Academic Career and Research Areas
Professor Schilling’s research areas are fluid mechanics and the development of numerical tools for the analysis of hydraulic turbomachinery. Born in 1944, Professor Schilling studied mechanical engineering at the University of Karlsruhe from 1964 to 1970. After spending one year working for the Pump Manufacturer KSB, he returned to Karlsruhe, completing his doctoral studies at the University’s Institute of Fluid Mechanics and Fluid Machinery in 1976 and obtaining his postdoctoral teaching qualification in the same field in 1979. He then joined the Turbine Manufacturer VOITH and became head of the company’s Research and Development department in 1984. In 1988, he was appointed to the chair of Hydraulic Machinery and Plants at the Technical University of Munich. In 1994, Professor Schilling assumed chairmanship of the German Board of Faculties for Engineering and Technology for a four-year period. He was Vice Dean and Dean of the Faculty from 1996 to 2000 and a member of the Academic Senate from 2001 to 2003. He was then elected Vice President for six years and became a member of the Executive Board of the T.I.M.E. Association. From 2004 to 2010, he expanded and developed the German Institute of Science & Technology (GIST) in Singapore in his capacity as Managing Director of the institute and, while there, played a leading role in the conception and planning of the CREATE Project “Electromobility in Megacities” which was proposed to the National Research Foundation in 2009 and received approval from the same in 2010.
Awards
- Golden Badge of Honor of the VDMA Pumps + Systems Association, Frankfurt am Main, Germany (2013)
- Award for “outstanding contributions to the promotion of the partnership between NTU and TUM”, Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore (2010)
- Honorary Doctorate from the Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, Russian Federation (2009)
- ISROMAC Award of the Pacific Center of Thermal – Fluid Engineering, Hawaii, (2000)
- Best Paper Award of the MTM III Conference on Hydro Power Plants, Ex-en Provence, France (1998)
Key Publications
Schilling R, Thum S: „A Critical Review on the Development of Pump-Turbines for Decentralized Small Pumped Storage Power Plants“. 19. Internationales Seminar “Wasserkraftanlagen”, TU Wien, November 2016.
Schilling R, Schober G, Hutter M, Thum S: „Development of a Radial - Axial Pump -Turbine for Decentralized Small Pumped Storage Power Plants“. Wasserwirtschaft, Extraausgabe. 2015; 13: 43-47.
Schilling R, Gantner A, Thum S, Hutter M: „Entwicklung optimaler Turbinen für Kleinwasserkraftwerke“. Internationales Anwenderforum für Kleinwasserkraftwerke, Luzern, Schweiz, 2013.
Schilling R: „Application of CFD-Techniques in Fluid Machinery“. Conference on Modelling Fluid Flow (CMFF03), Budapest, Hungary, 2003.
Schilling R et al.: „Experimental and Theoretical Loss Analysis in a Kaplan Turbine“. Modelling, Testing & Monitoring for Hydro Power Plants III, Ex-en Provence, France. Int. Journal of Hydro Power & Dams. 1998; 5(6): 63-67.