The presence of the etit department is invisible and therefore omnipresent. Modern vehicles are high-performance computers on wheels, production facilities organise themselves, energy networks respond to fluctuations in milliseconds, and medical devices deliver data in real time. In all these systems, sensor technology, power electronics, communication technology, control engineering and computer science work hand in hand – areas of research and teaching that are represented in 32 specialist areas at the department.

Five female professors and 27 male professors head these departments, supported by around 260 research assistants. Approximately 1,900 students are preparing here for careers in which technology and society are inevitably intertwined. ‘We don't develop isolated solutions,’ emphasises Dean Prof. Thomas P. Burg, Ph.D. ‘When an electric car brakes safely or a data network runs smoothly today, it is almost always the result of collaboration between many disciplines. This combination of electrical engineering, computer science, mathematics, materials science and life sciences is, so to speak, our genetic code and the prerequisite for innovation.’

Whether logistics, energy supply, industrial production or healthcare – central infrastructures rely on the expertise that is pooled at etit. Advances in communications technology ensure reliable data transmission, automation technology and mechatronics make factories flexible, medical technology combines sensor technology with data analysis, and power electronics and drive technology are driving the energy transition forward. ‘Our projects rarely originate in just one field,’ says Vice-Dean Prof. Dr.-Ing. Yves Burkhardt. ‘We work together with computer scientists, mechanical engineers, mathematicians, materials scientists, medical professionals and social scientists, as well as with partners from industry and civil society. This is the only way to create solutions that are technically excellent, economically valuable and socially sustainable.’

The roots of this attitude go back a long way. Although the history of electrical engineering as an engineering discipline begins with names such as Alessandro Volta, Werner von Siemens and Thomas Alva Edison, for a long time there was no systematic training for those who were to work with this new technology.

That changed in 1882 in Darmstadt. The Technical University appointed physicist Erasmus Kittler to the world's first chair of electrical engineering. In 1883, the first independent degree programme for electrical engineers, at that time exclusively men, followed. Kittler was one of the first to combine physics and mechanical engineering into a new subject: electrical engineering.

Darmstadt did not stop at the pioneering achievement of establishing the first chair. Time and again, prominent figures came to the university whose work had an impact far beyond their scientific endeavours and continues to influence our everyday lives to this day:

Michael von Dolivo-Dobrowolsky, Kittler's assistant from 1885 to 1887, developed the first functional three-phase motor at AEG in 1888 and coined the term ‘three-phase current’ – a central basis of modern energy supply. In 1894, the Technical University of Darmstadt established Germany's first chair of communications engineering, thus setting an early example for the importance of communications technology. In 1930, Hans Busch followed the call to Darmstadt; as the founder of electron optics, he paved the way for the electron microscope, without which today's materials and life sciences would be almost unimaginable.

With Waldemar Petersen, who held a chair from 1915 onwards, high-voltage technology established itself as an independent discipline. His earth fault suppression coil remains an important component of safe power supply to this day. In the 1950s, Germany's first chair for control engineering was established in Darmstadt, followed in 1996 by the first German chair for renewable energies – a clear signal of the focus on the energy and system issues of the future.

Today, the 32 specialist areas are working to enable technological breakthroughs in which natural sciences, materials science, mathematics and computer science interact closely. Electrical engineering and information technology combine rapidly growing fields such as artificial intelligence, signal processing and computer simulation with the physical world around us.

This connection is reflected in the department's four research areas. In the area of ‘New Component and System Concepts,’ highly sensitive sensors, robotics solutions and innovative microelectronic systems are being developed. The field of ‘Networked Systems’ is dedicated to technologies for communication – between people, between people and machines, and increasingly also between autonomous, intelligent systems themselves. The research field of ‘Energy’ is not only concerned with efficient drives for electromobility and high-voltage systems, but also with stable, sustainable supply networks and securing the growing electricity demand of a digital society across borders. Finally, the fourth research field, medical technology, uses the fundamentals of electrical engineering and information technology for medical applications: from AI-supported diagnostic procedures and new analysis systems to improved methods of radiation therapy.

One example of this networked research is Prof. Heinz Koeppl, who was awarded a LOEWE professorship in Darmstadt in 2025. He is investigating how artificial intelligence can improve the design of new biomolecules and genetic circuits in synthetic biology. The aim is to develop AI algorithms that design functional RNA molecules and complex genetic circuits – the basis for new approaches in medicine and biotechnology.

Laboratory robotics, high-throughput measurement methods and AI models are interlinked: biomolecules and genetic circuits are automatically generated, tested and evaluated – a closed loop of experiment and algorithm. ‘Prof. Koeppl's work exemplifies what interdisciplinarity means to us,’ says Vice-Dean Burkhardt. ‘Here, electrical engineering meets biology, computer science meets medicine. Such projects would be inconceivable without close cooperation within and outside the university.’

A current example is the start-up MimoSense, founded by ETIT graduates Dr Romol Chadda and Dr Omar Ben Dali. During their doctoral studies in the field of measurement and sensor technology, they developed a new class of film sensors. Instead of rigid components, they use wafer-thin plastic films on which conductor tracks are printed using conductive ink. The sensors are only 0.3 millimetres thick, highly sensitive and can measure both the smallest vibrations and large forces. Integrated into nursing beds, for example, they can record pulse, respiration, weight and movements without cables and without direct skin contact. The sensor is invisibly built into the mattress, automatically documents measurements and detects risks such as falls or necessary repositioning. This relieves the burden on nursing staff and frees up time for patient care.

The history of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology at TU Darmstadt is by no means complete. It ranges from the first systematic training of electrical engineers to fundamental knowledge in communication, energy and microtechnology to sensor technology for nursing care and AI-supported synthetic biology.

‘When I look at our history – from the power station in the royal seat to the first three-phase motors, radio clocks and microphones to medical technology and care sensors,’ says Dean of Studies Prof. Anja Klein, analysing the development of the department, “there is one recurring theme: we always make the most progress when we cross boundaries. Between subjects, between institutions, between the laboratory and application.”

What began in 1882 with Erasmus Kittler as a bold step is now a broadly networked department that jointly considers technical, scientific and social issues. Innovation through interdisciplinarity and cooperation – at TU Darmstadt, this is not just a guiding principle, but everyday reality.