History

Graz University of Technology originated from the Joanneum, which was founded by Archduke Johann and named in his honour. On November 26, 1811, the Joanneum was transferred to the estates of the Duchy of Styria. On October 18, 1864, it was elevated to the status of a university of technology.

In the academic year 1968/69, three faculties were established: Civil Engineering and Architecture, Natural Sciences, and Mechanical and Electrical Engineering. The Faculty of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering offered degrees in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Process Engineering, and Engineering Management. At that time, eleven chairs were associated with the field of mechanical engineering. Among them were the Chair and Institute of Turbomachinery II, Control and Motor Vehicles, and the Chair and Institute of Engineering Theory I. Later, the college council decided to adapt these two institutes to meet evolving academic and industrial needs. On April 22, 1969, the two chairs were merged and renamed the Chair and Institute of Thermal Turbomachinery. Its responsibilities included representing the field of thermal turbomachinery in both teaching and research, as well as continuing work in machine dynamics and gear theory. With the upcoming construction projects at Inffeldgasse, the institute was also tasked with establishing a research laboratory for thermal turbomachinery.

In 1969, a committee convened to appoint a professorship for the new Institute of Thermal Turbomachinery. Out of 22 applicants, the following shortlist was proposed: 1) Dipl.-Ing. Dr.techn. Herbert Jericha: 2) Dipl.-Ing. Dr.techn. Irolt Killmann or 3) Dr.-Ing. Joachim Buxmann. On October 6, 1970, o. HProf. Dr.techn. Herbert Jericha officially took over the institute from o. HProf. Dr. Kurt Bauer. At that time, the staff consisted of four academic assistants and one secretary. Initially, only three office rooms were available; later, a basement room was used as a workshop and laboratory.

In 1975, a request was submitted to rename the institute to the Institute of Thermal Turbomachinery and Machine Dynamics. This was justified by the fact that a course in machine dynamics was defined as part of the teaching duties of the institute. Furthermore, relevant equipment had been acquired, and significant work had already been conducted for the Austrian industry in this area. The combination of thermal turbomachinery and machine dynamics proved highly beneficial for research, as machine dynamics plays a crucial role in the design and operation of thermal turbomachinery alongside fluid mechanics and thermodynamics. The name change was approved at the start of the 1980/81 academic year.

The institute relocated to a new building at Inffeldgasse in August 1986. Three years later, on January 24, 1990 — twenty years after the beginning of construction — the laboratory began operation. Over the next three years, the necessary technical equipment was acquired, allowing the construction of the planned test rigs to commence. On December 21, 1992, the state building authority gave the institute the compressor plant MTI-TTM which consisted of two turbo compressors and one screw compressor that made it possible for the first time to realize large-scale transonic tests and confirm the results of the research that was up to that point only theoretical and numerical. The concept for this test rig had been developed shortly after the institute's founding, based on the research objectives foreseen for the institute. The tender documentation was prepared in August 1983, and the contract was awarded later that year to a consortium of companies. Construction of the system's individual components began in 1986. Following the initial run in 1990, three more years were needed to overhaul the compressor and optimize control strategies. The full system — including compressor and cooling units — was completed eighteen years after the initial planning began.

In 1994, an interdisciplinary research initiative by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) was launched to improve the efficiency and reduce emissions of thermal power plants. This program supported research into the fundamental principles of thermal power generation. The Institute of Thermal Turbomachinery and Machine Dynamics (ITTM) was assigned four of the eleven defined projects. In 1997, ITTM significantly advanced its measurement capabilities with the acquisition of state-of-the-art non-contact optical instruments based on laser technology, enabling high-precision qualitative and quantitative analysis of flow and vibration.

Today, ITTM is one of the leading institutes in the field of thermal turbomachinery, actively contributing to research and development, staying at the forefront of innovation, and employing the most advanced techniques available.