Peter Lorenz, Ph.D.

This interview took place at the Winter Simulation Conference in Savannah, Georgia.

Interviewer: Robert G. Sargent

Interview place: Savannah, Georgia

Interview date: 2014-12-09

Peter Lorenz, Ph.D.

Peter Lorenz studied at the University of Leipzig, in East Germany, from 1953-1958, graduating with a degree in business mathematics. After graduation, he worked at the Magdeburg Valve Company in Magdeburg, East Germany. While working in industry full-time, he earned his Ph.D. in 1968 from the University of Leipzig. Lorenz's view of simulation as a problem-solving method led him to disseminate andinvestigate ways to apply and conduct simulation studies, especially with animation. In his later years, he also specialized in simulation development for the mining industry and for logistic systems.

Lorenz retired in 2000 as a Professor from the University of Magdeburg after serving on the faculty since 1970. In 2015, Lorenz received the Fakultaetspreis (faculty award) given by the Faculty of Informatics (Computer Science) at the University of Magdeburg in recognition of his outstanding performance as Founding Dean of Informatics (1990-1992) and as co-founder of the Institute of Simulation and Graphics (1993). He also founded a conference on simulation, held annually at the University of Magdeburg from 1982-2007. In the mid-1990s, Lorenz became a member of the management board of the German simulation society, ASIM. A 1979 German textbook, co-authored by Lorenz: Simulation Diskrete Prozesse, was used by several universities in East Germany. He authored The Science of Remote Visual Inspection (RVI): Technology Applications Equipment (1990).Among his numerous published papers are several about simulation and animation that appeared in Proceedings of the annual Winter Simulation Conferences.