FKIE Researcher Dr. Marc Adrat Receives Honorary Professorship at RWTH Aachen
The long-standing research group leader for software-defined radio at the Fraunhofer Institute for Communication, Information Processing and Ergonomics FKIE, Dr. Marc Adrat, has been appointed honorary professor at RWTH Aachen University. The Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology is gaining “an excellent and committed colleague who will enhance the department's teaching program with his cutting-edge expertise,” RWTH Aachen University said in its press release. The university stated that this appointment will also further strengthen collaboration with Fraunhofer FKIE.
After having studied electrical engineering at RWTH Aachen and having completed his doctoral studies there in 2003, Professor Adrat has been conducting research at Fraunhofer FKIE for around 20 years, focusing especially on software-defined radio (SDR) and interference-resistant waveforms. In recent years, Professor Adrat has made a name for himself both nationally and internationally as a proven expert in these fields.
He was appointed as a lecturer specializing in channel coding and modulation at the Institute of Communication Systems (IKS) at RWTH in 2009. Up until 2017, the researcher held the lecture “Forward Error Correction and Digital Modulation” every summer semester. Following the integration of the international course Communications Engineering into the master's program in Electrical Engineering, Information Technology and Computer Engineering, the lecture content was also updated. Since then, Prof. Adrat has held the lecture “Modern Channel Coding for Wireless Communications” at the IKS Aachen.
On the occasion of the 60th anniversary celebrations of the IKS, Prof. Albert Moser, Dean of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, presented Professor Adrat with the certificate of appointment and congratulated him warmly. His appointment came at a very unexpected time for the FKIE researcher: “I knew that the process was underway behind the scenes,” said Prof. Adrat. “But I never expected my appointment to take place on the day of the 60th anniversary celebrations. Everyone involved managed to keep it quiet.” This makes Prof. Adrat the 25th professor to be appointed in the 60-year history of the Aachen Institute.
Prof. Adrat is well aware of the fact that being appointed as an honorary professor is a “rare and high accolade that many have contributed to.” He expressed special thanks to Prof. Peter Vary, his doctoral supervisor, Prof. Peter Jax, who succeeded him, and Dr. Markus Antweiler, the head of his FKIE research department “Communication Systems.”
Both Antweiler and Prof. Peter Martini, Director of Fraunhofer FKIE, also extended their best wishes: “On behalf of the entire institute, I congratulate Mr. Adrat on this most outstanding accolade, which at a university as selective as RWTH is a mark of the highest esteem, both for his achievements in research and for his commitment to teaching,” said Professor Martini. “I look forward to our continued collaboration with Mr. Adrat and to seeing how he will shape and influence the work at our institute.”