Peter Luh, the Father of Automation [In Memoriam]

It was with great sadness and shock that we received the news that our dear friend and colleague, Prof. Peter Luh, had passed away on 28 November 2022, only 71 years old. His passing was completely unexpected—some of us had even received an e-mail from him the same day he left us, which, as so many times before, included constructive and encouraging feedback. We call Peter
The Father of Automation
because of his pioneering contributions to the field of automation research; among other achievements and contributions, Peter was the cofounder and first editor-in-chief of the
IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering
(
T-ASE
), a cofounder of the IEEE Conference on Automation Science and Engineering (CASE), and founding chair of the CASE Steering Committee. Peter was a great leader and an inspiring, engaged, and supportive mentor and role model.