On 16 June 2026, the Association of Friends of the Institute for Solid Structures at TU Darmstadt e. V. held its annual general meeting. As well as reviewing the past year, the event focused above all on catching up with many familiar faces and enjoying a pleasant, enriching exchange of ideas.

A particular highlight of this year’s meeting was once again the presentation of an award for outstanding academic achievement: Robert Haack, M.Sc., received the Association’s award for the best Master’s thesis. His award-winning thesis is entitled:

‘Investigation into the verification of lateral force analysis for existing bridges: Potential and application of lateral force approaches with an additive concrete load-bearing component in accordance with Level 4 of the Verification Guideline”.

This thesis makes an important contribution to the further development of calculation methods in civil engineering. Congratulations to the award winner!

We also had the opportunity to elect a new Executive Committee during the meeting and would like to warmly congratulate Dr.-Ing. Stefan Daus on his election as the new Chair.

We then rounded off the evening together in a relaxed atmosphere at our traditional summer party. A big thank you to all participants – we are already looking forward to the 43rd Solid Construction Seminar under the motto “Into the Future with Existing Structures” on 12 November 2026, and to seeing you all again at next year’s summer party!