Congratulations, Professor Nowacki!

Congratulations, Professor Nowacki!

I will never forget your great expertise, your friendliness and above all your helpfulness towards me as a newcomer in the university jungle at that time. You always supported me in word and deed.

I was particularly impressed by your lectures, which were my first courses in Germany. They were the deciding factor for the selection of my doctoral topic and my subsequent research work.

I always remember with pleasure that you took care of me and even my wife from the very beginning, not only at the official level but also in the private sphere, and made it much easier for us to settle into a new cultural environment.

I like to think back to the get-together in your house after Christmas 1989. The onion tart, which my wife and I did not know and thought was a dessert, is unforgotten to this day.

As chairman of the Hydrodynamics Technical Committee of the Schiffbautechnische Gesellschaft (STG), you travelled from Berlin to Hamburg every year, and I was allowed to accompany you each time. I always looked forward to our exciting conversations during the train journey more than to the technical committee meetings.

When I took over the chairmanship of the Technical Committee myself and travelled from Duisburg to Hamburg for the first time, I remembered our fruitful conversations on the train with gratitude.

An unforgettable episode took place when I was to give a talk on my doctoral topic for the STG Hydrodynamics Speech Day. We had arranged to meet at Zoo station to travel together to Hamburg. The underground had a breakdown just before the zoo and did not continue. With the result that I was allowed to watch the train to Hamburg from behind.

At that time there was no beamer and I had the overhead transparencies in my bag. What to do? You had no slides to give the lecture in my place. Fortunately, there was a quick bus connection between station Zoo and airport Tegel and a 20-minute flight to Hamburg. On the plane, coffee and a sandwich were served with the advice to drink the coffee quickly and eat the sandwich after getting off the plane, as there was not enough time until landing. Flights between Berlin and Hamburg no longer exist, but I am glad that the German division is a thing of the past.

However, you were very surprised that I still turned up on time for the STG Speech Day.

I also think back with pleasure to our Zehlendorf “neighbourhood”, because you gave me a lot of valuable advice at the beginning of my work as a professor in Duisburg.

The fact that I was able to meet you and to work with you is a great fortune for me, which has shaped my entire professional life. I thank you very deeply for this and wish you many wonderful events, happiness and, above all, good health for the next years of your life!

Moustafa Abdel-Maksoud