The German Acoustical Society (DEGA) honored TUHH professor Otto von Estorff with the Helmholtz Medal 2026 – one of the highest awards of the professional society – in recognition of his outstanding scientific lifetime achievements. The award acknowledges his pioneering contributions to research and the application of numerical calculation methods in the field of acoustics.
Prof. Sabine Langer, Head of the Institute for Acoustics and Dynamics at TU Braunschweig, praised von Estorff’s professional and personal impact in her laudation at the Annual Conference on Acoustics (DAGA) in Dresden: “As a reviewer of my own dissertation, you have been an essential part of my academic lineage. Your passion for research, teaching, and transfer is extraordinary. Your optimistic and engaging manner, as well as your great visionary power, serve as a model for future generations.”
Von Estorff expressed his heartfelt thanks for the award but also clarified: “A laudation has a wonderful quality – it usually narrates the path more straightforwardly than it actually was. The small detours, doubts, and experiments between successes mostly remain discreetly in the background. Precisely for this reason, I know: this award does not belong to me alone. It also belongs to the people who have accompanied me.”
Born in 1957 in Menden, von Estorff began his studies in civil engineering at Ruhr University Bochum, where he earned his doctorate in 1986 with a dissertation on the dynamic interaction between structures and their surroundings. After a research year at the renowned Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and several years in industry, he accepted a position at the Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH) in 1997. There, he took over the professorship for structural dynamics in the research area of mechanics and marine technology.
In 2004, he founded the Institute of Modelling and Computation at TUHH. Here, he dedicated himself both to fundamental research, for example as spokesperson of the graduate school for marine engineering structures, and to practical applications, including cooperation with the aviation industry on cabin acoustics.
Beyond his research work, he has been actively shaping TUHH in many ways – among others as dean of studies, spokesperson of the research focus on aviation technology, and vice president for research. By introducing one of the first university courses in numerical acoustics in Germany, he has also significantly influenced academic education in this specialized field. As acting president of the Northern Institute of Technology Management (NIT), he remains closely connected to TUHH to this day.
