Deeply saddened by the passing of Dr. Alfred Lampl

29.10.2019

The ownership, their families, and staff of the ENGEL Group mourn the loss of their former technical director Hon.-Prof. DI Dr. Dr. mont. h.c. Alfred Lampl, who passed away in October at the age of 89. Dr. Lampl shaped the technical innovations of the injection moulding machine manufacturer for 25 years and, as a member of the founding generation, played a decisive role in ENGEL's development from a small business of ten employees to today's global systems supplier.

“ENGEL would not be what it is today without Dr. Lampl,” says Dr. Stefan Engleder, CEO of the ENGEL Group, in recognition of his loyal service. “We, the owners of the company, our families, the employees of ENGEL and many engineers, are deeply indebted to his contributions.”

Alfred Lampl first joined the company in 1968 as Head of Engineering, being responsible for machine design, applications technology, R&D, and the mould making division. In early 1986, as the Technical Director, he assumed overall responsibility for Engineering and Production, which he held until his retirement in 1993. Following, Dr. Lampl remainded closely associated with ENGEL as a consultant.

Tie-bar-less technology is one of Alfred Lampl's achievements

From the very beginning, Dr. Lampl pursued the strategy of continually developing new products in response to customer requirements. To this day, strong customer focus is an essential guiding principle of research and development at ENGEL. Tie-bar-less technology, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, is one of his greatest achievements. Together with Georg Schwarz and the Head of Design Engineering, Heinz Leonhartsberger, Dr. Lampl broke with the common design principals, common until the 80s, that the clamping unit of an injection moulding machine must have four tie bars. The new tie-bar-less design quickly became the predominant machine type at the Schwertberg plant and is still the most popular ENGEL product today. “Even we were surprised by the success,” Dr. Lampl revealed five years ago on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of tie-bar-less technology.

“Dr. Lampl had the outstanding ability to listen and distinguish what is important from what is unimportant. He managed to find answers to seemingly unsolvable questions,” says Engleder. Thirty-two patents and patent applications are proof of Alfred Lampl's innovative genius and visionary thinking.

 Pioneer of injection moulding technology

At the request of Prof. Werner Knappe, the co-founder of the Plastics Technology department at Leoben University of Mining and Metallurgy, Alfred Lampl accepted a teaching position for machines and moulds for injection moulding in Leoben in 1973, in addition to his responsibilities for Machines and Moulds for Injection Moulding in ENGEL. In his dissertation, which he completed with his doctorate at the University of Leoben in 1982, he investigated the development of a process model for injection moulding with toggle-lever clamping units. Early on, his findings helped renowned camera manufactures optimize the production of plastics lenses.

In recognition of his outstanding achievements, the University of Leoben awarded Dr. Lampl an honorary professorship in 1986 and an honorary doctorate in 1999. Dr. Lampl was awarded the H.F. Mark Medal and the Gold Badge of Honour by VÖK, the Association of Austrian Plastics Processors.

“Dr. Lampl was a person who was enthusiastic about engineering with the ability to inspire others. He shaped several generations of engineers,” says Stefan Engleder. With Dr. Lampl, the plastics industry loses one of the great pioneers of injection moulding techmology.

Hon.-Prof. DI Dr. Dr. mont. h.c. Alfred Lampl remained closely associated with ENGEL during his retirement. The ownership, their families, and the employees of ENGEL mourn the loss of a great man.