Manuel Silva Suárez

Un fuerte abrazo a su señora esposa e hijos. Un gran ser humano deseoso de compartir sus conocimientos con todos nosotros. Lo recordaré en sus visitas a Guadalajara, México y en aquellas ocasiones que platiqué con él en Palma de Mallorca y Reims. Deja un gran legado.

Very sad news! I remember Manuel from several meetings, starting with a PhD defence (Javier Esparza) in Zaragoza, and continuing all through our careers. I remember all those Spanish guys sitting around a table after the defence, eating very nice Spanish food (grilled tomatoes and so on) and Manuel happily joking amongst them. We then met various times during the Basic Research projects DEMON and CALIBAN where I learned about the very nice Spanish work on linear algebra, traps, and all the rest of it, which was influenced very much by Manuel, if not even initiated by him. I also admire very much his ability to attract a bunch of excellent students, many of whom are now in senior positions. I also remember fondly his lectures given in English, some on "passing messages", which sometimes sounded like "passing massages" to my ears. It is only a week ago that I re-read parts of his TCS paper of 1997 because I wanted to know what exactly was the statement there about the realisability of (minimal) T-invariants. Unfortunately now, Manuel must be, and is, sadly missed. My condolences go to his family and to those nearest to him.

I met Manuel in 1986 in Oxford when attending my first international conference and had the chance to discuss with him about my work in such a way that I could improve it.. Since then we had several joint works and every time, I was impressed by his deep understanding of fundamental problems in our field. In addition to be an outstanding researcher, he was very kind and always took care of me during my sojourns in Zaragoza. My condolences go to his family and to those nearest to him.

Un fuerte abrazo a la familia. Manuel ha sido un gran referente internacional, y un faro a nivel nacional de cómo hacer investigación de impacto. Su legado es difícil de igualar. Mucho ánimo.

Dear family of Manuel Silva, this is very sad news to hear that Manuel, a great Petri net scientist who has influenced so many of our academic lifes, has passed away. I still remember meeting him during the Petri nets conference in Japan in 1996 (after reading his many papers for my PhD work), when he invited me to visit his research group in Zaragoza. I took this chance a little later for some months, and still Zaragoza feels like a "second scientific home" for me because of that great time. The research topics and collaborations started by that (and the little spanish that I learned back then) still influence my research work. I will always admire how Manuel was keeping such a friendly and open atmosphere in research collaborations.
He will be missed, condolences to his family!

I am very sad to learn of Manuel's passing. He was both very competent and extremely open-minded, with an exceptional seriousness and kindness. I would like to send my sincere condolences to his family.

Mis más sentidas condolencias a toda su familia y allegados. Como profesor durante de mi formación universitaria, le estoy bastante agradecido por la pasión y entrega mostrada, además de su labor y contribución a la ardua tarea investigadora. Paz en su tumba.

I met Manuel in a European project in the early 2000's. Besides being a first class researcher admired by all of us, he was an extremely friendly person, easily accessible to all, with much attention to young researchers and students. I remember long exchanges on our common field of interest : epistemology and the evolution of technologies, where he had significant contributions as an historian and an editor. Meeting casually Manuel in conferences was always a great pleasure. I am extremely sad that this will not happen again.

Querida Familia Silva-Ramón,
El deceso de Manolo nos ha consternado a toda la familia; es una gran pérdida. Aparte del mérito de sus aportaciones científicas, apreciamos su bonhomía, humor y amplia cultura.
Aunque nuestros encuentros eran poco frecuentes, disfrutamos de agradables y largas conversaciones con vosotros donde actualizábamos datos de la familia y componíamos el mundo, casi siempre compartiendo comida picante y tequila.
Descanse en paz Manolo, incansable caminante que hizo camino al andar.
Reciban un afectuoso abrazo de nuestra parte: Ernesto, Maribel (su "prima"), Mariana y Alejandra.
Dios los bendiga a todos.

Manolo me acepto como doctorando en su grupo en 1987, cuando yo acababa de licenciarme en Fisica y no tenia ni idea de Informatica. El me introdujo a la investigacion en general y a las redes de Petri en particular, un area que me fascino y que nunca he dejado de lado. Gracias a Manolo, durante la tesis pude trabajar en proyectos europeos que me abrieron muchas puertas y me permitieron continuar mi carrera en Alemania. Tenia energia y entusiasmo ilimitados. Se va demasiado pronto, pero deja un gran legado. Mi mas sentido pesame para su familia.

We are very sad to learn of the passing away of Prof. Manuel Silva (Manolo for his friends). He was an excellent researcher in many aspects of the Discrete Event Dynamic Systems and specifically in the development of the Structure theory of Petri nets exploited in many application fields.

But for us in Torino, he was a mentor that guided directly and indirectly the growth of our research group interested in the application of Petri nets for the performance and reliability evaluation of computer and communication systems. He was the first colleague who appreciated the mixing of timed and immediate transitions in Petri net models, suggesting however the need of exploiting structural analyses before proceeding with the numerical solution.

During the 80’ many members of our groups in Torino and Zaragoza exchange reciprocal visits that set the ground for an extensive and fruitful period of cooperation from 1990 until 1998, under the umbrella of two European Research Projects. Lately the collaboration continued with individual contacts always with the certainty that we could count on the vast knowledge of Manolo in case of need.

Manolo was also an excellent expert of arts and history and we all remember his erudite explanations during the visits of the Aljaferia castle in Zaragoza.

We will miss him greatly, but his teachings will remain with us.

Our condolences to his wife Maria Regina, to his sons Manuel-Guillermo and Alejandro ant to his close friends and colleagues

Marco Ajmone Marsan,, Gianfranco Balbo, Gianni Conte, Susanna Donatelli, Giuliana Franceschinis, Matteo Sereno

Desde del grupo GITSE queremos transmitir a la familia de Manolo Silva nuestro más sentido pésame.
Nos ha impresionado recibir esta triste noticia. Poco podemos añadir a las numerosas reseñas y muestras de afecto anteriores a las que nos sumamos.
En este difícil momento simplemente queremos enviar a su familia y amigos más cercanos un abrazo muy fuerte.
Luis, Belén, Miguel Angel, José Mª, Chema, Ana, Silvia, Beatriz, Mónica, Eduardo y Miguel

Mi más profundo pésame en estos duros momentos. Espero y deseo que el enorme dolor que estáis sintiendo se vea aliviado pronto al recordar la vida y experiencias que habéis compartido.

I feel very sad about the news of Manuel's dead. During my research stays at Zaragoza and during several conferences it has been a pleasure for me to have discussions with Manuel on Petri nets and the development of the field.

Mi más sentido pésame a la familia, Todavía no me puedo creer que se nos haya ido de esta manera. El hueco que nos deja es irremplazable.

Manuel has been a pillar of our research community in the last forty years, has been instrumental in the development of the discrete event systems domain and has been a role model and a guide for scores of younger researchers. He has left, us but his scientific legacy and seminal contributions, his contagious enthusiasm, his limitless intellectual curiosity and his joie de vivres will always be with us.

Manuel has been a mentor and a friend to me since we first met in Troy while I was a PhD student at Rensselaer. We have shared in these 30 years so many activities and enjoyable moments.

My deepest condolences to Regina, Alejandro and Manuel and to all the friends at the University of Zaragoza.

In italiano, perchè ogni tanto a lui piaceva parlare nella "lengua nuestra"
Superfluo ricordarne i meriti scientifici, mi piace ricordare quando, in occasione del suo anniversario di matrimonio, venne in visita da me in Italia e mi chiese di portarlo al porto di Baia, ove era ubicata l'antica base navale dei Romani, presso Napoli. Stava infatti scrivendo un libro sull'arte militare. La sua gioia nel vedere ciò che avete sempre solo letto o immaginato era impressionante, quello sguardo voglio ricordare sempre di lui.
Riposa in pace!
Francesco.

Dear Manuel, it has been an honor to meet you, to spend time with you in so many places all over the world. It has been an honor to work with you and write papers together. It has been an honor to visit you in Zaragoza. I will never forget you and your great enthusiasm for the life. As soon as I met you the first time, I have been surprised by how many passions you had, in addition to your work. I have so many history books written by you. This is really extraordinary! I also remember how close you were to your family, to all your friends, and to your students: for some of them you were almost like a father. I will never forget all of this! Rest in peace! A hug to your wife and suns. Carla

Dear Manuel,

I was so sad to hear this news. You were not only a great researcher but a special man.
My best memories of you are in the WODES conference, with you refusing to talk to me in English and repeatedly speaking in Spanish, assuming I could perfectly understand everything (while of course I did NOT) and telling me with a wide smile “Llámame Manolo!” (Call me Manolo!).

Rest in peace.

Warm condolences to the family.

Mariagrazia

Manuel has been an extraordinary researcher with a wonderful personality. He has inspired many researchers over the years and his passing is a great loss to the Petri net community.

My deepest condolences to his family, friends and colleagues.