Kategorie: ‘Allgemein’
Profile Area Information & Communication Technology
The Profile Area Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) plays an important role in all global challenges the institutional strategy of RWTH Aachen University addresses. Major topics of ICT such as Smart Systems, eHealth & AAL, Wireless Communication or Data Mining have an enormous research potential and a considerable practical relevance. On the following pages you will find detailed information about our objectives, issues, activities and results.
Audiovisual Virtual Worlds made in Aachen
Virtual reality (VR) is increasingly becoming a powerful and realistic tool for scientific and industrial applications. With it, “living” virtual worlds can be created. Users can interact with virtual agents (VAs). Convincing and dialogue-capable VAs are only conceivable through the realistic visual and acoustic reproduction of human behaviour.
In the profile area “Information & Communication Technology”, the Institute for Technical Acoustics and the Teaching and Research Area of Virtual Reality and Immersive Visualisation at RWTH are developing methods and algorithms for an audiovisual simulation of virtual worlds and especially VAs. The special feature here is the prioritisation of acoustic simulation.
The AUDICTIVE priority program, coordinated by RWTH professor Janina Fels, also deals with this topic and brings together the disciplines of cognitive psychology, acoustics and computer science.
Energy-Efficient Artificial Intelligence
A revolution in computer architecture – this is what scientists at RWTH are working on, among others, in the Information & Communication Technology (ICT) Profile Area.
Today’s computers are not powerful enough for many artificial intelligence (AI) applications. They consume too much energy for complex pattern recognition tasks. New types of “neuromorphic” computers promise significantly improved energy efficiency and performance: they are based on the architecture of the highly efficient human brain.
The brain handles cognitive applications and pattern recognition much more energy-efficiently than conventional computers. Pattern recognition requires handling very large amounts of data in real time. The analysis of these data sets (Big Data) is a central building block of cognitive functions that dominate all AI applications, such as autonomous driving, the Internet of Things or smart cities
From Hardware Trojan to Blackout
Prof. Leupers, Chair for Software for Systems on Silicon, and Prof. Monti, Chair of Automation of Complex Power Systems at the E.ON Energy Research Center, are researching new cyber security methods for energy networks and microprocessors.
By exploiting security holes in the operating system, attackers are able to take unauthorised control of the system, spy on data or paralyse the system. Recently, there have even been attacks on the hardware of computer systems, especially on the processor. The energy supply is also increasingly targeted by attacks: by manipulating the infrastructure as well as falsifying the measurement results, the regulation of the network can be permanently disrupted.
This problem is to be solved by a “Phasor Management Unit”, which serves to regulate renewable energies in the power grid and withstands attacks. Since the technical possibilities of attackers will continue to improve, the topic of hardware security will remain relevant to research.
Panning Beams and High Data Rates
Mobile internet: the possibility of surfing on the move with high quality and speed. This is leading to a growing demand for higher data transfer rates. To this end, mobile network operators are expanding their networks and introducing new mobile radio standards. Compliance with immission protection limits for high-frequency electromagnetic fields is of decisive importance here.
Scientists at the Institute of High Frequency Technology at RWTH Aachen University are conducting research to determine and estimate the immission caused by new mobile radio technologies. The focus is on the compatibility of immissions of electromagnetic fields with the environment and especially with humans. One of the new technical possibilities is the use of massive “multiple input multiple output”.
With this, signals can be strongly bundled and radiated in so-called beams. In this way, users can be supplied with high signal strengths up to the edge of the radio cell and at the same time the interference of other users can be reduced.
Source: ICT Science Magazine – You can find more information on these topics there.
Future cluster NeuroSys – Interview with Professor Lemme
The future cluster initiative “Clusters4Future” of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research promotes innovations that go hand in hand with the growing needs of our society. One of the winners of this ideas competition is the cluster “NeuroSys – Neuromorphic Hardware for Autonomous Artificial Intelligence Systems”, which is coordinated by Prof. Dr. -Ing. Max Christian Lemme from the Chair of Electronic Components. The future cluster “NeuroSys” researches adaptive and energy-efficient hardware that is oriented towards the way the brain works. The goal behind this is to allow intelligent and resource-saving on-site data processing and thus create an essential prerequisite for AI applications.
Watch the interview on this page or directly on our YouTube Channel
How catalysts become more active
Researchers from Jülich, Aachen, Stanford, and Berkeley have studied the layer-by-layer structure of catalyst material. They have discovered that a surface layer as thin as a single atom can double the activity for the reaction of water splitting – without increasing the energy consumption. This also doubles the amount of hydrogen produced.
The scientists hope that this increased understanding will allow developing better catalysts in the future to produce green hydrogen more energy-efficiently, and thus more cost-effectively, than before. Hydrogen is called green when it is produced by the electrolysis of water in a climate-neutral way using electricity from renewable sources. Hydrogen is regarded as an essential building block of the energy transition, partly because it can store wind and solar energy in times of oversupply and release it again later.
Part of the research results came about at the Peter Gruenberg Institute, Electronic Materials Division, in the Electronic Oxide Cluster Laboratory of Professor Regina Dittmann.
Original publication: ‘Tuning electrochemically driven surface transformation in atomically flat LaNiO3 thin films for enhanced water electrolysis’
C. Baeumer, J. Li, Q. Lu, A. Liang, L. Jin, H. Martins, T. Duchoň, M. Glöß, S. M. Gericke, M. A. Wohlgemuth, M. Giesen, E. E. Penn, R. Dittmann, F. Gunkel, R. Waser, M. Bajdich, S. Nemšák, J. T. Mefford, W. C. Chueh
Nature Materials, 11 January 2021, DOI: 10.1038/s41563-020-00877-1
Find further information on the website of the Jülich Research Centeer
Awardees of the Brigitte-Gilles-Award 2020
The Brigitte Gilles Award 2020 honors projects and initiatives that improve the conditions for women’s study, teaching, and research at the university. In this way, they contribute to increasing the number of female scientists and students in courses with a low representation of women.
We congratulate all the winners but are especially pleased for the two winners from our faculty. Professor Janina Fels and Ms. Karin Loh from the Chair and Institute of Hearing Technology and Acoustics (IHTA) were awarded for their initiative “The interactive world of acoustics for big and small children”. Here, concepts were developed that enable girls between the ages of three and twelve to explore and learn about hearing and acoustics in a playful and interactive way.
The awards were presented in a total of four categories and are endowed with up to 2500 euros. The awards in the other categories were given to the following researchers and projects: Katharina Müller from the Chair of Production Systems, the project “Hlumani – giving the future a fair chance” from the Chair of Landscape Architecture at RWTH, the University of Stuttgart, and the University of Cape Town and Dr. Anna Stertz from the Chair and Institute of Psychology.
Foto: Andreas Schmitter
(Deutsch) Online-Themenabend: “Karriereplanung in der Wissenschaft für junge Wissenschaftlerinnen”
Publication – Contactless, Battery-free, and Stretchable Wearable for Continuous Recording of Seismocardiograms
Photo: IWE1
Prof. Dr.rer.nat. Sven Ingebrandt and his research team published the article “Contactless, Battery-free, and Stretchable Wearable for Continuous Recording of Seismocardiograms” in the journal ACS Applied Electronic Materials.. This article presents a study to enable remote measurement of mechanical cardiac activity using a contactless wearable patch and seismocardiography (SCG). Near-field communication (NFC) technology is used for power supply and wireless recording of SCG data. A separate electrocardiogram (ECG) is used as a reference. The results of this study show a good signal-to-noise ratio and a close correlation between SCG and ECG recordings. This method could become another valuable tool for cardiac monitoring in the future.
Contactless, Battery-free, and Stretchable Wearable for Continuous Recording of Seismocardiograms
2D materials for high-volume production of electronic components
RWTH Professor Max Lemme and research partners publish in Journal “Nature Communications”
Professor Max Lemme, Chair of Electronic Devices at RWTH Aachen University, and his research partners publish a new method to integrate 2D materials into semiconductor manufacturing lines in the journal Nature Communications. The RWTH Aachen University researchers were supported by the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, the University of the Federal Armed Forces in Munich, AMO GmbH and Protemics GmbH. Currently, most experimental methods are not compatible with large-scale production. Moreover, they lead to significant degradation of the 2D material and its electronic properties. The method now being researched attempts to solve these problems. The two-dimensional materials will enable devices with significantly smaller sizes and enhanced functionalities compared to current silicon technologies. Overall, the range of potential applications extends from photonics to sensor technology and neuromorphic computing.
Further information on the website of AMO GmbH
5 Years Helmholtz Institut Münster “Center for Ageing, Reliability and Lifetime Prediction of Electrochemical and Power Electronic Systems” (CARL)
Powerful battery technology is a core element that benefits us in many everyday applications. From smartphones to wireless work devices and electric vehicles – batteries are shaping our lives to an ever-increasing degree.
Around 2012, the idea was born to combine the expertise of Forschungszentrum Jülich, RWTH Aachen University, and the University of Münster in battery research. Thus, 5 years ago now, the Helmholtz Institute Münster “Ionics in Energy Storage” was founded, which has now become a respected part of the battery research landscape and leads to the continuous development of research infrastructures at the different locations. In Aachen, this is reflected by the construction of the “Center for Ageing, Reliability and Lifetime Prediction for Electrochemical and Power Electronic Systems (CARL)”.
You can find further information in the Newsletter of ISEA
IKS Startup – Elevear
Digital ear-opening – Hearing aids and other hearables often cause wearers to perceive their own voice in a distorted way, and chewing, swallowing, and even walking also generate unpleasant noise. The reason for this is the so-called occlusion effect, which occurs when headphones or hearing aids close off the auditory canal. This problem is addressed by the startup Elevear, which emerged from the Institute for Communication Systems and was successfully founded by Stefan Liebich, Johannes Fabry, Raphael Brandis, and Elfed Howells on February 4, 2021. Their Occlear® technology suppresses the occlusion effect and allows natural voice perception.
The project has already received the RWTH Innovation Award in 2019 and was accepted into the RWTH Incubation Program in January 2021 as one of twelve outstanding founding teams.
Improving Communication Systems Using Machine Learning
Prof. Dr. Laurent Schmalen from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) contributes to our IKS event series with an online lecture entitled: „Improving Communication Systems Using Machine Learning“ Today, communication engineering still follows a model‐based design methodology influenced by the seminal design guidelines that were formulated by Claude Shannon in the 1940s. Such a model‐based approach may however not be suitable for many modern communication scenarios. In this talk, we show how we can augment communication systems using machine learning and in particular deep learning. In the first part of the talk, we show how machine learning can be used to optimize channel‐agnostic waveforms for an optical communication system. In the second part of the talk, we show how machine learning can be used to augment existing receiver algorithms and in particular channel decoding. We illustrate that short channel codes can be decoded with a performance close to the theoretical performance limits with significantly lower complexity than other state‐of‐the‐art methods
Prof. Dr. Laurent Schmalen, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
Date: March, 5th 2021 | 13.00 Uhr
