Gert Heinrich

Gert Heinrich (born 13 December 1950) is a German physicist, materials scientist and TU Dresden university lecturer. He is known for contributions to "statistical-mechanical and constitutive continuum theory, molecular dynamics, friction theory and fracture mechanics" of polymers.

Education Gert Heinrich was born on 13 December 1950 in Plauen, East Germany. He grew up in Pausa and in 1969, after graduating from high school and completing his skilled work as a bricklayer, began studying physics at the Friedrich Schiller University in Jena, which he completed in 1973 with his diploma thesis in the department of "Applied Quantum Theory" under Gerhard Weber on the topic of "On the theory of multiphoton processes in strong electromagnetic fields". He then worked as a scientific assistant and senior assistant in the physics section at the Carl Schorlemmer Technical University of Leuna-Merseburg (THLM). He received his doctorate in the field of theoretical physics under the supervision of Günter Helmis in 1978 on the topic of "Mechanical properties of polymer networks taking into account the impenetrability of the network chains".

In 1984 he obtained the Facultas Docendi in theoretical physics and in 1985 he qualified as a professor with his thesis "Development and application of a theory of polymer networks and melting under molecular field theoretical consideration of topology conservation".

In 2009 he turned down an offer of a W3 professorship for "Micro- and Nanostructure-Based Polymer Composites" at the Martin Luther University Halle/Wittenberg and the Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials (IWM) Halle/S.

From 2005 to 2012 he was an elected member of the Chemistry/Polymer Sciences Review Board of the German Research Foundation (DFG). At the same time he headed the DFG-funded research group FOR 597 "Statistical Mechanics and Fracture Mechanics of Rubbers".

Gert Heinrich is the author and co-author of over 800 scientific articles, patents and books on the physics and theory of polymer networks, on mechanical reinforcement, production and processing of polymer materials and elastomers, composite materials, rubber technology, friction and wear of elastomers, and the physics and technology of car and truck tires. He founded the research field "Rubberiomics" as a concept for holistic research approaches to elastomers.

He also works as a consultant for companies in the polymer and tire industry. From 2007 to 2016 he organized regular seminars for doctoral students and visiting scientists in Pausa/Vogtland, as well as annual discussion forums at the same location since 1990, including: with the publicist, teacher and political activist Wolfgang Mayer and the physicist, university lecturer and founder of the company Supracon AG (Jena) Hans-Georg Meyer.

Awards 2015 - Colwyn Medal of Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM³), London/UK 2015 - George Stafford Whitby Award (American Chemical Society, Rubber Division, USA) 2015 - Carl-Dietrich-Harries Medal of the German Rubber Society 2017 - Lifetime Achievement Award, awarded by Tire Technology International Magazine 2024 - H.F. Mark Medal, Austrian Research Institute for Chemistry and Technology 2024 – Charles Goodyear Medal of the Rubber Division of the American Chemical Society.