With his expertise in local public transportation, his commitment to international collaboration, and his special connection to the students, he has left a lasting mark on the "Friedrich List" Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences.

For over four decades, Steffen Dutsch has been deeply committed to research and teaching in the field of public transportation. As a long-time Research Associate and head of the Local Public Transportation Research Group, he consistently integrated academic work with the practical demands of the transportation sector.

From Transportation Planner to Experienced Public Transit Expert

Steffen Dutsch began his professional career in 1983 after earning his degree in engineering from the Dresden University of Transport. He then worked as a transportation planner at Dresdner Verkehrsbetriebe AG (DVB). He had also been actively driving trams for DVB since February 1980 - an extraordinary combination of technical expertise and practical experience that continues to shape his work to this day.

In March 1986, Steffen Dutsch moved to TU Dresden and began working as a Research Associate in what was then the Section for Technical Traffic Cybernetics, which later became the Department of Transport Technology. Throughout his academic career, he worked in various research and teaching contexts within the faculty: from 1995 to 2000 under the direction of Prof. Siegfried Rüger at the Institute of Transport Planning and Road Traffic, and subsequently from 2000 to 2022 as part of Prof. Rainer König’s team at the Chair of Rail Transport, Public Urban and Regional Transport. Since 2023, he has been working at the Chair of Railway Operations under the direction of Prof. Nikola Bešinović.

As head of the Local Public Transportation Research Group, he focused in particular on the planning and optimization of transportation services, timetable development, and traffic management. His work contributed to the further development of scientific methods for designing a public transportation system with strong capabilities and reliability.

Cross-Border Collaboration and Supporting young talent

Steffen Dutsch was actively involved in research and collaboration initiatives that strengthened the exchange between academia and the professional world, as well as cooperation with international partners. In doing so, he drew on a broad network: Over the course of his career, he collaborated with a total of 126 industry partners from Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Luxembourg, and the Czech Republic.

In particular, his collaboration with Czech partners was a key component of his international activities. In addition to his teaching at TU Dresden, he gave lectures in Czech at the Czech Technical University in Prague for several years. He also shared his expertise in English-language courses at TU Munich.

In addition to his research work, Steffen Dutsch was active for decades in teaching and mentoring early-career researchers. He supervised approximately 400 student theses over the course of his career. In doing so, he supported numerous students in their first independent research projects and in their transition into professional practice.

A Defining Chapter in the Faculty’s History

His retirement marks the end of an exceptionally long and multifaceted career at TU Dresden. Today’s farewell lecture became a moving retrospective on his many years of service: Numerous guests from academia and the professional world bid farewell to Steffen Dutsch with heartfelt words and special musical performances, before the audience gave him a warm and impressive send-off with a standing ovation.

The "Friedrich List" Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences extends its heartfelt thanks to Steffen Dutsch for his many years of dedication, his professional expertise, and his commitment to public transportation. We wish him all the best for this new chapter in his life, good health, and many opportunities to pursue his diverse interests beyond the daily routine of university life.

Public transportation remains a central focus of the faculty. With a dedicated Chair of Public Transportation headed by Prof. Yihui Wang, this area of research and teaching now has its own institutional framework to further develop existing expertise, provide new impetus for research, and train future generations of transportation scientists to address the challenges of a public transportation system with strong capabilities and a sustainable model.