Shaping the technologies of the future
Which components lead to improved battery performance and a longer service life? How can improvements in production be achieved when the service life of miniaturized gears is calculated in relation to manufacturing defects? How should technical products be developed and improved to meet customer requirements? Dr. Michael Sch枚nleber, Dr. Benjamin H盲fner and Dr. Simon Klingler were recently honored for their scientific research into these three questions and presented with the Carl Freudenberg Prize by Professor Albert Albers, Head of IPEK, the Institute of Product Engineering at the . The jury, led by Professor Albers, paid tribute to the work of each of the three scientists. The prize is awarded every two years.
Sch枚nleber, whose work received first place, explained, 鈥淭he results of my research help to develop new materials for batteries 鈥� more quickly 鈥� and with a specific goal in mind.鈥� The scientist, who holds a PhD, worked for some five years during his doctorate on 鈥淢ethods for characterizing the low-frequency behavior of lithium-ion batteries.鈥� Each morning he would first go to the lab to check whether his experiments were still running. The remainder of the day would be taken up with lectures or supporting students and it wasn鈥檛 until the evening that he would be able to turn his attention again to his doctoral thesis. 鈥淥f course, I sometimes worried that I was going completely in the wrong direction 鈥� but then there鈥檚 no gain without pain 鈥� and it was often the case that I made the greatest gains in knowledge following a major crisis,鈥� Sch枚nleber continued. As all scientists, Sch枚nleber also has a dream 鈥� to understand the processes inside a battery so well that ageing can be specifically prevented. 鈥淚n this way, I hope I can contribute to e-mobility achieving a breakthrough and making the technology even more environmentally-friendly,鈥� he said. When I first heard the news about having been awarded the prize, I could barely believe my ears. All the more reason to be happy. As I鈥檝e just created a start-up with a friend, the recognition associated with the prize will help us enormously.鈥�
鈥淢y approach is valuable for product development,鈥� explained Klingler, whose work on, 鈥淎 method for efficiently and effectively supporting continuous validation in the context of PGE product generation development,鈥� achieved second place. 鈥淚t鈥檚 about how a product can be checked again and again, so that it鈥檚 exactly what the customer needs and wants.鈥� Klingler is delighted when he gets home in the evening and discovers that he鈥檚 won the prize. 鈥淚t was a very unexpected reward for all the work I鈥檇 put in over the past five years,鈥� he said.
鈥淢y model can be used to make the production process of important components more efficient, in order to reduce costs and achieve a higher quality,鈥� explained H盲fner whose work on, 鈥淪ervice life prognosis as a function of production deviations in micro-gearings,鈥� also achieved second place. The gears examined are used in transmissions in, for example, the automotive industry, in medical technology or robotics. 鈥淣ew technological challenges in production have to be faced all the time. For example, e-mobility demands that new production methods are developed and put in place. It鈥檚 really exciting for me to be able to intensively work on such a challenge, and to play a part in the on-going close cooperation between business and science.鈥�
The 2017 prize winners
- Dr. Michael Sch枚nleber: A method for characterizing the low-frequency behavior of lithium-ion batteries
- Dr. Simon Klingler: A method for efficiently and effectively supporting continuous validation in the context of PGE product generation development
- Dr. Benjamin H盲fner: Service life prognosis as a function of production deviations in micro-gearings
