Michael Roth (cyberneticist)
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''Content in this edit is translated from the existing German Wikipedia article at :de:Michael Roth (Kybernetiker); see its history for attribution.'' Michael Roth (18 June 1936 – 23 July 2019) was a German engineer and professor of
automation Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes, namely by predetermining decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions, as well as embodying those predeterminations in machines ...
, specializing in
microprocessor A microprocessor is a computer processor where the data processing logic and control is included on a single integrated circuit, or a small number of integrated circuits. The microprocessor contains the arithmetic, logic, and control circ ...
technology,
computer science Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to practical disciplines (includi ...
and sociology as well as
philosophy of science Philosophy of science is a branch of philosophy concerned with the foundations, methods, and implications of science. The central questions of this study concern what qualifies as science, the reliability of scientific theories, and the ult ...
. He was one of the pioneers in the area of computer engineering in Germany.


Life

Roth was born in Lomnička, and originally completed his vocational training as a mechanic for agricultural machinery and as a programmer. He started his university studies in 1957 at the then Hochschule fuer Elektrotechnik Ilmenau in electrical engineering, with a specialization in
control engineering Control engineering or control systems engineering is an engineering discipline that deals with control systems, applying control theory to design equipment and systems with desired behaviors in control environments. The discipline of controls o ...
under
Karl Reinisch :''Content in this edit is translated from the existing German Wikipedia article at :de:Karl Reinisch; see its history for attribution.'' Karl Reinisch (21 August 1921 – 24 January 2007) was a German electrical engineer and professor for contr ...
. He received his academic degree as a Diplom-
Ingenieur An engineer's degree is an advanced academic degree in engineering which is conferred in Europe, some countries of Latin America, North Africa and a few institutions in the United States. The degree may require a thesis but always requires a non-a ...
(Dipl.-Ing.) in 1963. After that, he worked at the institute for computer engineering ("maschinelle Rechentechnik") as a scientific assistant. He successfully completed this work in 1967 earning a
Doctorate degree A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...
as a
Doktoringenieur The Doktoringenieur (acronym Dr.-Ing., also ''Doktor der Ingenieurwissenschaften'') is the German engineering doctorate degree, comparable to the Doctor of Engineering, Engineering Doctorate, Doctor of Science (Engineering), Doctor of Science ...
(Dr.-Ing.). His dissertation was in the domain of computer engineering, focussing on the design of
hybrid computer Hybrid computers are computers that exhibit features of analog computers and digital computers. The digital component normally serves as the controller and provides logical and Numerical analysis, numerical operations, while the analog component ...
s. This constituted an essential foundation for his later research. Subsequently, he finished additional studies at the
Moscow Power Engineering Institute National Research University "Moscow Power Engineering Institute" (MPEI) is a public university based in Moscow, Russia. It offers training in the fields of Power Engineering, Electric Engineering, Radio Engineering, Electronics, Information Tec ...
in 1967/68. Roth was appointed associate professor at the TH Ilmenau in 1970, in the department Technical and Biomedical Cybernetics ("Technische und Biomedizinische Kybernetik", TBK, Director:
Karl Reinisch :''Content in this edit is translated from the existing German Wikipedia article at :de:Karl Reinisch; see its history for attribution.'' Karl Reinisch (21 August 1921 – 24 January 2007) was a German electrical engineer and professor for contr ...
). In cooperation with expert committees from the Chamber of Technology ("Kammer der Technik", KdT, the organization of engineers, technicians and researchers of the GDR) and the electronics industry of
Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and lar ...
, he developed the new special field of microcomputer technology, which he also introduced as an independent subject, publishing specialized reference books in several editions. Roth stimulated the launch of this technology not only through his research and development work, but also through his involvement in continuous education for this industrial technology as well as through the publication of specialized books. As a researcher, he focused on questions concerning the development of components and tools for intelligent
automation Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes, namely by predetermining decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions, as well as embodying those predeterminations in machines ...
systems. In 1978, he was appointed
Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...
for Automation and Technical Cybernetics ("Automatik und Technische Kybernetik") at the TH Ilmenau. This appointment spoke highly of his knowledge and his wealth of experience. His lectures and his textbooks extended the training of engineers with degrees in
microprocessor A microprocessor is a computer processor where the data processing logic and control is included on a single integrated circuit, or a small number of integrated circuits. The microprocessor contains the arithmetic, logic, and control circ ...
technology – at the time, microprocessor technology was a rare specialization in the German-speaking area. His cooperation with other professors – one of them being in the data centre with its director, Reinhold Schönefeld – led to extensive industry-level research and internship opportunities in microprocessor technology with the TH Ilmenau. These opportunities were considered unique when compared to other university facilities in the German-speaking area. Roth thus contributed to establishing research and development at the department of Technical and Biomedical Cybernetics, and made it thrive. In parallel, he worked on the
technology transfer Technology transfer (TT), also called transfer of technology (TOT), is the process of transferring (disseminating) technology from the person or organization that owns or holds it to another person or organization, in an attempt to transform invent ...
to the surrounding computer businesses. During his professional activities, Roth developed various microcontroller applications and implementations. Through this, he gained experience with programming languages, the usage of the accompanying development tools as well as the hardware and software components. Systems for visualization were used to efficiently communicate between man and machine. Further work on real-life applications and objects for demonstration purposes extended his knowledge and experience in the area of programming. He also gained a sound skill level in the area of data communication and the related subdomains. By no means had Roth ever considered this field as being technologically finalized. As such, he continuously worked in close contact with industry and research partners to scientifically advance future development. Through his committee work in the Informatics Society of the GDR and specific publications of books and magazines he contributed to an increased appreciation of the new field of microprocessor technology in East Germany. Furthermore, since his early years, Roth had been interested in a higher-level view of the evolution of science. In 1986, he completed his Habilitation at the
TU Dresden TU Dresden (for german: Technische Universität Dresden, abbreviated as TUD and often wrongly translated as "Dresden University of Technology") is a public research university, the largest institute of higher education in the city of Dresden, th ...
in the field of the
philosophy of science Philosophy of science is a branch of philosophy concerned with the foundations, methods, and implications of science. The central questions of this study concern what qualifies as science, the reliability of scientific theories, and the ult ...
.


Scientific roles

Roth started as the research area lead of the aforementioned department TBK; he then became its director. On the basis of his specialized research work, he became a co-founder of the specialized studies „Computer engineering“. In addition to that, he was the founder of the postgraduate degree of an engineer with specialization „Microprocessor technology“. Roth was the founder and editor of the magazine „Mikroprozessortechnik“ at the East German publishing company Verlag Technik Berlin. In an evening talk at a technical committee conference of the Chamber of Technology (KdT) in Angelroda in April 1982, he described the tedious processes for founding this magazine under the conditions in the GDR: For 15 years he made efforts until a small number of copies of „Mikroprozessortechnik“ was allowed to be released. It was forbidden to use the word „Informatik“, as
Günter Mittag Günter Mittag (8 October 1926 – 18 March 1994) was a German member of parliament, secretary of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED), and a central figure in East Germany's command economy. Biography Born to a working-class family in St ...
, member of the Politbüro of the
SED sed ("stream editor") is a Unix utility that parses and transforms text, using a simple, compact programming language. It was developed from 1973 to 1974 by Lee E. McMahon of Bell Labs, and is available today for most operating systems. sed w ...
considered this a term of West German ideology. The argument of a limited quota of paper available to the publisher had to be overcome as well as the criticism that the publishing company VEB Verlag Technik had not published a new magazine for 28 years. His work as co-founder of the magazine Ethics and Social Sciences
Ethik und Sozialwissenschaften
, a forum for a culture of deliberation) at the West German publishing company Westdeutscher Verlag illustrates his ability for unconventional thinking and his interest in questions concerning the future. For many years, Roth was the chair of the Thuringia subdivision of the Verband Hochschule und Wissenschaft (Association for Higher Education and Science, VHW) in the
German Civil Service Federation The German Civil Service Association (dbb beamtenbund und tarifunion) is a national trade union center in Germany. It has a membership of 1,250,000, and is affiliated with the European Confederation of Independent Trade Unions The European C ...
, as well as a member of the federal board of the VHW in Bonn (chair at the time: Reinhard Kuhnert). This professional association of professors, university lecturers and scientific assistants at universities and institutes of higher education had been founded in November 1990 in Thuringia to engage employees and civil servants, where the VHW as part of the German Civil Service Federation also has the right of hearing in legislative procedures and the collective bargaining law.Michael Roth: ''vhw-informationen: Schwerpunktthemen des Interessen- und Berufsverbandes.'' In: ''Ilmenauer Uni-Nachrichten'' 36/3/1993, S. 7. Roth contributed as an expert in the advisory panel „ Delphi-Prognose“ of the
Fraunhofer Society The Fraunhofer Society (german: Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e.V., lit=Fraunhofer Society for the Advancement of Applied Research) is a German research organization with 76institutes spread throughout Germany ...
.


Fields

Michael Roth worked in a wide variety of fields: *
Automation Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes, namely by predetermining decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions, as well as embodying those predeterminations in machines ...
Technology * Technical Cybernetics * Computer Engineering * Computer Science and Sociology *
Information Society An information society is a society where the usage, creation, distribution, manipulation and integration of information is a significant activity. Its main drivers are information and communication technologies, which have resulted in rapid inf ...
* Knowledge Economy * Evolution of Society as well as * Universities and higher education institutions. Roth gave numerous lectures about his research results at scientific conferences and events, whose realization he partially encouraged and organized himself. His scientific publications at the same time reflect his teamwork and consist of more than 100 pieces of work, including several books with up to 5 editions. In parallel, he participated in various reports, providing expert opinion.


Bibliography (selection)

* ''Verwendung nichtlinearer Strukturen in steuerbaren Hochgeschwindigkeits-Operationsverstärkern.'' Dissertation, TH Ilmenau, Fakultät für naturwissenschaftlich-technische Grundlagen, Ilmenau 1967. * ''Elektronische Bauelemente der technischen Kybernetik.'' In: Funktionseinheiten der technischen Kybernetik, 8. Lehrbrief (F 77/8), Lehrbriefe für das Hochschulfernstudium, hrsg. von der Zentralstelle für das Hochschulfernstudium des Ministeriums für Hoch- und Fachschulwesen 1974. * ''Elektronische analoge und hybride Funktionseinheiten.'' In: Funktionseinheiten der technischen Kybernetik, 10. Lehrbrief (F 77/10), Lehrbriefe für das Hochschulfernstudium, hrsg. von der Zentralstelle für das Hochschulfernstudium des Ministeriums für Hoch- und Fachschulwesen 1974. * mit Werner Kriesel: ''Elektronische digitale Funktionseinheiten.'' In: Funktionseinheiten der technischen Kybernetik, 11. Lehrbrief (F 77/11), Lehrbriefe für das Hochschulfernstudium, hrsg. von der Zentralstelle für das Hochschulfernstudium des Ministeriums für Hoch- und Fachschulwesen 1974. * ''Mikroprozessoren. Wesen, Technologie, Weiterentwicklung, Aufbau, Programmierung, Anwendung.'' Wissenschaftliche Zeitschrift und Kammer der Technik-Hochschulsektion an der TH Ilmenau, Ilmenau 1977, 2. Und 3. Auflage 1978, 4. Auflage 1979, 5. Auflage, KDT-Bezirksverband, Suhl 1980. * mit Todor Shergowski, Walter Krug: ''Speicherschaltkreise der Mikroprozessortechnik.'' Institut für Film, Bild und Ton, Berlin 1982. * mit Todor Shergowski, Walter Krug: ''Funktionsblöcke ausgewählter Mikroprozessoren.'' Institut für Film, Bild und Ton, Berlin 1982. * mit Todor Shergowski, Ilse Renner: ''Peripherie-Schaltkreise der Mikroprozessortechnik.'' Institut für Film, Bild und Ton, Berlin 1983. * ''Evolution und Kooperation – Mensch und intelligenter Automat (Analysen und Hypothesen).'' Habilitation (Dissertation B), Technische Universität, Dresden 1986. * Michael Roth (Hrsg.): ''Beiträge zur Mikrocomputertechnik.'' Verlag Technik, Berlin 1986, . * mit Helga Schwietzke: ''Mikroprozessor-Architekturen.'' Institut für Film, Bild und Ton, Berlin 1988. * ''Die intelligente Maschine – der Computer als Experte.'' Urania-Verlag, Leipzig; Jena; Berlin 1988, . * mit Klaus Kaplick, Dieter Orlamünder, Heinz Bergmann: ''Computertechnik von A bis Z.'' Hrsg.: Jochen Horn.
Fachbuchverlag Leipzig The (''fv''; English: Specialist book publisher Leipzig) is a publisher that was founded in early 1949 by several shareholders (including FDGB, ). The first managing director was . From 1960 to 1990 the specialist book publisher was a state-ow ...
1990, . * ''Universitäten – Hochschulen: akademisch – technologisch?'' Verband Hochschule und Wissenschaft, VHW-Mitteilungen 1/1994. * ''Grundlegende Merkmale der gesellschaftlichen Evolution zur Wissensgesellschaft.'' Verband Hochschule und Wissenschaft, VHW-Mitteilungen 10/1997. * ''Postulate zum Wandel der High-Tech-Industriegesellschaft zur High-Org-Wissensgesellschaft.'' In: Christiane Floyd, Christian Fuchs, Wolfgang Hofkirchner (Hrsg.): ''Stufen zur Informationsgesellschaft. Festschrift zum 65. Geburtstag von Klaus Fuchs-Kittowski.'' Peter Lang – Europäischer Verlag der Wissenschaften, Frankfurt am Main; Berlin; Bern; Bruxelles; New York; Oxford; Wien 2002, . * ''Die Zukunft der „Universität in der Wissensgesellschaft“.'' In: Klaus Fuchs-Kittowski; Rainer E. Zimmermann (Hrsg.): ''Kybernetik, Logik, Semiotik. Philosophische Sichtweisen. Tagung aus Anlass des 100. Geburtstages von
Georg Klaus Georg Klaus (28 December 1912, Nuremberg – 29 July 1974, Berlin) was a German philosopher, cybernetician, chess master, and functionary. In 1928, he started his chess career in Nuremberg, playing at ''Arbeiterschachklub Nürnberg'', then ''Nürnb ...
.'' trafo Wissenschaftsverlag, Berlin 2015 (Abhandlungen der Leibniz-Sozietät der Wissenschaften, Bd. 40), S. 425–440, . * ''Immunsysteme in der biologischen, informationstechnischen und sozialen Evolution.'' In: Frank Fuchs-Kittowski; Werner Kriesel (Hrsg.): ''Informatik und Gesellschaft. Festschrift zum 80. Geburtstag von Klaus Fuchs-Kittowski.'' Peter Lang Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften, PL Academic Research, Frankfurt a. M.; Bern; Bruxelles; New York; Oxford; Warszawa; Wien 2016, (Print), E- (E-Book).


Literature

* Heinrich Kindler: ''Aufgabensammlung zur Regelungstechnik.'' Verlag Technik Berlin, Oldenbourg-Verlag München, Wien, 1964 (mit H. Buchta und H.-H. Wilfert). *
Karl Reinisch :''Content in this edit is translated from the existing German Wikipedia article at :de:Karl Reinisch; see its history for attribution.'' Karl Reinisch (21 August 1921 – 24 January 2007) was a German electrical engineer and professor for contr ...
: ''Kybernetische Grundlagen und Beschreibung kontinuierlicher Systeme''. Verlag Technik Berlin 1974. * Horst Völz: ''Elektronik. Grundlagen, Prinzipien, Zusammenhänge.'' Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 1974, 2. Auflage 1979, 1002 S. * Wolf Martin: ''Mikrocomputer in der Prozessdatenverarbeitung. Aufbau und Einsatz der Mikrocomputer zur Überwachung, Steuerung und Regelung.'' Carl Hanser Verlag, München, Wien 1977, . * Heinz Töpfer, Werner Kriesel: ''Funktionseinheiten der Automatisierungstechnik – elektrisch, pneumatisch, hydraulisch.'' Verlag Technik, Berlin und VDI-Verlag, Düsseldorf 1977, 5. Auflage 1988, . * Albert Jugel: ''Mikroprozessorsysteme.'' Verlag Technik, Berlin 1978. * Wolfgang Schwarz, Gernot Meyer, Dietrich Eckhardt: ''Mikrorechner. Wirkungsweise, Programmierung, Applikation.'' Verlag Technik, Berlin 1980, 2. Auflage 1981. * Wolfgang Fritzsch: ''Prozessrechentechnik. Automatisierte Systeme mit Prozess- und Mikroprozessrechnern.'' Verlag Technik, Berlin 1981, 2.Auflage 1983, 3. Auflage 1986. * Klaus Kabitzsch: ''Mikrorechner in der Automatisierungspraxis.'' Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 1987, . * Manfred Thoma: ''Heinz Töpfer 60 Jahre.'' In: ''Automatisierungstechnik, München.'' Jg. 38, Nr. 7, 1990, S. 245–246. * Peter Neumann u. a.: ''SPS-Standard: IEC 1131 : Programmierung in verteilten Automatisierungssystemen.'' Oldenbourg-Industrieverlag, München; Wien 1995, 2. Auflage 1998, 3. Auflage 2000, . * Werner Kriesel, Hans Rohr, Andreas Koch: ''Geschichte und Zukunft der Mess- und Automatisierungstechnik.'' VDI-Verlag, Düsseldorf 1995, . * Lothar Starke: ''Vom Hydraulischen Regler zum Prozessleitsystem. Die Erfolgsgeschichte der Askania-Werke Berlin und der Geräte- und Regler-Werke Teltow. 140 Jahre Industriegeschichte, Tradition und Zukunft.'' Berliner Wissenschafts-Verlag, Berlin 2009, . * Hans-Joachim Zander, Georg Bretthauer: ''Prof. Heinz Töpfer zum 80. Geburtstag.'' In: ''Automatisierungstechnik, München.'' Jg. 58, Nr. 7, 2010, S. 413–415. * Wolfgang Weller: ''Automatisierungstechnik im Wandel der Zeit – Entwicklungsgeschichte eines faszinierenden Fachgebiets.'' Verlag epubli GmbH Berlin, 2013, sowie als E-Book. * Hans-Joachim Zander: ''Steuerung ereignisdiskreter Prozesse. Neuartige Methoden zur Prozessbeschreibung und zum Entwurf von Steuerungsalgorithmen.'' Springer Vieweg Verlag, Wiesbaden 2015, , E-Book-. * Tilo Heimbold: ''Einführung in die Automatisierungstechnik. Automatisierungssysteme, Komponenten, Projektierung und Planung.''
Fachbuchverlag Leipzig The (''fv''; English: Specialist book publisher Leipzig) is a publisher that was founded in early 1949 by several shareholders (including FDGB, ). The first managing director was . From 1960 to 1990 the specialist book publisher was a state-ow ...
im Carl Hanser Verlag München 2015, , E-Book-. * Ulrich Busch, Michael Thomas (Hrsg.): ''Ein Vierteljahrhundert Deutsche Einheit – Facetten einer unvollendeten Integration.'' trafo Wissenschaftsverlag, Berlin 2015 (Abhandlungen der Leibniz-Sozietät der Wissenschaften, Bd. 42), . * Werner Kriesel: ''Zukunfts-Modelle für Informatik, Automatik und Kommunikation.'' In: Frank Fuchs-Kittowski; Werner Kriesel (Hrsg.): ''Informatik und Gesellschaft. Festschrift zum 80. Geburtstag von Klaus Fuchs-Kittowski.'' Peter Lang Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften, PL Academic Research, Frankfurt a. M.; Bern; Bruxelles; New York; Oxford; Warszawa; Wien 2016, (Print), E- (E-Book).


References


External links

*
Homepage of TU Ilmenau
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roth, Michael Electrical engineers Engineering academics Academic staff of Technische Universität Ilmenau East German scientists Carpathian German people 1936 births 2019 deaths