Prof. Dr. Erich Wintermantel, 03.05.1956-03.02.2022
We are saddened to learn of the untimely death of Prof. Erich Wintermantel, former Chair of Biocompatible Materials Science and Engineering in our Department. Erich was responsible for the very first steps of D-MATL in the direction of biomaterials—a field that has subsequently become central to the research of many Departmental groups, and which still plays an important part in our current Bachelor’s and Master’s curricula.
Born in Tuttlingen, Germany, Erich studied medicine at the University of Tübingen, before going on to carry out research at the Universities of Western Ontario, California, Montréal and Toulouse, in addition to carrying out clinical studies in neurosurgery, as well as in abdominal, heart and orthopedic surgery. He joined the ETH Zurich in 1986, receiving his Habilitation in biomaterials and medical implants in 1991. After a productive two-year stint with Prof. Robert Langer at MIT, he was hired as Associate Professor in the Department of Materials (then Departement Werkstoffe) in 1992, becoming Full Professor in 1995. He remained in the Department until 2000, when he moved back to Germany to become Professor at the Technical University of Munich, founding the Central Institute for Medical Engineering, later also establishing the Polymer Engineering Lab.
Erich’s research covered a broad area, ranging from hip implants to biodegradable polymers for tissue engineering. His Biokompatible Werkstoffe und Bauweisen lecture course was extremely popular with students, although some found the vivid clinical surgery videos rather challenging. His students from that time also describe memorable excursions to operating rooms, to witness live hip prothesis surgery! The popularity of Erich’s teaching continued in Munich, where among many other prizes, including the Dr. Richard Escales Preis 2013—a prestigious media prize—, he won an award for the best lecture in Mechanical Engineering (2010).
From Erich’s ETH days, other notable achievements included several spin-off companies, including Degradable Solutions (later acquired by Sunstar Group) and MedTech Composites, as well as the first editions of his extremely successful textbook on biomaterials with Dr Suk-Woo Ha entitled Biokompatible Werkstoffe und Bauweisen. Implante für Medizin und Umwelt (Springer, Berlin 1996). Several of his ETH alumni have gone on to achieve top positions in industry.
The Department expresses its heartfelt sympathy to Erich’s family, friends, and former students.