In the second cycle of the visiting professorship programme, we were delighted to welcome Thomas Ehrhart and Søren Linhart from 2023 to 2024. Their expertise in the field of “Innovations in Wood Construction” has been of great benefit to research at IntCDC. Furthermore, they have contributed their professional expertise to enrich the teaching at ITKE, IBK and the master's degree programme ITECH.
Thomas Ehrhart is a native of Dornbirn in Vorarlberg, Austria. He graduated in civil engineering at the Graz University of Technology and already worked on timber construction during this time as a student assistant to Prof. Schickhofer. This was followed by a doctorate at ETH Zurich with Prof. Andrea Frangi. At the same time, he was a guest doctoral student at the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology in Dübendorf. After another year as a postdoc at ETH Zurich, Thomas Ehrhart has been working for Schnetzer Puskas Ingenieure as a civil engineer and structural engineer in Switzerland for three years.
Søren Linhart studied architecture at the Bauhaus University in Weimar and at Chalmers University in Gothenburg. He worked at Bosshard & Luchsinger Architects in Lucerne and was a research assistant at ETH Wohnforum – ETH Case, Professor Eberle, from 2007 to 2011. In 2010 he entered into a partnership with Patrik Seiler, which led to the establishment of Seiler Linhart Architects, with studios in Lucerne and Sarnen. Since 2012 he has been a member of the Swiss Architects Federation BSA. Søren Linhart has been a board member of the Swiss Werkbund Central Switzerland since 2011 and of BSA Central Switzerland since 2015.
The professorships are part of the Architecture and Timber Construction research group, consisting of one architect and one civil engineer to promote the use of timber in architecture. The research group is funded by the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Rural Affairs.