Eveline Gottzein

Eveline Gottzein (30 September 1931 – 24 December 2023)

After completing her secondary education and earning her Abitur in 1949, Gottzein completed an apprenticeship in Electrical Engineering at the RFT Centre for Telecommunication in Leipzig. East German state policies encouraged women into technical fields such as engineering although Gottzein struggled to get a recommendation for further study due to her family's status. She took up hiking in the Bavarian mountains. She was also an honorary professor of the Technical University of Munich.

Gottzein specialised in control technology, especially orbital control of satellites, and control systems for guidance systems for high-speed magnetic tracks. She was a scientific advisor to Airbus in the development of a GPS receiver for commercial space applications. She is listed as an inventor on multiple patents. She led the Control and Simulation Department of the Space Division of Astrium.

In 1993, Gottzein was the first, and so far only, woman to be awarded the Werner von Siemens Ring, one of the highest awards for technical sciences in Germany.

Awards 1993 Werner von Siemens Ring 1996 Bavarian Order of Merit 2008 International Federation of Automatic Control Fellow 2011 Distinguished Affiliated Professor Technical University of Munich