A shocking message that Janos Urai passed away from a climbing accident last weekend.
I very well remember the time when Janos first took his Professorship at RWTH Aachen in 1996, where he stayed for the next 24 years until his retirement in 2020. Janos started with a small, enthusiastic team, and I was fortunate to be one of the group members. He established the “Endogene Dynamik” institute with hardly any equipment and not much space. Eventually, because of his ability to handle both fundamental research and industry funded projects, he continuously developed his department and his team, which went on to contribute in the field of Structural Geology and Tectonics research.
In his research he contributed to many topics such as recrystallization, vein microstructures, salt rheology, nanoporosity or the development of faults in a sandbox; field, experiments and modeling, among others. I am happy that his contribution to research was acknowledged by the German Geological Society with the Steinmann medal last year, and I remember the nice chat we had after the ceremony.
His endless creativity, his focused discussions, and his guidance towards innovative approaches and publications will never be forgotten. He had a very creative way of teaching structural geology to students using pudding and cherries, chocolate, cheese and a stack of paper. However, his requirements to pass examinations and seminars were high. During field trips he untied the beauty of structural geology with his enthusiasm and his ever-positive attitude.
His passion for mountaineering started decades ago, with routes such as El-Capitan in the 1980’s, vertical ascents in Oman, numerous peaks in the Alps and elsewhere, up to now.
The sky is the limit – he often said.
May his soul rest in peace!
Chris
Univ.-Prof. Dr. Christoph Hilgers
Chair of Structural Geology
Spokesperson KIT Institute of Applied Geosciences
Spokesperson KIT Climate and Environment Center
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology – KIT
Adenauerring 20a
76131 Karlsruhe
Germany
[W] https://sgt.agw.kit.edu
[W] https://www.klima-umwelt.kit.edu/english/index.php
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