Dear Colleagues: 

It is with great sadness that I have to report that my good friend and academic mentor Fried Augenbroe passed away on Friday, May 14th, succumbing to cancer. 

Fried was a thought leader in the building science area. He is known to many of us for a range of in-depth contributions such as his work on simulation tool development including the BFEP program; the EU COMBINE project on interoperability and the use of computer tools in the AEC industry; his pioneering work on uncertainty analysis and risk analysis; his unique contribution on the use of simulation to inform design decisions; his work on normative energy calculations (NEN2916 and ISO-CEN 13790); work on project planning, and others. At GeorgiaTech he was director of the High Performance Building laboratory, guiding the work of a large number of MSc and PhD students. His work was recognized by the community through a number of awards, such as the JOULE Researcher of the Year award from the EU-CEC in 1995, IBPSA-USA Lifetime Achievement Award 2008, and IBPSA Distinguished Achievement Award 2015. 

I myself had the good fortune to start a collaboration with Fried during my MSc studies at the TU Delft, which turned into a friendship that lasted over 25 years. Apart from his deep knowledge on many subjects, Fried was a wonderful colleague who had an excellent sense of humor, great at motivating and encouraging his students and colleagues, and a true friend.  

He will be sorely missed by many of us. 

Pieter de Wilde