience this past summer:

 

"My time in Germany helped me to grow in profound ways. Immersion in another culture followed by re-introduction to the US helped to grant me new perspective on the nature of my work, in Physics and Alternative Energy. I give special credit to my advisor, Felix Warmer, for educating me on the political history of East Germany, which has changed the way I think about politics and government.

Hope things are going well for you- they sure are for me!"  -Steven Torrisi (Physics, University of Rochester, NY) researching at Max-Planck-Institut f�r Plasmaphysik, Greifswald

 

"Many many thanks to the DAAD Alumni Association. I blame you entirely for throwing my plans for graduate school next year into complete flux - I now have a whole new country of opportunity open to me. Vielen Dank!" -Husna Anwar (Physics, Mount Holyoke College, MA), researching at Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Physical Chemistry, Mainz

 

"I wanted to thank you so much for your support, It was an amazing experience and one that I will carry in my fondest memories." --Francisco J. Rosales, (Chemical Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic MA) researching at the Technische Universit�t Braunschweig's Institute for Chemical and Thermal Process Engineering (ICTV)

 

"I was at the Distributed Systems lab at Universit�t Kassel, where I worked on cooperative behavior of autonomous robots. What that basically meant was that I was programming robots to play soccer. My project was to outline and then code basic behaviors for robots for use in planning problems." -Anna Lee Barber (engineering, Yale University) researching at Universit�t Kassel, Distributed Systems Group/Software Engineering

 

"I am extremely thankful to the DAAD RISE program for providing me with an opportunity to explore German academic institutions and research. In addition to this fantastic opportunity, DAAD RISE also funded my stay in Germany, which greatly eased the financial burden usually associated with traveling and living abroad. As an international student in the US, coming from the small country in Southeast Asia called Bangladesh, I never thought I would be taking a summer to study (in my case research) and travel in Europe. Therefore, DAAD helped to fulfill one of my long cherished dreams of backpacking across Europe and experiencing the diverse European cultures and languages. More importantly, this opportunity allowed me to gain first-hand experience in research working for a German institution. I got to learn from some of the best engineers and researchers in the world, on a topic that is led by German research institutions. During this summer I experienced German culture, language and the country first hand, and luckily right during the soccer world cup! Through my research and work in the lab I was able to form close contacts for future international collaborations and also lifelong friends and mentors. Additionally, I met some of the brightest minds from across the world through the DAAD program, especially during the Heidelberg conference; some of these people have now become close friends and associates. This has been of the best experiences of life, and I am extremely thankful to both the DAAD RISE program and the DAAD alumni association for making this possible. Thank you."  - Mohd Shafi Sattar Sunny (Engineering, Drexel University, PA) researching at Universit�t Berlin, Dept of Sustainable Electric Networks and Sources of Energy

 

"My time in Germany was absolutely great! As I prepared for the internship I developed ideas that Germany was a land where the people were all work and no play, where efficiency was the be all and end all, and that the people's attitudes would follow suit. However, while these traits certainly are important there, I realized this stereotype was very wrong. Every person I met in Germany was incredibly kind to me and showed a genuine interest in getting to know me or in helping me discover/adapt to their country. The overall jolliness of the people I met makes me miss Germany quite a bit and makes me even more thankful that I got to spend my summer with such wonderful people in a truly wonderful country." - Benjamin Musci (Engineering, Ohio State University) researching at the Fraunhofer Institute of Interfacial Process Engineering and Plasma Technology in Stuttgart.

 

For more information on RISE scholarships, see  https://www.daad.de/rise/en/ 

 

My thanks go to the amazingly efficient and friendly hosts: Miriam Hippchen, Head of Section North America, the RISE Team with Michaela Gottschling, Daniela Wiesen, Martina Ludwig and many others.

 

To our young Alumni: You can automatically join us for a first free year. After that, the humble student membership of $15 per year helps perpetuate the cycle of learning and understanding.


 

All our board officers are volunteers so all funds go towards promoting and funding scholars.

http://alumni.daad.org/187849

 

Activities

Trustee News



 

Meetings of the DAAD-AA Board of Trustees

 

The DAAD-AA Trustees have had an active schedule this year. We met the day of the Sound Understanding Concert in April, again on August 28, October 1, and now have a meeting scheduled for November 13.  In addition, we frequently consulted on specific issues by email. Our trustees can be seen on this page http://tinyurl.com/DAADBoard

 

Here are some highlights of our meetings:

At our April meeting, we established the University Liaison Committee of the Board. The role of this committee is to make contacts with universities so that they become institutional members and be a conduit for making DAAD opportunities more widely known. At this meeting, we also established a Finance Committee; mean to assist our treasurer in forming and executing the budget. The committee also creates a number of people familiar with our finances, something that is essential in the event that the treasurer resigns, since a member of this committee could replace the departing member easily.

 

These committees join the Committee on Governance, which considers changes to our Bylaws and nominates new members to the Board, the Program Committee, which considers and works on the Programs of the Association, and the Awards Committee, which manages the DAAD-AA Award for International Exchange and can suggest new such awards.

 

Continuing on establishing working subgroups of the Board, the Membership Committee was established at the October 1 Board meeting, and was tasked with leading efforts to increase our membership among all DAAD alumni. It was resolved that each of these committees will present a report at every meeting of the Board. At the October meeting the Board also resolved to begin a search for a webmaster for the Association.

The November meeting of the Board will consider the election of new officers. Manfred Philipp will complete his term as President, and elections will be held for this position, as well as that of Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer.

 

Here is our current committee line-up; members marked with an asterisk serve as chair:

Governance: Sigrid Berka, Juergen Ostertag, Helene Zimmer-Loew

University Liaison: Friederike Eigler, Eckhard Groll, Paula Hanssen, Brian S. Mitchell & Rosmarie Morewedge*

Awards:  Carol Anne Costabile-Heming, Sue Hida, Juergen Ostertag, & Rick White

Finance: Daniel Jones*, Manfred Philipp,  Nancy Stuhlmuller-Hitscherich

Program: Nancy Stuhlmuller-Hitscherich, Carol Anne Costabile-Heming, Sue Hida, Friederike Eigler, Eckhard Groll, Brian S. Mitchell, Sigrid Berka, Mechthild, Schmidt Feist, and Helene Zimmer-Loew*.

Membership:  Friederike Eigler, Manfred Philipp, and Helene Zimmer-Loew

Trustees

New Trustees

 
  

We welcome the New Trustees on the board of the DAAD Alumni Association. In June 2014 we were joined by:

Dr. Friederike Eigler

 

FRIEDERIKE EIGLER came to the U.S. with a DAAD scholarship in 1982 as part of a graduate students exchange program between the University of Aachen, Germany and Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. The year abroad shaped her future life, both personally and professionally: After completing her Ph.D. in 1987 at Washington University and a short stint at San Diego State University, she joined the faculty of the German Department at Georgetown University in 1989. She currently serves as chair of the German Department, and from 2009-10 she also served as Convener of the Faculty of Languages and Linguistics at Georgetown. 
 

Friederike has published widely on 20th and 21st century German literature and culture and just completed her third monograph, titled Heimat, Narrative, Space: Toward a Transnational Approach to Flight and Expulsion (Camden House, 2014). Her extensive editing experience includes major professional journals like The German Quarterly (general editor, 2004-06).

 

As a new board member of the DAAD-AA, she looks forward to supporting the transatlantic work of the organization that enabled her to study in the U.S. more than 30 years ago.

 

Friederike is a member of our Program, University Liaison, and Membership Committees. You can read more about her at http://explore.georgetown.edu/people/eiglerf/

Dr. Eckhard A. Groll


 


ECKHARD A. GROLL is the Reilly Professor of Mechanical Engineering and also serves as the Director of the Office of Professional Practice at Purdue University.  He joined Purdue University as an Assistant Professor in 1994 and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2000, to Full Professor in 2005, and to the Reilly Professorship in 2013.  He received his Diploma in Mechanical Engineering from the University of the Ruhr in Bochum, Germany, in 1989 and a Doctorate in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Hannover, Germany, in 1994.   


 

Professor Groll teaches thermodynamics and his research focuses on the fundamental thermal sciences as applied to advanced thermal systems, components, and their working fluids. Dr. Groll has authored or co-authored 102 archival journal articles, 175 conference papers, and 3 book chapters Dr. Groll holds 4 patents.  He has given 73 invited lectures/invited seminars and 11 keynote lectures.  He is a Fellow of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE). 

 

Professor Groll has been recognized for his academic leadership in higher education.  He is a 2010-2011 Fellow of the American Council on Education (ACE) and 2009-2010 Fellow of the Academic Leadership Program of the Committee on Institutional Collaboration (CIC-ALP)He has received numerous awards for his research and teaching excellence including the 2010 E. K. Campbell Award from ASHRAE, his induction into the Book of Great Teachers at Purdue University in 2008, and the 2007 Purdue University Faculty Scholar Award.

 

Before he entered our board, Eckhard won the DAAD-AA Award for International Exchange. He conducts a program that brings Purdue engineering students to internships in Germany. He is a member of the Board's Program Committee and the University Liaison Committee. He is also a DAAD Research Ambassador. You can read more about Eckhard at
https://engineering.purdue.edu/Engr/People/ptProfile?resource_id=11748

 Sue Hida

 

SUE HIDA is the Assistant State Bridge Engineer for the California Department of Transportation.  She represents the State on the American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials Highway Subcommittee on Bridges and Structures, serving on the Concrete Technical and Executive Committees and chairing the Loads Technical Committee.  She has been at Caltrans since 1991.  She holds Bachelor and Master Degrees in Civil-Structural Design engineering from Purdue University, and a Masters Degree in Civil-Structural Mechanics from Princeton.


Ms. Hida credits her 1982-83 DAAD Scholarship study at the University of Hanover-West Germany at the time, with providing a more global perspective both at work and in her personal life.  "German textbooks still sit on my shelf," she says.  "Germans pioneered the invention of prestressed bridges.  I have to remind my colleagues to look beyond US-authors of technical papers, US-bridge design/construction/maintenance".  Sue is recipient of the 2006 James E. Roberts Award for Outstanding Structures Engineering in Transportation.

In her free time, Sue enjoys cross-country skiing, bicycling, and travel.  She looks forward to a bike trip this coming summer from Amsterdam to Salzburg through Germany.

 

Sue serves on our Awards and Program Committees. You can read more about her at: http://mceer.buffalo.edu/publications/Bridge_and_Highway_Reports/08-SP06/Hida.pdf

Juergen R. Ostertag 

 

 

JUERGEN R. OSTERTAG is a Stuttgart native who completed his German legal studies at the Eberhard-Karls-Universit�t T�bingen in 1990. He interrupted his German law studies to spend one year as an exchange student at Valparaiso University, Indiana supported by a DAAD stipend. Following his 1. State Exam in Law, he studied law in Boston, MA, where he received in 1993 his Juris Doctor, cum laude, from New England Law. In 1995 he completed his German legal education by passing the 2. State Exam in Law in Stuttgart.

 

After initially practicing law in Germany, Juergen moved in 1997 to the US. He has been practicing law in New York City since then. As a Partner in the Corporate Practice and as the Chair of the German Practice of Pryor Cashman LLP, he mainly represents clients from German-speaking areas in the US. Juergen also serves as President and Director of Der Deutsche Verein New York (German Club of New York), as Director of the German American Community Project, Inc. and as Chairman of the German School of Connecticut, Inc.  Juergen also provides pro bono legal services to the Deutsche Evangelisch-Lutherische St. Pauls Kirche in New York.

 

Juergen is a member of our Awards and Governance Committees. You can read more about Juergen at http://www.pryorcashman.com/attorneys-161.html

Dr. Brian S. Mitchell 

 

 

BRIAN S. MITCHELL is Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana, and a Fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.  He received his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1991, followed by an NSF-NATO Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Karlsruhe, Germany. He received as German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) award in 1998 while at Tulane University, which he spent at the University of Freiberg-Saxony, and the German Institute for Materials Research and Testing in Berlin.  He has subsequently received two Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellowships which he has also used in Germany. 

 

Brian has authored over 60 peer-reviewed journal articles, two U.S Patents, and one textbook.  He has given over 30 national and international presentations, including two dozen presentations to Louisiana elementary school children.

 

He is a member of the Board Program and University Liaison Committees. You can read more about Brian at http://tulane.edu/sse/cbe/faculty/mitchell.cfm       

 

You can see our other Trustees on our Trustees web page, at http://tinyurl.com/DAADBoard

ResearchAmbassadors 
DAAD Reserach Ambassadors   

 

 

The DAAD Alumni Association thanks those individuals who have volunteered to be Research Ambassadors, and encourages others to do so.  The current Ambassadors are:

Anna Abnizova, David Abraham,  Aftab Ahmed,  Gizem Arslan, Robert Beachy, Elmar Bergeler, Staver Bezhani, Marybeth Boger, M. Harvey Brenner, Deborah Anna Brown, Corey Campion, Albrecht Classen, John F. Corrigan, Carol Anne Costabile-Heming*,  James Deaville, Edward J. Eberle,  Steven Ehlert, Dawit Eshetu, Mamadou Fall, Manfred Franke, Akhilesh K. Gaharwar, Thian Yew Gan,  Christina Gerhardt, Eckart Graeve, Eckhard A. Groll*, Anette Guse, Martin Habekost, Habiba Hadziavdic, Taylor Hagood, Paula Hanssen*, George Heffernan, Helmut H.A. Hergeth, Michael R. H�bner, Falk Huettmann, Jim Hurley, Kristopher Imbrigotta, Margaret Jackson, Naduparambil Korah  Jacob, Zhuo Jing-Schmidt, Gregory S. Johnston,  Ingrid Jordon-Thaden,  Sam Khuri,  Hoi-eun Kim,   Brian P. Kiniry, Imke Kirste, Christine Korte, Bahadur Krishna KC, Elizabeth Harrington Lambert, Ann Lemke, Mary Lindemann, Benjamin Marschke, Peter Martin, Dianne M. McMullen, Dale Medearis,   Carsten Mehring, Pierre Mertiny, David Mirhady, Brian S. Mitchell*, Adrian H. Murray, Amos Nascimento, John Nicols,   Joe Perry, Alexander G. Ramm, Harry Roddy, Jr., Petra Rohrbach, Michael Saffle, Ayguen Sahin,   Richard Schaefer, Annette Scharf, Joerg Schlatterer*, Raphael Schneider, Elizabeth Schreiber-Byers,   Nico Sch�ler, Adam R. Seipp, Simone Seym, Conrad Siegers, Gabrielle Siegers, David Luther Smith,   Glenn Stanley, William R. Stanley, Jueyi Sui, Lydia Tesfa*, John R. te Velde, Haroldo Toro, Jack Tuszynski, Jonathan Veinot, Willem Vermaas, Gabi N. Waite, Lee Waite, Angela Wandinger-Ness,    Alina Dana Weber,  Charles Webster, Rick White*, Wolfgang W�lck, and Paul Youngman.

 

Research Ambassadors indicated with a star are current or former Trustees of the Alumni Association. More information about each Research Ambassador is available at
https://www.daad.org/ra-2013-2014#g3    

Please contact Amra Dumisic at dumisic@daad.org for information on how to become a Research Ambassador. 

 
Membership
Membership 

As mentioned in the last Newsletter, DAAD New York maintains an alumni-only online platform for networking and getting involved in alumni activities in North America. It features a searchable membership directory, upcoming alumni events, information about regional alumni groups in North America, and other activities and opportunities for you to get involved.

 

Some of this site's pages that provide general information about DAAD alumni activities and services in North America are accessible to the general public. However, a number of prime features (including the alumni directory, bulletin board, regional listserves, and the ability to view posted jobs and housing) are available only to DAAD alumni in the USA and Canada who have a username and password for the website.

 

To find out more about it, please visit our website: alumni.daad.org

 

We are also proud that there are currently more than 120 alumni groups worldwide. The DAAD Alumni Association of the United States, for example, elected its first official board members in 1998. Today, the DAAD Alumni Association counts more than 250 members and has raised over $200,000. The Association actively minimizes administrative expenses and has not paid any administrative salaries. Trustees serve pro bono and do not collect compensation for Association-related expenses. Almost all funds collected remain in a scholarship endowment.

 

Membership growth is an important goal of the Alumni Association. Having been a DAAD grantee in the past, you are eligible for membership and are strongly encouraged to support the above goals so others may enjoy the same kinds of benefits you did during your stay abroad.

 

Membership Requirements:

Anyone who was a recipient of any type of DAAD grant may join. Everyone who received a DAAD grant of any type is considered a DAAD alumnus/a. However, in order to be considered a sustaining member of the DAAD Alumni Association (a private non-profit organization) a contribution in the form of annual membership dues is requested at the following levels:

  • students and retired - $15
  • regular - $50/$75/$100
  • life membership $500
  • institutional-corporate membership $1000
  • returning students (annual grant) - one year free membership

Contributions will be designated in part for programs and in part for the Hubertus Scheibe Memorial Scholarship Endowment.

 

Membership Benefits:

All members will receive:


 

All members will receive the Newsletter from the DAAD Alumni Association of the US and opportunities to actively participate in Alumni Association projects and decision-making. We encourage members to tell us about their awards, honors, happy family events, and changes in job status.

 

We would be happy to publicize that in the next Newsletter. We also encourage people to notify us if an alumnus is ill or has passed away.

 

If you'd like to join the DAAD Alumni Association, please click here.