Institute of Steel Construction
The Institute of Steel Construction is one of the few institutes at RWTH Aachen that was set up by the founding chairs of RWTH. At the time of its opening on October 10, 1870, RWTH Aachen University was still known as the ‘Königlich Rheinisch-Westfälische Polytechnische Hochschule zu Aachen’.
The uninterrupted progression of the Steel Construction professorship highlights the importance of this field of expertise at RWTH Aachen, which continues to bring together neighbouring fields of study. The period under the direction of Professor Dr. -Ing. Dr. h.c. Gerhard Sedlacek is of particular importance, as he established and strengthened the Chair to become an internationally recognised Institute.
As of 2005, the Chair of the Institute is Professor Dr. -Ing. Markus Feldmann. This Institute currently has around 70 employees, two thirds of whom are scientific staff and prospective engineers.
In addition to the conventional research into steel, timber, composites and lightweight construction, there is also on-going research into material engineering, wind engineering, construction glass and building physics. The teaching and research field ‘Sustainability in Lightweight Metal Structures’ was initiated in 2015, funded by
Professor Dr.-Ing. Markus Kuhnhenne.
The Institute of Steel Construction provides fundamental research into the development of the national and international standards, product development, assessments for Zustimmungen im Einzelfall, general building inspections and technical advice on planning and design.
The Institute has its own test centre, enabling experimental investigations in all fields of research to be carried out. It provides the Institute with many extensive testing facilities as its disposal, including a wind tunnel. The Institute of Steel Construction and Lightweight Construction are also a part of the Centre of Metallic Design, zmb for short, which offers access to a large shared laboratory.