José Encarnacao

From IRF 2007

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dr. h.c. mult., Dr. E.h. Jose Encarnação, Fraunhofer IGD

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dr. h.c. mult., Dr. E.h. Jose Encarnação was born in Portugal and has been living in the Federal Republic of Germany since 1959. Since 1975, he has been professor for computer science at the Technical University Darmstadt and is head of the chair Graphical-Interactive Systems (TUD-GRIS).

Under Professor Encarnação´s leadership, the INI-GraphicsNet was established. This institutional network with more than 350 staff members, over 500 parttime student employees, and a budget of more than 40 million euros is one of the global key players in the area of visualization technologies, new media, and new forms of communications and interaction. Beyond this he founded a private enterprise, the INI-GraphicsNet Investitions Holding GmbH and, himself as one of the sponsor, the INI-GraphicsNet Foundation.

Professor Encarnação holds a Dipl.-Ing. and Dr.-Ing. in electrical engineering from the Technical University of Berlin. He is author or co-author of more than 500 publications and articles, and is editor-in-chief of Computers & Graphics, published by Elsevier Science. Since July 2001, he has been chairman of the information and communication group of the Fraunhofer society, with 15 institutes in 10 locations in Germany with a staff of 3,000 people and an annual budget of €190 million.

Professor Encarnação has received numerous awards degrees, including the German Federal Service Cross, the German Federal Service Cross First Class, Portugal´s "Ordem Militar de San´Iago de Espada" and the Fraunhofer Medal. In addition, he has received honorary professorships from the Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, China, and the Universidade Estadual de Campinas in São Paulo, Brazil, as well as honorary doctorates from the Universidade Técnica de Lisboa, the University of Rostock, and the Universidade do Minho.