Dieter K. Hammer is an Austrian computer scientist and educator whose career combined university teaching, software engineering, and industrial consulting. He worked in software development and telecommunications at Philips, later becoming a professor at Eindhoven University of Technology and contributing to research on compilers, software architecture, dependable computing, and information technology.
Background
Dieter K. Hammer was born on September 10, 1940, in Vienna, Austria, to Fritz and Maria (Arnold) Hammer. He grew up in Vienna and developed a career during the period in which computing was moving from specialized institutional systems toward industrial and commercial applications.
His professional life later connected Austrian technical education with the expanding Dutch information-technology sector. His work at Philips and Eindhoven University of Technology placed him within the development of software engineering, computer systems, and telecommunications in Europe during the late twentieth century.
Education
Hammer received a bachelor's degree from Technology College in Vienna in 1959. He continued at Vienna University of Technology, receiving a master's degree in 1966 and a Doctor of Philosophy in 1971. The university, founded in 1815 as the Imperial-Royal Polytechnic Institute, was Austria's principal technical university and provided the setting for his development as a computer scientist and educator.
In 1987 he became a professor at Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands. TU/e, founded in 1956, was established to support advanced technical education and research in the industrial region of Eindhoven, where Philips had helped create a major center of European technology development. Hammer's later academic work focused on software engineering, systems architecture, and related areas of computer science.
Career
Hammer began his academic career as an assistant professor at Vienna University of Technology from 1971 to 1976. He then moved into industrial software development with Philips Systems Development, where he headed software engineering from 1976 to 1980, followed by service as head of operating-system development at Philips Telecom in Hilversum from 1980 to 1982. Philips was a major European electronics and technology company whose research and product-development activities contributed to the growth of computing, telecommunications, and consumer electronics.
From 1983 to 1986, Hammer was head of software engineering at Philips British Computer Society. In 1987 he became a professor at Eindhoven University of Technology, where he worked in computer science and software engineering. His academic environment included research on software architecture, component-based systems, dependability, compilers, and the organization of complex information-technology systems.
Hammer also worked as a consultant with Sagres Services in Zeist from 1991 to 1993 and as an associate of Trigon Consultant in Graz from 1994. His later interests included information management, software architecture, artificial intelligence, and the social and philosophical implications of modern technology. He became professor emeritus at Eindhoven University of Technology and was also associated with the University of Groningen as an emeritus professor.
Achievements
Hammer co-invented a Philips data-processing system involving buffer-memory switching and shared bus structures, documented in a patent with Peter Michel and Titus Schwanda.
Hammer contributed to the development of computer-science knowledge through research and teaching on compiler construction, software architecture, component-based systems, and dependable computing.
(Edited proceedings of the second CCHSC Workshop, held in ...)
1989
Views
Hammer's later reflections on information technology emphasized that understanding the spiritual and human dimensions of modern technology is necessary for responsible use of computing and artificial intelligence. His interests included questions about thinking, consciousness, freedom, and transhumanism, linking technical development with wider philosophical issues.
Quotations:
The spiritual background is the key to responsible use of modern technology.
Membership
Hammer was a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Computer Society, a professional organization serving the computer-science and engineering communities through technical publications, conferences, and standards activities. He was also a founding member of the Action Learning Association in Zeist from 1994, an organization concerned with learning through practical inquiry and organizational experience.
Senior member
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Computer Society
Founding member
Action Learning Association
,
Netherlands
1994
Personality
Hammer has described the spiritual background of modern technology as important to responsible engagement with information technology and artificial intelligence. His later educational and mentoring work connected technical subjects with questions concerning meaning, freedom, consciousness, and the human consequences of technological development.
Quotes from others about the person
Dieter Hammer was described in a Vrije Hogeschool profile as an emeritus professor of technical computer science and software engineering whose interests included the social and philosophical questions raised by information and communication technology.
Interests
Reading, music, jogging, mountain climbing, and skiing.
Sport & Clubs
Jogging, mountain climbing, and skiing.
Music & Bands
Music is among Hammer's documented avocations.
Connections
Hammer married Alwina Dick on February 18, 1967; their marriage ended in divorce in October 1985. They had three children, Veronica, Ulrike, and Clara. He married Minne E. Kruseman on September 30, 1989, and they had one child, Loren.
Father:
Fritz Hammer
Mother:
Maria (Arnold) Hammer
Spouse:
Minne E. Kruseman
Hammer married Kruseman on September 30, 1989; they had one child, Loren.
Spouse:
Alwina Dick
Hammer married Dick on February 18, 1967; their marriage ended in divorce in October 1985, and they had three children.
child:
Veronica Hammer
child:
Ulrike Hammer
child:
Loren Hammer
child:
Clara Hammer
References
Vrije Hogeschool mentor profile: Dieter Hammer
Documents Hammer's emeritus academic positions, interests in information and communication technology, artificial intelligence, transhumanism, and the spiritual dimensions of technology.
Technical University Eindhoven Cursor vacancy notice
Documents Hammer's position in the computer-science faculty at Eindhoven University of Technology and his involvement in software-architecture and industrial research activities.
Hammer received the Fritz Kohlrausch Award of the Austrian Physical Society in 1978 for his contribution to the field of computer science and technology.
Hammer received the Fritz Kohlrausch Award of the Austrian Physical Society in 1978 for his contribution to the field of computer science and technology.
