Heinrich Söding
Hamburg University of Technology, Germany
20th Georg Weinblum Memorial Lecture (1997/98)
Strömungsberechnungen an der Grenze der Potentialtheorie
Limits of potential theory in rudder flow predictions, Journal of Ship Technology Research/ Schiffstechnik, vol. 45(1998), pp. 141–155
Short Biography
Heinrich Söding was born in 1936 in Dresden. Starting in 1956, he studied natural sciences at the University of Hamburg. In 1957, he changed subject to Naval Architecture, which was taught at the Technical University of Hanover and Hamburg University. He received his practical training at a shipping company and at shipyards for both seagoing ships and inland waterway vessels.
In March 1962, he passed the diploma examination with honours and started to work with Professor Wendel at the Technical University of Hanover. There he continued the application of numerical methods in shipbuilding, which he started as a student. He graduated in February 1967 with a dissertation on fairing of ship lines with honours to a doctoral engineer.
In January 1968 he entered the research department of Germanischer Lloyd. There he worked on ship motions and loads in a seaway, especially on their numerical prediction. From 1971 to 1978, he worked as a Professor for Computer-Aided Ship Design at Hanover University. Since 1979 he is Professor for Ship Theory at the Institute for Shipbuilding at Hamburg University, which is now part of Hamburg University of Technology.
Heinrich Söding’s extensive work is characterized by depth and unusual breadth. Ship design, intact and damage stability, ship launching, behavior of ships in seaway, routing, vibrations, manouvering as well as the corresponding optimizations are the areas to which he has contributed significantly. The focus was always on the use of computers, i.e. the development of numerical methods.
He is highly appreciated and successful as academic teacher. About 40 persons obtained their PhD degree under his supervision. Further, he took part in doctor examinations in many European countries and in China. He gave guest lectures at various places in Europe, China, Indonesia, Korea, Taiwan and in the USA.
Last update: February 2018