The Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering mourns the loss of Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dietrich Stein (1938 - 2024). From 1979 until his retirement in 2003, he taught and researched at the Ruhr University in the fields of construction process engineering, pipeline construction and pipeline maintenance. He not only laid the foundation for today's Chair of Tunnelling and Construction Management at the Faculty, but also achieved international recognition with his high level of commitment and outstanding achievements.

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dietrich Stein studied civil engineering at the Cottbus University of Applied Sciences and completed his doctorate in 1970 with the topic "Investigations into the shear strength of coarse-grained bulk materials using a large-format box shear device" at the "Friedrich List" University of Transport in Dresden.

From 1979 until his retirement in 2003, Stein researched and taught at the Ruhr University Bochum. In 1991, he habilitated with the topic "Scour formation and its prevention on offshore platforms" and was appointed university professor for the new research and teaching area "Pipeline construction and maintenance" at the Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, which he had also initiated. With his working group, he has achieved many important research results with far-reaching visibility in the fields of pipeline construction and maintenance. During the vacancy in 2005, the working group was merged with the Chair of Construction Process Engineering, Tunnel Construction and Construction Management, resulting in the current Chair of Tunnelling and Construction Management at the Faculty.

In 1994, on his initiative, the "Institute for Underground Infrastructure" (IKT) was founded as an affiliated institute of the Ruhr University with a focus on sewer technology. He worked there as Scientific Director until 2000. Today, the IKT holds an outstanding international position for applied research in pipeline construction and maintenance.

Stein attracted particular attention from 1998 onwards for his research project CargoCap, an automated underground transportation system for freight in conurbations. To implement his concept, he founded CargoCap GmbH in 2006, which became the consulting company Stein & Partner in 2021. In the final expansion stage, minimally invasive pipeline construction was brought together with individual transportation. With his research activities, Stein anticipated developments that are now being pursued in Switzerland under the name Cargo Sous Terrain.

His specialist books on trenchless pipeline construction and pipeline maintenance are among the standard works in civil engineering that are known worldwide.

In 1998, Stein was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany for his commitment to the international recognition of German wastewater technology and the promotion of scientific cooperation. Numerous patents are also part of his life's work.

In 2018, the "Dietrich Stein Trenchless Outstanding Contribution Award", an international prize for special achievements in closed pipeline construction, was named after him.

Early on, Stein not only initiated further highly qualified work in his specialist field, but also training and further education in this area by founding the engineering firm Prof. Dr.-Ing. Stein & Partner GmbH.

The Faculty is very grateful to Dietrich Stein for his pioneering impulses, scientific successes and his great commitment. In Dietrich Stein, we have lost a knowledgeable engineer who inspired and motivated many.