Heinrich Mache is considered the founder of the Institute of Technical Physics at the Vienna University of Technology, which he also presided over as rector in 1925/1926. After his studies – among others with Ludwig Boltzmann and Ernst Mach – Mache habilitated as a private lecturer in physics at the University of Vienna in 1902. In 1906 he was appointed to Innsbruck. Two years later he moved to the Vienna University of Technology, and was appointed full professor in 1911.
Mache’s career is characterized by involvement in scientific research and as an active member of the university. His scientific work is varied, and he specialized especially in thermodynamics and the radioactivity of Austrian mineral springs. The Mache unit named after him served as a standard for describing the activity of radioactive healing waters.
In addition, Mache published in various national and international physical and chemical journals; here he specialized in research on the rate of combustion of gases in explosions.