Monika Ivantysynova was born in 1955 in Polenz, Germany. After completing her PhD at the Technical University of Bratislava in 1983, she worked for seven years in industry, gaining expertise in hydraulic systems and component design, modeling and system simulation, and in the development of hydraulic pumps and motors. In 1990 she returned to academia, where she researched hydraulic actuation systems and control for aircraft applications at the Technical University of Hamburg-Harburg. In 1996 she took up the Chair in Hydraulic Systems and Control at the University of Duisburg, returning to TUHH as Professor of Mechatronic System Design three years later, establishing a comprehensive fluid power research laboratory. In 2004 Monika was appointed MAHA Professor of Fluid Power Systems at Purdue University, where she pushed ahead with her many research passions, including comprehensive simulation and optimization methods for hydraulic piston pumps, and energy-efficient mobile hydraulic machines using pump-controlled actuation.
As well as being a dedicated leader of her own research team, she energetically engaged with fluid power researchers throughout the world, travelling to the major conferences on all continents. Her presence – questioning, cajoling, encouraging – always enlivened proceedings and forced us all to think deeply about the subject. As well as her seminal book Hydrostatic Pumps and Motors” published in German and English, and her very many research papers, she founded and was editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Fluid Power published by Taylor & Francis – the only international journal dedicated to fluid power. She was a pivotal figure in the multi-university Centre for Compact and Efficient Fluid Power, creating a renaissance in fluid power research and education in the USA.
Her accolades were many. She received both pre-eminent international awards for fluid power: the 2009 Joseph Bramah Medal from the United Kingdom’s Institution of Mechanical Engineers, and the 2015 Robert E. Koski medal from the American Society of American Engineers. She was awarded two honorary doctorates, and too many Best Paper prizes to list.
The fluid power community will not be the same without Monika - an inspirational individual who was passionate about the subject. We are lucky to have known her, and will miss her greatly.
Andrew Plummer
Chair, GFPS
and
Andrea Vacca
New Editor in Chief of the Int. Journal of Fluid Power