The Annual General Meeting of the German Aviation Research Society (GARS) e.V. elected a new Board of Directors on December 1, 2023 as part of the European Aviation Conference in Luxembourg. Prof. Dr. Hans-Martin Niemeier, who did not stand for re-election as Chairman of the Board after more than 20 years at the helm of the association, was bid farewell by the Annual General Meeting. Prof. Dr. Hans-Martin Niemeier was awarded the title “Honorary Chairman for Life”. He will continue to actively support GARS in this position.
Board member Jörg-Stefan Fritz also no longer stood for election to the Board. The Annual General Meeting elected Prof. Dr. Achim Czerny (The Hong Kong Polytechnic University) as the new Chairman of the Board. Prof. Dr. Frank Fichert (Worms University of Applied Sciences) was elected as Deputy Chairman. Dr. Ane Ripoll-Zarraga (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona) and Dr. Tolga Ülkü (IU International University of Applied Sciences) were elected as new members of the Board. Dr. Sven Maertens and Wolfgang Grimme were confirmed as managing directors, Sabine Grimme as treasurer.
Prof. Dr. Achim Czerny: “I would like to express my sincere thanks for the trust of the members. We have a strong new Executive Board team. I look forward to working with them. I would especially like to congratulate Prof. Dr. Hans-Martin Niemeier. His work has advanced aviation research in Germany, Europe and worldwide.”
GARS is again planning a series of events for 2024, including the Junior Workshop, which will take place in Antwerp in June. Further webinars and article series are also planned in cooperation with airliners.de.