National Order of Merit

January 29, 2024

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Franz Quint, Vice-President for Research, Cooperation and Quality Management at Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences (HKA), was awarded the National Order of Merit with the rank of Knight by Romanian President Klaus Werner Johannis on January 25, 2024 for his services to German-Romanian exchange in education and research. The award was presented by Ambassador Adriana Stănescu at a ceremony held at the Romanian Embassy in Berlin to mark National Culture Day. "I feel very honored to receive this award," said Dr. Quint at the award ceremony. "It is representative of the efforts of many to promote intercultural, academic and economic exchange between Germany and Romania in general and the twin cities of Karlsruhe and Timişoara in particular, to maintain contacts and carry out joint projects. This is something that has always been very close to my heart."

The university professor Dr.-Ing. Franz Quint, who comes from the Romanian Banat, is chairman of the Karlsruhe-Timisoara Circle of Friends and the Association of Friends of the Lenau Schoolin Timişoara, from which he himself graduated in 1983. In 1984, he began studying for a degree in electrical engineering at the local polytechnic university, which he continued and completed at the University of Karlsruhe after leaving for Germany in 1987. In 1997, he received his doctorate with distinction from the University of Karlsruhe. After holding various management positions in industry, in 2002 he was appointed Professor of Communications Engineering at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology at HKA, where he has been Vice-President since 2017. In 2019, Prof. Quint was awarded the Karlsruhe European Prize for his involvement in the ProKaTim (Pro Karlsruhe Timişoara // Signal Processing Karlsruhe Timişoara) project from 2012-2020. In this project, of which he was the idea generator and leader, the practice-oriented lecture "Digital Signal Processors" was held jointly at HKA and the Polytechnic University of Timisoara in person and online. He was also instrumental in establishing the double-degree Bachelor's program in Business Information Systems between HKA and the West University of Timisoara .