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Draft:Heinz Walz

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Inventor and founder Heinz Walz

Heinz Walz (* October 26, 1932 in Nuremberg - † October 21, 2015 in Effeltrich) was a German inventor and the founder of the Heinz Walz GmbH. He advanced the measurement of photosynthetic CO2 uptake by introducing his patented concept of flow-through measuring chambers combined with differential CO2 determination.[1] As entrepreneur, he made the pulse amplitude-modulated (PAM) chlorophyll fluorescence technique.[2][3] available for photosynthesis research.

Life and education

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Heinz Walz was born on 26. October 1932 in the city of Nuremberg, where he also grew up. Following high school education, he completed an apprenticeship in electrical engineering in April 1951. Subsequently, he joined the Siemens AG and moved to the development laboratory associated with the central management in 1954. Alongside his regular job, Heinz Walz continued his education to be awarded the degree of master craftsmen in May 1957, and to earn the certificate of an electrical engineer in April 1962.

Inventor

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At Siemens, Heinz Walz developed a high profile in constructing specialized measuring devices and control systems; he was appointed to the head of this research laboratory. His successful work resulted in numerous patented innovations[1].[4][5][6][7] Heinz Walz put a particular focus on Peltier elements. His Peltier-cooled boxes were employed when the University Hospital of Erlangen prepared for their kidney transplantation, in 1966/1967. Using Peltier technology, Heinz Walz devised gas exchange systems to measure with high accuracy the photosynthetic carbon fixation by plants. His gas exchange machines became the gold standard for quantifying photosynthesis and a fully automated setup for field studies was patented in 1969[1].

Entrepreneur

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In 1972, Heinz Walz started his firm as a one-man enterprise. His chief start-up capital was a patented concept for measuring photosynthetic CO2 uptake by plants[1]. Its essential characteristics were a flow-through measuring chamber and the evaluation of the CO2 difference between the gas passing through the measuring chamber and the gas of a reference line. In short, Heinz Walz had the design of today's high-performance gas exchange machines in mind. The convincing measuring principle let the company grow. At the same time, the number of scientific partnerships with Heinz Walz increased. The original cooperation between Prof. Dr. Werner Koch of the Forest Botanical Institute in Munich and Heinz Walz was followed by numerous partnerships with German and international researchers. These successful collaborations are documented in publications which were coauthored by Heinz Walz[8][9][10][11][12] In 1985, the Heinz Walz GmbH expanded its product range considerably. In cooperation with Dr. Ulrich Schreiber of the University of Würzburg he manufactured devices for pulse-amplitude modulated (PAM) chlorophyll fluorescence detection as another way to measure photosynthesis[2][3]. Nowadays, PAM fluorometers are indispensable tools for photosynthesis research.

Honors

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  • 1983 State Award of the government of the State of Bavaria for excellent craftsmanship.
  • 1990 Professor-Adalbert-Seifriz award for outstanding cooperation between craftsmanship and science (together with Prof. O. L. Lange).

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Klein E, Koch W, Walz H (1969) Device for regulating and determining changes of a CO2 content in a climatic gas-exchange chamber. United States Patent Office 3,613,308. https://patents.google.com/patent/US3613308
  2. ^ a b Schreiber U, Schliwa U (1986) Fluorometer auf Impulsbasis. Deutsches Patentamt, DE 35 18 527 A1
  3. ^ a b [Schreiber U, Schliwa U, Bilger W (1986) Continuous recording of photochemical and non-photochemical chlorophyll fluorescence quenching with a new type of modulation fluorometer. Photosynthesis Research 10: 51–62, https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00024185]
  4. ^ Roth H, Walz H (1970) Evaporimeter utilizing variation in capacitance to indicate liquid level. United States Patent Office 3,540,277. https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/d7/35/4c/814a256a22f66f/US3540277.pdf
  5. ^ [Rupprecht J, Walz H (1969) Thermoelectric couple with soft solder electrically connecting semi-conductors and method of making same. United States Patent Office US-3449173-A]
  6. ^ Walz H (1965) Method of producing thermobatteries. United States Patent Office 3,416,223. [https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/d7/35/4c/814a256a22f66f/US3540277.pdf US3540277.pdf
  7. ^ [Walz H (1967) Device for varying the blood temperature. United States Patent Office 3,399,536 US-3399536-A ]
  8. ^ Koch W, Walz H (1967) Kleinklimaanlage zur Messung des pflanzlichen Gaswechsels. Ein neuartiges Verfahren der Feuchteregelung und Transpirationsmessung. Naturwissenschaften 54: 321–322. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00640623
  9. ^ Lange OL, Gebel J, Schulze ED, Walz H (1985) Eine Methode zur raschen Charakterisierung der photosynthetischen Leistungsfähigkeit von Bäumen unter Freilandbedingungen—Anwendung zur Analyse «neuartiger Waldschäden" bei der Fichte. Forstwissenschaftliches Centralblatt 104, 186–198, https://doi.org/10.1007/BF027407145
  10. ^ [Lange OL, Reichenberger H, Walz H (1997) Continuous Monitoring of CO2 Exchange of Lichens in the Field: Short-Term Enclosure with an Automatically Operating Cuvette. The Lichenologist 29: 259-274, https://doi.org/10.1006/lich.1996.0076)
  11. ^ [Lange OL, Tenhunen JD, Harley P, Walz H (1985) Method for field measurements of CO2-exchange. The Diurnal Changes in Net Photosynthesis and Photosynthetic Capacity of Lichens under Mediterranean Climatic Conditions. In: Brown, D.H. (ed) Lichen Physiology and Cell Biology. Springer, Boston, MA, pp 23 39. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-2527-7_3 ]
  12. ^ Schulze ED, Hall AE, Lange OL, Walz H (1982) A portable steady-state porometer for measuring the carbon dioxide and water vapour exchanges of leaves under natural conditions. Oecologia 53: 141–145, https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00545656
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