Kategorie: ‘Auszeichnungen’
“Accure” and “Cylib” win the NRW Innovation Award 2023
Professor Dirk Uwe Sauer © Heike Lachmann
Innovative technologies and sustainable solutions in focus: RWTH start-ups make their mark in the fight against climate change.
The NRW 2023 Innovation Award has put the spotlight on two outstanding RWTH spin-offs: “Accure” and “Cylib”. These two start-ups not only have their roots at RWTH Aachen University, but also share a common mission – to fight rising temperatures and the associated challenges of climate change.
“Accure” was founded in 2020 by Dr. Kai-Philipp Kairies, Dr. Georg Angenendt and Dr. Johannes Palmerist and emerged from the Chair of Electrochemical Energy Conversion and Storage Systems Technology headed by Professor Dirk Uwe Sauer. Dirk Uwe Sauer and co-founder Kai-Philipp Kairies accepted the NRW 2023 Innovation Award in the “innovation2business” category in Düsseldorf. This award recognizes individuals who have developed successful business models from outstanding ideas.
The start-up specializes in monitoring the performance, safety and lifetime of batteries based on big data and the use of artificial intelligence (AI). Such an innovative approach is crucial for the introduction of sustainable energy storage solutions. Dirk Uwe Sauer emphasizes the need to transfer scientific findings to the business world in order to have a positive impact on society. This is exactly what “Accure” has successfully achieved.
“This honor means a lot to us,” says Sauer, “because we are standing up for changing things with our research.”
The award in the “innovation2business” category comes with prize money of 50,000 euros, which will be earmarked for further research purposes.
The founders of “Cylib”, Paul Sabarny, Lilian Schwich, Dr. Gideon Schwich from left © Anna Wawra
The evening was even more exciting than for “Accure” for Lilian Schwich, one of the three founders of “Cylib”. While “Accure” had already been determined as the award winner before the event, Lilian Schwich had to compete against two other nominees in the “innovation4transformation” category on Monday evening.
The start-up, which she founded together with her husband Dr. Gideon Schwich and Paul Sabarny, has spent years developing a process at RWTH Aachen University to recycle all the components of a lithium-ion battery. The goal is to recover all components and thus close the gap in the circular economy. This approach is not only more effective, but also more environmentally friendly compared to the current state of the art.
“The award is also a recognition for the long hard time of research,” said Lilian Schwich, “with research we spent many hours, days, weeks, weekends.”
The audience award “innovation4transformation” is given to personalities whose innovative products, solutions or business models contribute in an outstanding way to solving transformation challenges. This category is endowed with 25,000 euros and recognizes the contribution of “Cylib” to the circular economy and environmental protection.
Both awards underscore the important role of RWTH spin-offs in developing innovative solutions to the pressing challenges of the 21st century, particularly in the fight against climate change. With their groundbreaking technologies and sustainable approaches, they are pioneers on the path to a more environmentally friendly and sustainable society.
For more insights, watch the interview and video with Professor Dirk Uwe Sauer and the interview with Lilian Schwich.
Biosensors for health: Team AixSense receives multiple awards at Sensus 2023
© Erdenebat Battseren
With the development of an innovative blood-based biosensor for the detection of traumatic brain injuries, the AixSense team stood out in an impressive field of competitors.
Once again this year, 15 student teams from all over the world took up the challenge of creating a biomarker prototype for detection and thus advancing sensor technology for improved healthcare.
RWTH Aachen’s AixSense team excelled in the competition, which was hosted by Eindhoven University. Their biosensor chip, which was manufactured with extreme precision in the cleanroom laboratory, caught the attention and recognition of the jury. This led to an award of the coveted Translation Potential prize. In addition, AixSense secured the Public Inspire Award by cleverly using social media platforms and collecting 1000 votes within 24 hours. The Aachen team’s outstanding engagement culminated in a first place in the vlog competition, which earned them the prestigious SensUs Gold Medal.
© SensUs
After the previous topics on antibiotic resistance, rheumatism, epilepsy, influenza A and sepsis, the teams from universities around the world explored a new pathology: Traumatic Brain Injury, defined as sudden external injury resulting in brain damage. Every year, around 27 to 69 million people worldwide are affected by this. The challenge here is the range of injury severity, which makes accurate detection all the more relevant.
„We are honored to have participated in such competition representing the university on an international level. We are also proud that all our team efforts were awarded with several prizes for RWTH Aachen University,”concludes the team leader of AixSense.
The Institute of Materials in Electrical Engineering at RWTH Aachen University deserves special credit for putting together this exceptional team, led by Dr Vivek Pachauri and Professor Sven Ingebrandt, with Dibyendu Khan and Aidin Nikookhesal supervising.
Check out the SensUs page for more up-to-date information on this year’s competition.
IntSpire – the Prize for Internationalization
Award ceremony IntSpire 2022 © Heike Lachmann
Creativity, diversity and internationality are the building blocks of excellent solutions to the global challenges of our time.
In order to make visible and honor people and institutions within RWTH Aachen University who make an exceptional contribution to the internationalization of the university, the “IntSpire” prize was established in 2020 by the International Office and the Prorector for International Affairs and has since been awarded annually in a festive setting and with prize money of 500 euros.
Internationalization permeates all levels of our university and changes them in a far-reaching and sustainable way. It opens up the boundaries of our own horizons and is crucial for education, teaching, research and the future of our society.
In order to promote and advance the diverse facets of living internationalization at RWTH, many individuals and institutions are committed beyond the normal scope.
Against this backdrop, the IntSpire team is calling for suggestions for honors from among RWTH members. These can be individuals such as employees and students, but also organizations, facilities and institutes that are particularly committed to the internationalization of RWTH. During the proposal phase from September 1 to October 15, a proposal form can be filled out and submitted by e-mail. A jury consisting of representatives of the university management, the professorate, the International Office, the Staff Council for Technology and Administration, the Staff Council for Scientific Employees and the students of RWTH Aachen University will select an award-winning person or institution from the proposals received and substantiated in writing.
For more information and the proposal form, please visit the official RWTH page.
German Study Award: Silver goes to Dominik Šišejković
Award winner Dominik Sisejkovic ©David Ausserhofer
His excellent dissertation, Development of trustworthy microelectronics – from theory to practice, will be honored by the Körber Foundation with the German Study Award 2023 on November 27 at the German Parliamentary Society in Berlin. Dominik Šišejković will receive the second prize in the Natural and Technical Sciences section from Bundestag President Bärbel Bas.
The focus of his doctoral thesis is the question of how hardware can be protected against decentralized modifications. This is all because hardware Trojans represent one of the greatest security threats of the modern age. Such a carefully designed modification allows attackers to gain access to critical infrastructure, extract secret information or even shut down systems at the worst possible moment.
“In this work, we take a step-by-step approach to understanding logic encryption, from its basic mechanics to software implementation to an in-depth analysis of its security properties in the age of machine learning,” explains Dominik Šišejković, a PhD student at RWTH Aachen University in the Department of Electrical Engineering.
One possible solution is hidden in logic encryption, a leading technique for securing hardware. The results were bundled into an industry-proven encryption method that provides a secure way to protect hardware.
The German Study Award is one of the most highly endowed prizes for young scientists in Germany. Each year, it honors outstanding young scientists from all disciplines. The Körber Foundation awards prizes totaling more than 100,000 euros for excellent dissertations of particular social significance.
The Reichart Prize 2023 goes to Dr.-Ing. Weihan Li
Prof. Frank Hellwig and Prof. Peter Scharff award Dr. Weihan Li the Reichart Prize 2023 © Mathias Brösicke
A remarkable contribution to application-oriented science was honored when Dr.-Ing. Weihan Li received the coveted Reichart Prize on June 24, 2023. The junior research group leader at the Center for Ageing, Reliability and Lifetime Prediction for Electrochemical and Power Electronics Systems (CARL) at RWTH Aachen University was recognized for his pioneering work in digitizing battery use with a digital twin. This innovative approach aims to provide greater clarity on battery aging processes, safety and reliability.
Named after Christian Reichart, a versatile Erfurt resident, the prize awarded annually highlights outstanding graduate work in various scientific fields. The cooperation between the state capital of Erfurt, the University of Erfurt and the University of Applied Sciences in Erfurt ensures that this prize promotes talented young scientists whose work has a clear link to applicability. In doing so, it honors the legacy and vision of Christian Reichart, who already distinguished himself in the 18th century as a pioneer of interdisciplinary research and non-profit applications. The award committee, consisting of representatives from these institutions, selects the winners and acknowledges promising research approaches with prize money of 2,000 euros and strengthens interdisciplinary exchange. This award underlines the importance of using scientific findings for the benefit of society and building bridges between different disciplines to create practical solutions to current challenges.
More about the Reichert Prize can be found on the website of the Academy of Erfurt.
Excellent placement in global university ranking
© Kurt Beyer
In electrical engineering, RWTH Aachen is one of the three best German universities. This is the result of the internationally highly regarded QS Ranking by Subjects of the British information service provider Quacquarelli Symonds. Presented in its latest version, the subject ranking is based on various criteria that are weighted according to subject. An online reputation survey among university graduates and employers accounts for between 40 and 100 percent of the total points and is considered the most important indicator. Citations, which scientific papers from universities receive on average, account for up to 60 percent. For some engineering and natural science subjects, international research networks are also taken into account.
The Aachen University of Excellence was able to place itself on the winner’s podium in many subjects throughout Germany and is also convincing in an international comparison. In ten subjects, it placed among the 100 best worldwide. RWTH did particularly well in the subjects of mining engineering with 15th place and mechanical engineering with 19th place.
For more information: www.topuniversities.com
Top placements in international ranking
The portal Research.com informs in the newly published ranking that the Electrical Engineering and Information Technology of the RWTH achieved the 2nd place in the Germany-wide comparison. Internationally, RWTH ranks 65th in this discipline.
Research.com evaluates the frequency of citations of scientific articles and other publications for the ranking. Data from the OpenAlex and CrossRef databases are used for the evaluation. Researchers are ranked using the D-index, a variation of the H-index, which measures citations to their scientific papers within a discipline. All those who achieve a D-index of at least 30 are included in the rankings. The sum of the D-indexes of all listed scientists of a university is then decisive for its placement in the university ranking.
Accordingly, the following RWTH Electrical Engineering and Information Technology professors have qualified for the ranking:
- Dirk Uwe Sauer from the Chair of Electrochemical Energy Conversion and Storage Systems Engineering.
- Rik W. De Doncker from the Chair of Power Electronics and Electrical Drives
- Heinrich Meyr from the Chair for Distributed Signal Processing
- Antonello Monti from the Institute for Automation of Complex Power Systems
- Max Lemme from the Chair of Electronic Components AMICA – Advanced Microelectronic Center Aachen
- Steffen Leonhardt from the Chair of Medical Information Technology
- Petri Mahönen from the Chair and Institute of Networked Systems
- Rainer Leupers from the Chair of Software for Systems on Silicon
Gold and bronze at the 2023 Innovation Awards ceremony
Congratulations to all winners of this year’s Innovation Awards for pioneering university projects whose contribution particularly enriches the Aachen region as a location for innovation.
Professor Malte Brettel and award winner Dr.-Ing. Moritz Joseph from Team Neureka.
Gold went to the team Neureka around Professor Rainer Leupers from the Chair of Software for Systems on Silicon with a development kit on hardware – and software level for neuromorphic AI chips in edge applications.
Neuromorphic computing systems replicate the way the human brain works, as they combine computation and memory units and thus enable an enormous increase in performance in artificial intelligence. Neuromorphic chips already available today promise tens to hundreds of times improved energy efficiency, latency, and space efficiency. Neureka has successfully met the challenge of making the complicated system design of this technology accessible to industry.
The Hardware Development Kit integrates purchased neuromorphic chips into an existing computing system, allows validation of neuromorphic hardware, and is a development platform for market-ready AI devices. The software development kit enables easy programming and simulation of AI applications on neuromorphic systems. Software developers can thus bring low-risk AI applications to disruptive neuromorphic hardware and reduce the energy consumption of AI.
Customers of both developments are industrial users, mobile device manufacturers and smart city IoT device providers.
Silver went to an electromagnetically heatable nanomodified stent for the treatment of hollow organ tumors, developed in collaboration by Ioana Slabu of the Institute of Applied Medical Engineering and Benedict Bauer of the Institute of Textile Engineering.
Bronze went on the one hand to the team working with Mathias Bode from the Institute of Technical Combustion in cooperation with the Jülich Supercomputing Centre. Their software-as-a-service platform JuLES is considered a key technology for the climate-neutral transformation of industrial processes.
Professor Heinz Pitsch with Mathis Bode to the left and Weihan Li to the right after the handover of the certificate by Professor Malte Brettel.
On the other hand, the team from the Chair of Electrochemical Energy Conversion and Storage Systems Technology, headed by Professor Dirk Uwe Sauer, was also pleased to receive bronze. The award honored the development of a digital battery twin to increase efficiency and safety in the application field.
Lithium-ion batteries are emerging as the technology for energy storage, especially in the field of electromobility, due to their low cost and high energy density. However, their performance degrades over time. Condition monitoring and prediction of battery aging not only benefits safety, maintenance, and asset optimization, but is also the starting point for technical and economic analysis of potential second-life applications.
The developed cloud battery management system covers seven key functions to control the entire life cycle of batteries, enabling online monitoring of aging, prediction of aging progression, and optimization of operation strategy to limit aging.
The innovation contributes to the acceleration of the energy transition and the electrification of transport. It also opens up commercial opportunities for a wide range of industries, such as digital certificates for batteries, battery warranties and insurance, and predictive and timely warning of safety-critical conditions.
Otto Junker Awards 2022
Image: Ryan Benkert, Daniel Fallnich, Josefin Wilkes and Tomasz Engelmann (front, from left) were awarded the Otto Junker Prize. Wolfgang Bleck, Ulrich Rüdiger, Marianne Conradt and Udo vom Berg congratulated the winners (back, from left).
Photo: Andreas Schmitter
Awarded for outstanding academic achievements
Ryan Benkert, Tomasz Engelmann, Daniel Fallnich and Josefin Wilkes received the 2022 Otto Junker Prize for their outstanding academic achievements. The Otto Junker Prize is conferred annually to RWTH students from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology and the Materials Science and Engineering Division of the Faculty of Georesources and Materials Engineering.
The Otto Junker Foundation was founded in 1970 by Dr.-Ing. E.h. Otto Junker. As a former RWTH, he felt intimately connected to the University throughout his life and particularly valued the scientific exchange. The aim of the foundation is to support young scientists and to promote numerous individual projects. Udo vom Berg, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Otto Junker GmbH, and RWTH Rector Ulrich Rüdiger presented the awards at a ceremony. Professor Wolfgang Bleck, Chairman of the Foundation’s Scientific Advisory Board, and District Mayor Marianne Conradt congratulated the winners.
Ryan Benkert was born in January 1997 and did his Abitur in Gilching. He then studied electrical engineering, information technology and computer engineering at the RWTH and completed his master’s degree with a grade of 1.0. The master’s thesis with the topic “Out-of-Distribution Detection for Unsupervised Perception Systems” was written at the Chair for Integrated Systems of Signal Processing under the direction of Professor Gerd Ascheid. During his studies, he completed a stay at the Georgia Institute of Technology, funded by the Deutschlandstipendium and a Georgia Tech scholarship. He also completed three internships in the US, one of which was in Cupertino at Apple. Benkert is currently receiving his doctorate at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, USA.
Daniel Fallnich, born in 1996, comes from Hanover and completed a voluntary science year in the field of production technology after leaving school. He then studied electrical engineering and information technology at the University of Hanover in the bachelor’s program. He switched to the RWTH for his master’s degree and studied electrical engineering, information technology and computer engineering. Here he was on Dean’s list of the best students. Fallnich also completed a six-month course at the TU Delft in the Department of Quantum and Computer Engineering. The master’s thesis with the topic “Design of a Hardware Architecture for the Niederreiter Cryptosystem” was written at the Chair for Integrated Digital Systems and Circuit Design under the direction of Professor Tobias Gemmeke. Fallnich is currently working at IBM in Böblingen.
Friedrich Wilhelm Awards 2022
RWTH Rector Ulrich Rüdiger honored 17 outstanding graduates of RWTH Aachen University with the Friedrich Wilhelm Awards 2022.
Photo: Andreas Schmitter
Honoring outstanding achievements by RWTH Aachen graduates
The Friedrich Wilhelm Prize is awarded annually by the foundation of the same name in the form of prize money to students and researchers at RWTH Aachen University who have been selected for their outstanding achiements in their theses. Among this year‘s recipients are Maxim Christian Maria Müllender, Master of Science, from the Institute of High Voltage Equipment and Grids, Digitalization and Energy Economics and Laurids Schmitz, Master of Science, from the Institute for Power Electronics and Electrical Drives. Both winners were recognized due to their excellent master‘s theses.
Funding for research and teaching
The name of the foundation goes back to the Prussian crown prince and later Emperor Friedrich Wilhelm III., who founded a polytechnic institute in the Rhine province in 1858 using a donation from the Aachen and Munich fire insurance companies. In doing so, he laid the foundation for both the Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule and the Friedrich Wilhelm Foundation, which is founded 1865 by the legal predecessor of today‘s Aachener und Münchener Beteiligungsgesellschaft. Since then, the promotion of research and teaching and the support of students and researchers at the RWTH Aachen have been the central concerns of the foundation.
