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Helmut G. Heinrich papers

 Collection
Identifier: ua00352

Scope and Content

The collection documents the professional career of Dr. Helmut G. Heinrich, noted aerospace engineer, parachute technology researcher, and professor at the University of Minnesota.

The collection has been arranged into the following series: Contracts, Correspondence, Course Notes, Data and Research, Meetings and Business Trips, and Reports.

Material dated after his death is primarily related to educational coursework offered by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) under Prof. Heinrich's name or additional research material included in the collection prior to being transferred to the archives.

Dates

  • Creation: 1932-1987

Creator

Language of Materials

Collection material in English and German

Use of Materials

Items in this collection do not circulate and may be used in-house only.

Copyright

Researchers may quote from the collection under the fair use provision of the copyright law (Title 17, U.S. Code). Requests to publish should be arranged with the University of Minnesota Archives.

Biographical Note

Helmut G. Heinrich, 1910-1979, was an internationally recognized expert in aeronautical engineering and a specialist in aeronautical deceleration and supersonic parachute design. He held a B.E. (1931) in mechanical engineering from the State Engineering College, Stettin, Germany, and a B.E. (1936) in aeronautical engineering from the Technische Hochschule in Stuttgart, Germany. Professor Heinrich completed a M.E. (1938) in aeronautical engineering and a doctorate of engineering (D.Eng., 1943) also from the Technische Hochschule in Stuttgart, Germany.

Heinrich's first appointment was as project engineer and later as section chief at the Graf Zeppelin Research Institution, Stuttgart, Germany, in 1935. From 1940 to 1946 he was head of the Department of Aerodynamics at the Graf Zeppelin Research Institution. After the war, Heinrich came to the United States as part of the Department of Defense's program to recruit German scientists and reconstruct their scientific work in the U.S. Beginning with his arrival in the U.S. until 1956, Heinrich served as a technical adviser to the Parachute Branch of the Equipment Laboratory at the Wright Air Development Center, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio.

Heinrich came to the University of Minnesota in 1956 where he served as professor of aeronautical engineering in the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics in the Institute of Technology until his death in 1979. During his tenure, Heinrich was awarded numerous government grants totaling nearly $3.5 million to fund the design of parachutes for NASA's Gemini space capsule and for the Viking program that sent two probes to the surface of Mars.

Heinrich is the author of over 130 scientific publications. His honors and awards include the Institute of Aeronautical Sciences Thurman H. Bane Award (1954), induction as a Fellow to both the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and the Royal Aeronautical Society of Great Britain in 1969, recipient of the Institute of Technology Distinguished Teaching Award (1972), and the first American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Aerodynamics Deceleration Systems Award, received the day before his death in 1979.

Extent

57 Cubic Feet (47 boxes (45 record carton; 1 hollinger; 1 oversize))

Abstract

Collection contains the research, reports, correspondence, and course notes of Helmut G. Heinrich, professor, Department of Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics in the Institute of Technology at the University of Minnesota.

Arrangement

The collection has been arranged into the following series:

  1. Contracts
  2. Correspondence
  3. Course Notes
  4. Data and Research
  5. Meetings and Business Trips
  6. Reports

Source of acquisition

The Helmut G. Heinrich papers were initially donated to the Science and Engineering Library under the direction of Prof. William L. Garrard in 1991. In 2006 the collection was transferred to the University of Minnesota Archives.

Related Materials in University Archives

Processing Information

Collection is processed.

Title
Helumt G. Heinrich papers
Status
Completed
Author
Jenny Filipi
Date
April 2011
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Code for undetermined script
Language of description note
Finding aid written in English

Revision Statements

  • October 2020: Digital Objects Added; Notes updated

Collecting Area Details

Contact The University Archives Collecting Area

Contact:

612-624-0562