Verein Deutscher Ingenieure (VDI) (English: Association of German Engineers) is an organization of over 150,000

engineers Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the li ...

and natural scientists. More than 12,000 honorary experts process the latest technical findings each year to promote the technology location. Established in 1856, it is the largest engineering association in Western

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entir ...

. Its role in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

is comparable to that of the

American Society of Civil Engineers American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

(ASCE) in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

or Engineers Australia (EA) in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country b ...

, but includes broader field work. It is not a union, but promotes the advancement of technology and represents the interests of engineers and engineering businesses in Germany.

History

The organization was founded on May 12, 1856 by fellow researchers from the Academic Fraternity Hütte, in the small town of

Alexisbad Alexisbad is a small spa town, part of Harzgerode in the district of Harz, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Geography Alexisbad is located about northwest of the Harzgerode town centre on the Bundesstrasse 185 road to Ballenstedt. It is situated in ...

, with the first journal officially being released to the public in 1857. In 1866 the VDI helped establish the predecessor of Technischer Überwachungsverein, the Dampfkesselüberwachungsvereinen (English: Steam boiler inspection association). At the time, engineering was not regarded to be of the same ranking as scientific disciplines, which the VDI changed in 1899, with the re-categorisation of the Technische Hochschule as a type of

University A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

. In 1923 the VDI Verlag was founded, publishing monthly newspapers which are distributed to members. After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

the VDI moved its headquarters from

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

to Düsseldorf, where it remains now today. It also helped establish the Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Kerntechnik (English: Society for Nuclear Technology) in 1956, which resulted in the German Atomforum, in 1959. In recent times, the VDI worked in conjunction with EXPO 2000 Hannover GmbH to establish the first worldwide engineering day.

Structure

Throughout its history, the VDI has been served by many presidents, including: *

Carl von Linde Carl Paul Gottfried von Linde (11 June 1842 – 16 November 1934) was a German scientist, engineer, and businessman. He discovered a refrigeration cycle and invented the first industrial-scale air separation and gas liquefaction processes, whi ...

(1904–1905) *

Oskar von Miller Oskar von Miller (7 May 1855 – 9 April 1934) was a German engineer and founder of the Deutsches Museum, a large museum of technology and science in Munich. Biography Born in Munich into an Upper Bavarian family from Aichach, he was the son o ...

(1912–1914) * Fritz Todt (1939–1942) * Hans Bluhm (1947–1952) * Hans Schuberth (1953–1956) * Gerhard Wilhelm Becker (1978–1982) * Karl Eugen Becker (1983–1988)''Absatzwirtschaft:'
Meldung
vom 1. Dezember 1988 * Joachim Pöppel (1989–1991) * Klaus Czeguhn (1992–1994)''Absatzwirtschaft:'
Meldung
vom 1. Juni 1994 * Hans-Jürgen Warnecke (1995–1997) * Hubertus Christ (1998–2003) * Eike Lehmann (2004–2007) * Bruno O. Braun (2007-2012) * Udo Ungeheuer (2013–2018) * Volker Kefer (since 2019)

Notable Members

* Blake R. Van Leer, United States Army officer and president of

Georgia Institute of Technology The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part o ...

Blake Van Leer Named Dean Of Engineering
/ref> *

Membership

In 2013 the VDI had over 150,000 registered members worldwide, which also included

scientists A scientist is a person who conducts scientific research to advance knowledge in an area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engaged in the philosophica ...

and I.T professionals. Members have opportunities to ask for help regarding job prospects and opportunities, receive news about the engineering profession, especially in Germany, as well as other services such as specialized insurance. Members are also able to attach the suffix ''VDI'' upon becoming a member, and is classified as a legitimate name suffix.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Engineering societies based in Germany