ITIV Alumni

In the 60 years or so since Prof. Karl Steinbuch founded the institute in 1958, a large number of outstanding scientists have studied at today's Institute of Information Processing Technology (ITIV).

On the following pages you will find the former directors who have shaped the institute in the past, a list of the almost 200 former doctoral students that ITIV has already produced, former employees and an overview of the numerous students who have written their diploma, bachelor's or master's thesis at the institute.

 

 

Among them is ITIV's most prominent alumnus: Prof. Dr. h. c. Hasso Plattner, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of SAP SE and founder of the Hasso Plattner Institute in Potsdam

 

Professor Hasso Plattner: entrepreneur, benefactor and patron.
(Photo credit: Berthold Steinhilber / laif)

 

About the person:


Hasso Plattner, born in Berlin in 1944, studied communications engineering at the University of Karlsruhe. His diploma thesis, which he wrote in 1968 under Prof. Karl Steinbuch, was entitled: "Algebraic methods for minimizing switching functions without using a normal form". In 1968, he joined IBM Germany in Mannheim as a program developer. In 1972, Hasso Plattner left IBM and founded the software company SAP (Systems, Applications, Products in Data Processing) together with Dietmar Hopp, Claus Wellenreuther, Hans-Werner Hector and Klaus Tschira. Today, SAP SE, based in Walldorf/Baden-Württemberg, is the world's leading provider of software and software-related services for companies.

In 1988, Hasso Plattner was appointed Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board when SAP went public. From 1997 to 2003, he was Chairman of the Executive Board and CEO. He has been Chairman of the Supervisory Board since 2003. As Chief Software Advisor, he advises SAP on its medium and long-term technological strategy; he also chairs the Technology Committee of the Supervisory Board. Hasso Plattner also founded the Hasso Plattner Institute for Software Systems Engineering (HPI) at the University of Potsdam in 1998. In addition to the non-profit Hasso Plattner Foundation for Software Systems Engineering, HPI's sole shareholder, Professor Hasso Plattner created the Hasso Plattner Foundation, which also supports medical research, humanitarian projects, culture and the preservation of historical monuments.

In 1990, Saarland University awarded Hasso Plattner an honorary doctorate; in 1994, he became an honorary professor of business informatics there. In 1998, he was made an honorary senator. He has been an honorary doctor since 2002 and an honorary professor at the University of Potsdam since 2004. Hasso Plattner is a member of the Board of Trustees of Stanford University. He has received numerous awards for his commitment to science and business. In 1998, "manager magazin" included him in its "Hall of Fame". The Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities awarded him the Leibniz Medal in 2004. In 2007, he was awarded the Order of Merit of the State of Brandenburg.

In 2016, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and the Karlsruhe University Society (KUG) awarded him the Heinrich Hertz Visiting Professorship.

(Source: KIT, press release 017/2016)

 

 

At the celebration of Karl Steinbuch's 100th birthday on October 13, 2017, Hasso Plattner accepted the invitation of the ITIV institute management and inspired the numerous listeners with his keynote speech:"From the learning matrix to deep learning - Karl Steinbuch, the visionary from Karlsruhe".

 

 

 

 

“Irrespective of his scientific achievements, KIT distanced itself from Karl Steinbuch in November 2023. In this connection, KIT decided to rename its information technology center Scientific Computing Center (previously Steinbuch Centre for Computing). This decision is based on latest findings of historian A. Guhl, according to which Karl Steinbuch advocated unacceptable acts of war as a young man during the Nazi era. After his retirement, Steinbuch increasingly adopted extreme right-wing positions.” (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology)

Link to the press release