Debdatta De
Debdatta De, Aachen Integration Award winner of 2018, passed away on October 16, 2019 after a long illness. Debdatta De was known in the city as a "bridge builder between cultures" for many years. He had been a volunteer integration guide in Aachen since 2010 and was involved in the Via Network, the Asylum Working Group and the Integration Day, among other things. Debdatta De studied mechanical engineering in India and came to Düsseldorf in 1960 to work for a mechanical engineering company. Five years later, he moved to RWTH Aachen University to study rock metallurgy. Even during his studies, Debdatta De was always on hand to offer advice and support to his fellow students from Pakistan and India. He did this until the end with great dedication for all migrants - "regardless of which part of the world they had come to Aachen from", said the city's integration officer Nenja Ziesen. She added: "We are very sad and will miss Debdatta De very much, both personally and in his integration work".