I could hear the ocean waves in my room all night. It was a nice melody to fall sleep to despite the three hours’ time change. By 4 AM I had enough rest. My body clock operated many hours ahead of the local time. I started reading my book, hoping to get tired and sleep some more. No way. An hour later I headed out of my room walking around the perimeter of the resort, admiring the palm trees and the ocean in the distance. I wondered how much one had to pay to work in a beautiful place like that surrounded by nature! By six o’clock, I headed to the cafeteria. I did not encounter anyone else from our four-day conference set to start in a few hours. The restaurant wouldn’t be open for another hour for breakfast, but they let me in to take a seat and wait. There, I found another lost soul to the travel-time-change: Georg Ostermeyer.
Georg-Peter Ostermeyer was born in Hamelin, home of the famous Pied Piper legend. He grew up in Lüchow, near the border of GDR, what used to East Germany. His parents were both teachers raising their two sons in a well-protected environment. During his childhood he was exposed to scientific explanatory programs broadcasted on television. These programs significantly influenced Georg’s interest in nature, science, and technology. During school summer holidays, he would spend time with his aunt, a PhD in engineering who introduced him to scientific issues through a different lens and discipline. A talented female engineer, a rarity at that time even in Germany.
He finished elementary, then grammar school in Lüchow, graduating Abitur with a natural science. Georg continued his education leading to a diploma in mathematics in Berlin while being fascinated in that field. To convince other people of the value of mathematics, he went on to study education, philosophy, and physics in Braunschweig, graduating with the first state examination to become a teacher. Having been tempted too much by science, Georg turned down a secure civil servant position in education and instead became a research assistant at the TU Braunschweig, working towards his PHD in theoretical mechanics. With time, he realized that answers to many interesting questions are to be found in mechanical engineering. Industry seemed to be the right place for Georg.
In 1988 Georg became a senior researcher for the simulation of vehicle dynamics at VW. In 1990, he was named head of the “Stress Analysis” subdepartment at the same company. In 1992 Georg was offered a professorship in Hanover and Berlin. He went to Technical University of Berlin, where he started as full-time professor. Eight years later, Georg was offered a professorship in Braunschweig and became the head of the Institute of Dynamics and Vibrations. During his tenure at Braunschweig, he gave lectures as an invited guest in Austria and Ukraine several times before retiring in 2022 from academia to work as CTO of SiDys GmbH full-time.
In Berlin, Georg had established the field of Friction with an emphasis on “elementary friction events.” Shortly after that, he was appointed as a professor in Braunschweig where the scientific goal was the development of modeling and simulation, leading to setting up working groups on drill string dynamics for the drilling industry. Throughout, Georg’s main goal remained friction and brakes. For this purpose, a laboratory was set up with global exposure to study the friction and wear in brakes as well as particle sensors and swarm measurements for recording emissions from brakes and tires. All along, Georg also worked hard to set up a university-wide competition called the “MacGyver Ideas Competition” for 16 years where teams had to build a machine with minimum resources in a short period of time. Each invention had to be demonstrated in front of a large audience with the challenge of explaining how it works. Of course, not every machine had to work, but it was quite an experience for the young talented individual and teams. Some of these may be seen on a video on YouTube:
For several years, Georg was co-organizer of the German-Polish workshop on “Dynamical Problems in Mechanical Systems,” an active board member of “Celle Drilling Simulator” and a steering board member of the “Celle Drilling Conference.” He is a founding member and member of the steering board of the “International Forum on Sliding Friction” and Eurobrake, as well as member of the advisory board of the SAE Brake Colloquium and Asia Brake. Georg also is a member of the supervisory board of the iTUBS GmbH to the University of Braunschweig.
Georg places search for scientific knowledge ahead of personal profit. To that end, he loves to motivate others through teaching and lectures. His advice is to never stop asking questions, even if you believe to have understood the subject. Challenges drive creativity for Georg and setbacks lead to new insights. Georg can recall many who have influenced his life here and there, but no one more than his wife with a doctoral in mathematics who has been a guiding light in his personal-professional life. His professional life was greatly affected by the “Codex Atlanticus” by Leonardo Da Vinci, stimulating his imagination in mechanical engineering. His father, a painter and draughtsman inspired him in art. The brake conferences have taught Georg great lessons and solutions, but above all, sparked interesting questions.
Doctor Ostermeyer keeps a balance between personal and professional life by painting, drawing, reading, hiking, building with woods, stone, and metal, traveling abroad with his wife and discovering nature, cultural and culinary highlights. Georg’s personal allow him to relax in a completely different world.
There seem to always be highs and lows and Georg tries to focus on the knowledge gained from the lows. Amongst the lessons he learned is seemingly beautiful and easy solutions are rarely correct! One, Georg believes, must follow the path and not become seduced by shortcuts.
Georg is particularly proud of having achieved:
Alan M. Lang Award from SAE International 2009, 2010, and 2013.
Lloyd L. Withrow Award in 2011, SAE International
Dan Mahanna Achievement Award in 2015, SAE International
The biggest challenge to Georg is the question of “what is friction?” A truly satisfactory solution, he believes, only seems possible if one concentrate on specific aspects of friction, rather than its totality.
Georg sees his professional future in consulting and R&D in Simulation, Measurement and new materials to brakes. He likes to combine the physical knowledge with AI in the world of brakes with Physics-informed neural network (PINN) techniques and in general the development of AI-supported teaching and learning videos for schools, universities and industry together with his wife in the form of the SiDys Company.
Georg and I shook hands, and I joined him at his table and listened to him speaking of life and brake friction technology at his university. The cafeteria was half-full of guests by half-past seven AM. Neither Georg nor I had breakfast yet simply because we were engrossed in our conversation, and I was fascinated by his passion for technology. To this date, I remember how animated he became describing all things brakes, as if he has always been an integral part of them.
Editor's note: We are seeking to highlight the professional journeys of individuals who have made significant contributions to Brake Technology or Business. Referrals are encouraged.
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