Obituary for Dr Romain Gengler

It is with great sadness that we bid farewell to our long-standing and highly esteemed colleague Dr Romain Gengler. For several decades, he was a pillar of Faculty 1 (STEM – Mathematics, Computer Science, Physics, Electrical Engineering and Information Technology). As a subject-related counsellor and tutor, he shaped many generations of students, particularly in Computer Science. He was also actively involved in academic self-governance in a variety of ways, including as a module coordinator. Thanks to his long-standing commitment to alumni work, he remains a memorable figure in the minds of many former students.

He was born on 31 May 1957 in Drinklage, Luxembourg, where he also took his school-leaving examination. From 1976 to 1984, he studied Computer Science in Germany at the University of Bonn, where he wrote a diploma thesis on the topic of ‘Deterministic Reset Automata’. He also worked there from 1984 to 1995 as a research assistant at the Chair of Computer Science for Automata Theory and Formal Languages under Prof. Karl-Heinz Böhling, where he successfully completed his doctoral studies in 1991 with a thesis on “Reversal complexity of multi-tape automata below log”. 

In 1995, Dr Romain Gengler moved to the Chair of Theoretical Computer Science in Cottbus together with Prof. Dr Burchard von Braunmühl. Since then, he has been actively involved in research, teaching and academic self-governance. As a module coordinator and in numerous other roles, he contributed his experience and sense of responsibility to the development of the faculty. Furthermore, he was involved in alumni work for many years and maintained contact with former students, who will remember him as a competent point of contact and a much-loved person. He worked at the BTU for almost 30 years and, even after his retirement in 2024, could still be found at the university as a guest and committed supporter.

Romain Gengler shaped Computer Science at BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg for over three decades through his dedication and his personal manner. The alumni and staff of BTU and Faculty 1 will honour his memory: We will never forget you.