Austrian heads global computer association

Computer scientist Gabriele Kotsis of the JKU was elected president of the Association for Computing Machinery.

Starting on 1 July 2020, Professor Gabriele Kotsis, computer scientist at the Johannes Kepler University in Linz (JKU) will serve as head of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). ACM is the world’s largest scientific computer society, bringing together computer scientists at companies, in academia and in the educational sector from around the globe. One of the ACM’s best-known activities is organising the Turing Award, the highest recognition for computer scientists. It is comparable to the Nobel Prize or the highest scientific recognition for mathematicians, the Fields Medal. Kotsis’ opposing candidate was Google Vice-President Elisabeth Churchill.

Gabriele Kotsis considers being elected president as international recognition for computer sciences at the Johannes Kepler University of Linz and remarked: “Just being nominated was a great, very unexpected honour. My opponent at Google is very well-known and I did not have high expectations. This is all the more reason to be thrilled that I, a JKU scientist and Austrian, will be the first non-Anglo-American president.”

JKU Rector Meinhard Lukas also believes Kotsis’ election confirms the JKU’s forward-thinking strategies: “Trailblazers move away from comfortable and familiar paths in order to forge new paths. At the JKU, we support the courage and willingness to think outside of the box and bring about innovation. This environment and a constant willingness to innovate creates people like Gabriele Kotsis who have a formative influence beyond this country’s borders.”

During her term as president, Kotsis wants to focus more on the know-how and expertise of the ACM members. “No other area has more influence to shape the coming times and future technologies,” the JKU researcher emphasises. “Worldwide problems must be tackled globally and independent from individual interests. Whether it’s climate change, medical research, or preserving democracy: the ACM has the potential to be an ethical pioneer in all areas of computer science.” ◆ Photo: Gebhart de Koekkoek

About Professor Gabriele Kotsis

Born in 1967, Gabriele Kotsis studied business informatics in Vienna, also earning her doctorate degree there with distinction. She has been at the JKU since 2002, heading the Institute for Telecooperation. Gabriele Kotsis also served as Vice-Rector for Research between 2007 and 2015. As a founding member of ACM Europe, she has received numerous awards for her research, including the „femtech Expert / Researcher of the Month“ and the Heinz Zemanek Award of the Austrian Computer Society for outstanding scientific research in the fields of computer science and related disciplines.

RUAG Space: Austrian hi-tech for the sun and the moon

RUAG Space Austria is the country’s largest space company and supplies high-tech to missions to the sun and the moon.

Austrian technology is on the way to the sun: In February 2020 a European space mission took off, travelling to the centre of our solar system – the sun. Technology from RUAG Space Austria made this project possible. The satellite’s heat protection was made in Berndorf. The insulation can withstand temperatures of up to 300 degrees Celsius and makes up the thermal system of the space probe Solar Orbiter together with a special shield. “When you are making heat protection for a mission to the scorching hot sun you are at the top of space technology. No wonder we are the European market leader for thermal insulation,” says Andreas Buhl, Country Manager of RUAG Space Austria.

Space electronics for the Lunar Gateway

RUAG Space also contributes significantly to the construction of a space station for astronauts on the way to the moon. Together with the Austrian high-tech company TTTech, RUAG Space is supplying NASA with electronics for the so-called Lunar Gateway. From 2024 onwards it will replace the International Space Station ISS as a stopover for missions to the moon and Mars. The

Facts & Figures

RUAG Space Austria from Vienna is Austria’s largest space technology company with an annual turnover of about 45 million euros. The high-tech company equips satellites and launchers all around the world with electronics, mechanics and thermal insulation. RUAG Space is the European market leader in navigation receivers for the exact positioning of satellites and market leader in thermal insulation to protect satellites from extreme cold and heat in space. The company employs about 250 people at its sites in Wien-Meidling and Berndorf (Lower Austria), and is part of the international technology company RUAG International headquartered in Switzerland.

RUAG Space GmbH Stachegasse 16, 1120 Vienna +43/1/801 99 www.ruag.com/space

Photo: RUAG, Anna Rauchenberger

“When you are making heat protection for a mission to the scorching hot sun you are at the top of space technology. No wonder we are the European market leader for thermal insulation.”

Andreas Buhl, Country Manager of RUAG Space Austria

technology from Austria allows the space station to transfer data as fast and safely as possible. “Working on a NASA project is an accolade for every space engineer,” says Buhl. “The cooperation of two Viennese companies shows that you can set new standards in space technology when you work together.”

High-precision positioning of satellites

RUAG Space also has a leading position in the market of precisely determining the position of satellites. “The accuracy of satellite data depends highly on the precision determination of a satellite’s position,” Buhl explains. RUAG Space has been providing hightech navigation receivers for decades to determine a satellite’s position in space up to only a few centimetres. There are currently 20 navigation receivers from RUAG Space in use, for example at environmental satellites from NASA and the European Space Agency ESA.