Obituary: Matthias Drochner has Died

15 August 2018

Following a prolonged illness, our long-standing colleague Matthias Drochner passed away on Saturday, 4th August 2018, at 51 years of age.

Matthias Drochner began his career at Forschungszentrum Jülich in 1994 as a Physics graduate and went on to obtain his doctorate on 10th April 1996 after research work at the TU Dresden and what is now the Central Institute of Engineering, Electronics and Analytics – Electronic Systems (ZEA-2) with his thesis “Construction of a flexible data acquisition system for the GEM experiment at the Jülich accelerator COSY and measurements of the reaction pp → π+d close to the production threshold”.

Later on, he changed departments to work at the Jülich Centre for Neutron Science – Quantum Materials and Collective Phenomena (JCNS-2). Due to his high level of commitment and his extensive knowledge, he was assigned many complex tasks in the area of scientific instrumentation, particularly in the field of neutron scattering, which up until his illness he undertook with great enthusiasm and a high level of expertise.

In Matthias Drochner, we are losing not only an exceptionally experienced and competent member of staff, but also a highly regarded and esteemed colleague and friend, who will be sorely missed. We will continue to hold him in grateful remembrance.

It is with deep sadness and regret that we mourn the passing of Matthias Drochner. Our thoughts are especially with his mother, father, brother and all his relatives. We wish them courage and fortitude at this difficult time.

JCNS Institute Directors, Staff of Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH in Jülich, Garching, Grenoble and Oak Ridge.