Prof. Dr. Klaus Diepold initiated the web series 'Technically Single', which is intended to inspire young women to study science and technology: this photo shows him with the production team at the premiere of the web series (Image: Andreas Heddergott/TUM).
Great latitude at university
Although Klaus Diepold found his studies very demanding and was only able to get really enthusiastic about the subject matter within the scope of his diploma thesis, he looks back gratefully on his time as a student. “I learnt a lot about myself, especially what my limits are”, he remembers.
As a doctoral student, he was able to witness the rebuilding of the Institute for Network Theory and Circuit Design and to make his own contributions to network theory and algorithm design. “This was a unique opportunity for me”, he says. “I am grateful for the personal freedom that my doctoral supervisor, Professor Nossek, gave me. Klaus Diepold is still friends with his long-time mentor Professor Dr. Patrick Dewilde from Delft, the first director of the TUM Institute for Advanced Study (TUM-IAS).
TUM holds a never ending reservoir of talented young people.
Returning to university was never part of his plans. However, at his alma mater the professorship for data processing was vacant. To be able to make an academic contribution in his field intrigued Klaus Diepold and so he applied without further ado. “TUM was the only university that interested me and for which I was willing to give up my job in the industry”, he says.
Klaus Diepold has held the Chair of Data Processing since 2002 and has not regretted his decision. The latitude at TUM is clearly greater than in the industry. “The environment offers endless possibilities to develop and implement ideas”, he says enthusiastically. “There are so many young, talented people at TUM”.
Multifaceted commitment
Since his student days Klaus Diepold has been involved in various positions and offices for his alma mater. “I am continuously looking for new challenges”, he says. “I am driven by the desire to make a contribution to the community that goes beyond purely scientific activities.”
Klaus Diepold still benefits from his many years of experience in industry today and would like to pass this knowledge on to the students. To do so, the Center for Digital Technology and Management (CDTM) is one of his ‘favourite playgrounds’. The joint institution of TUM and LMU concentrates on grooming excellent students to be innovators and on teaching them the craft of entrepreneurship. Klaus Diepold has been a member of the CDTM Supervisory Board since 2004 and is actively involved in the entrepreneurship education of students of all disciplines.
Female heroes from the engineering sciences
Klaus Diepold has already produced several fake trailers to announce his lecture ‘Digital Video’, as well as an image film for the diversity programme of TUM (‘Typisch TUM’). His current film project, on which he has worked for over five years, is intended to inspire young women to study subjects from science and technology. The result, the five-part web series ‘Technically Single’, is quite impressive: it tells the story of 19-year-old Juli, who is studying Electrical Engineering at TUM. Also part of it: actress and TUM Alumna Maria Furtwängler as a professor for Control Engineering.
In five ten-minute episodes, ‘Technically Single’ surprises with original points of view on university life and the TUM campus. The series was produced in cooperation with TUM and the University of Television and Film Munich and was supported by the FilmFernsehFonds Bayern. “There are far too few female heroes from the engineering sciences, which is why we wanted to bring this project to life at all costs,” says Klaus Diepold. And the committed professor is – how could it be otherwise – already planning the next season. For this he is still looking for financial support. “Help me to show your children that studying technology at TUM and a STEM profession is a great way to save the world”, he therefore appeals to all TUM Alumni.
Klaus Diepold (Image: Astrid Eckert/TUM).
Diploma Electrical and Computer Engineering 1987, Doctorate 1992
Klaus Diepold studied Electrical and Computer Engineering at TUM. He completed his studies with a diploma in 1987. As a scientific assistant, he researched and taught in the field of the design of fast signal processing algorithms suitable for implementation in microelectronic circuits, first at the Bundeswehr University Munich, then as a doctorate student at the Institute for Network Theory and Circuit Design of TUM. In 1992 he was awarded his doctorate.
Klaus Diepold then went into the video and television industry, where he spent more than ten years developing video compression systems and MPEG standards, also as an entrepreneur. In 2002 he was appointed to the Chair of Data Processing of the Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering at TUM. He conducts research on machine learning, e.g. for the development of moral machines and the modelling and simulation of affects for cognitive systems.
Klaus Diepold’s commitment to his Alma Mater goes far beyond research and teaching. He is a founding ambassador of his faculty and has been a Member of the Supervisory Board of the Center for Digital Technology and Management (CDTM) since 2004. From 2005 to 2010 he was Dean of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineering. From 2006 to 2014 Klaus Diepold was a Member of the Management Board of the Cluster of Excellence Cognition for Technical Systems (CoTeSys) at TUM. In 2011 he was a Member of the Supervisory Board of the TUM Institute for Advanced Study (TUM-IAS). From 2013 to 2015 Klaus Diepold was Vice President of TUM for Diversity and Talent Management.
Guest professorships have taken Klaus Diepold to Canada and Australia. He is a consultant for the European Commission. He is a Fellow for Innovation in Higher Education at the Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft. Klaus Diepold was awarded the Best Paper Award of the German Society of Information Technology. In 2004 he received the TUM Teaching Award of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Student Association, in 2011 the TUM Teaching Award Free Semester for Teaching.
In his spare time, Klaus Diepold has remained true to his great love: music. His band EaseofJazz has its own Youtube chanel, and you can also listen to the Jazz, Swing and Bossa of the Munich Band on Soundcloud.
Klaus Diepold initiated the web series ‘Technically Single’ at TUM, which is intended to inspire young women to study STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and mathematics).
