Electrical Engineering and Information Technology

Wolfgang Bleck (on the left), Udo von Berg (on the right) and Ulrich Rüdiger (second from right) extended their congratulations to the award winners Jan Krusenbaum (second from left), Gerrit Ipers (third from left), Daniel Baggen (fourth from left) and Moritz Diewald (third from right). ©Andreas Schmitter

At this year’s Otto Junker Award ceremony, two outstanding young talents, Daniel Baggen and Gerrit Ipers, from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, were honoured for their outstanding academic achievements.

Daniel Baggen, born in Aachen in 2000, commenced the Bachelor’s degree programme in Electrical Engineering, Information Technology and Computer Engineering at RWTH Aachen University following the completion of his Abitur at Städtisches Gymnasium Herzogenrath. He completed his Master’s degree with a thesis on “the design and commissioning of a highly integrated DC-DC converter for the production of green hydrogen” at the Institute for Power Electronics and Electrical Drives under the supervision of Professor Rik W. De Doncker. Since November 2023, Baggen has been working as a doctoral student in the field of power electronics.

Gerrit Ipers, aged 27, was born in Viersen. Subsequent to his graduation from the Liebfrauenschule Mülhausen in Grefrath, he first completed a Bachelor’s and thereafter a Master’s degree in industrial engineering, with a specialisation in electrical power engineering, at the RWTH Aachen University. He authored his master’s thesis, entitled “Rapid Prediction of Electro-Chemo-Mechanical Degradation of Li-Ion Batteries for End-of-Life Options”, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the USA. Prior to this, he completed the T.I.M.E. double master’s programme at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. He was supervised by Professor Dirk Uwe Sauer, also from the Institute for Power Electronics and Electrical Drives at RWTH Aachen University. Since May 2023, Ipers has been employed as a technical project manager at a Swedish automotive supplier.

Moritz Diewald, from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering in the Faculty of Georesources and Materials Engineering, impressed the jury with his Master’s thesis, in which he investigated sub-stoichiometric combustion as part of multi-stage flameless oxidation, using both numerical and experimental techniques. In the same department, Jan Krusenbaum was honoured for his Master’s thesis entitled “Thermal conditioning of Li-ion battery shredders as part of a novel recycling process: Effects of the process gas atmosphere and other determinants on the recovery of the critical element lithium”.

The awards were bestowed at a celebratory ceremony. Udo von Berg, Chairman of the Otto Junker Foundation, and Ulrich Rüdiger, Rector of RWTH Aachen University, presented the awards. Professor Wolfgang Bleck, who holds the title of Professor Emeritus and serves as Chairman of the Foundation’s Scientific Advisory Board, extended congratulations on the occasion.

The awards, which are named in honour of the foundation’s founder, Dr. Otto Junker, are bestowed annually upon the most distinguished graduates of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology and the Materials Science and Engineering Group, which is part of the Faculty of Georesources and Materials Engineering. The foundation, which was established in 1970, is dedicated to the advancement of young scientists and provides substantial support for a multitude of individual research projects.

The exceptional accomplishments of these four graduates not only exemplify their individual excellence but also reflect positively on RWTH Aachen University as an institution of higher educations that nurtures outstanding individuals. We would like to extend our sincerest congratulations to Daniel Baggen, Gerrit Ipers, Moritz Diewald and Jan Krusenbaum on this well-deserved recognition. We wish them continued success in their promising careers.