April 21, 2016 (PO44). Colmar Hinnrichs unexpectedly passed away on February 27, 2016, after a brief illness, the day after his 50th birthday.

He was born in Hamburg, Germany, in 1966 and graduated from the University of Hamburg in 1997. His diploma thesis was about noise effects in YBCO high-T_c Josephson junctions. In his subsequent PhD dissertation, he designed and fabricated flux-gate magnetometers and readout electronics to understand and optimize both noise performance and bandwidth.

Colmar's passion for electronics and micro controller programming started in school and followed him his whole life. Still, during his PhD study, he co-founded the company Magnicon, in December 2000. Magnicon started with a maintenance contract for a 62-channel MEG SQUID system at the University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf. With Colmar's expertise in analog and digital electronics, Magnicon was able to receive in 2002 the first license from PTB for a direct coupled SQUID electronics design. Other co-developments with PTB and in-house electronics developments under Colmar’s aegis followed soon, making Magnicon one of leading manufacturers of SQUID systems and measurement electronics.

Colmar was an excellent researcher and developer who never lost his inborn curiosity. This, and his great sense of humor made working with him a real pleasure. All of us at Magnicon greatly valued his expertise that he patiently tried to pass on to us.

He loved sailing in the North- and Baltic Sea as well as listening to music from Bach to Rammstein hard rock. He was committed to several social issues and lately increased his local political engagement. We have lost a wonderful and open-minded friend and colleague who is and will be missed by many. We share our grief with his wife and two young children.

Henry J. Barthelmess, for Magnicon GmbH