News Items - International Ballistics Society

In Remembrance of Prof. Klaus Thoma
The International Ballistics Society is deeply affected by the sudden death of its former member of the board of directors Prof. Klaus Thoma who died on June 9, 2018 due to unexpected health complications at the age of 68. Prof. Thoma was the director of the Fraunhofer Institute of High-Speed-Dynamics, Ernst-Mach-Institut, EMI in Freiburg, Germany from 1996 to 2014. He was a pioneer in complementing highly instrumented laboratory experimentation with strain-rate dependent dynamic material characterization in order to apply numerical simulation in a predictive way in the field of impact physics and ballistics. He engaged Fraunhofer EMI to host the 27th International Symposium on Ballistics in Freiburg and was member of the board of directors of the International Ballistics Society from 2013 to 2014.

After the terrorist attacks in New York, Madrid, and London, it was he who engaged in building up German and European security research. He received many honors, among others the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.

We honor his contributions to the International Ballistics Society as a founding and lifetime member.

Published: 07/01/18