Prof. Dr. Carsten Sommer honored with Feuchtinger-Wehner Medal

Prof. Sommer received the award "for outstanding scientific-theoretical as well as practical work in the fields of planning, design and operation in road and traffic engineering". It is awarded every two years at the German Road and Transport Congress to a transport scientist up to the age of 45. The award is considered the highest honor in transportation in the German-speaking world.

The award winner is nominated by the Board of Trustees of the Max Erich Feuchtinger/Bruno Wehner Foundation. The foundation awards the memorial coin in memory of the two great transport scientists Feuchtinger and Wehner.

Laudatio Feuchtinger-Wehner Award 2018

In memory of Max-Erich Feuchtinger and Bruno Wehner, two outstanding personalities and professional capacities in the field of road and traffic engineering, a foundation was established by former friends and colleagues with the purpose of honoring young engineers whose work "in the fields of planning, design and operation in road and traffic engineering brings essential knowledge  about theoretical principles or shows solutions for practical problems." Based on his achievements and successful work, the members of the Board of Trustees of the Feuchtinger-Wehner Foundation have elected Univ.-Prof. Dr. lng. Carsten Sommer as the laureate of the year 2018.

ln his laudatory speech, Prof. Roos described Prof. Sommer's career and acknowledged his achievements to date:

Prof. Sommer studied civil engineering at the Technical University of Braunschweig and Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh (USA), graduating in 1997. He then stayed at the University in Braunschweig and worked as a research associate  at the Institute of Transportation and Urban Engineering. His research activities culminated in a dissertation on the recording of traffic behavior using mobile radio technology, with which he not only set innovative standards, but also received his doctorate in 2002.

Subsequently, Prof. Sommer worked for 6 years at WVI Prof. Dr. Wermuth Verkehrsforschung  und Infrastrukturplanung GmbH, until he took over the professorship for traffic planning, road design and public transport as well as the management of the department of traffic planning and traffic systems at the University of Kassel in May 2010.

Prof. Sommer's scientific work covers the entire field of integrated transport planning, such as transport demand in the context of settlement structure, socio-demographics and socio-economics, its survey in particular  also by means of new lnf rmation and communication technologies, up to modeling  and action-based forecasting  of transport including the assessment of its environmental impact. A special focus of his activities lies in the field of public transport systems, their demand development, service design and economic efficiency, especially using new fare structures and lnformation techniques. The list of his publications shows a broad spectrum of scientific and practice-oriented  work.

Prof. Sommer is a valued honorary member and advisor in a number of professional institutions, including the FGSV as head of the commission "Research Program Urban Transport" and as head of the working committee "Organization and Financing of Public Transport" as well as in the Coordination Committee Transport and other working committees.

He is a very pleasant professional colleague who enjoys a high reputation in the research community. The described professional achievements and his great commitment to the dissemination of academic knowledge in practice have led to Prof. Sommer being awarded the Feuchtinger-Wehner-Denkmünze as the 25th laureate during the Road and Transport Congress 2018. The memorial coin is also associated with a cash prize of EUR 4,000.00.

Univ.-Prof. Dr.-lng. Dr.h.c. Ralf Roos