With the 2030 Agenda adopted in 2015, the global community under the umbrella of the United Nations committed to 17 Global Goals for Sustainable Development committed itself to sustainable development. This encompasses economic, ecological and social aspects. In doing so, the 2030 Agenda underscores the shared responsibility of all stakeholders: politics, business, science, civil society - and every individual.
In order to live up to this social responsibility, we, as an internationally oriented place of science, study and work, have also set out on the path to becoming a Sustainable Community. Researchers at TU Ilmenau develop innovative technological solutions for the preservation of our natural foundations of life: They work on processes for the production ofgreen hydrogen, explore the fundamentals of "green" sustainable electronics, make our power grids fit for the requirements of the energy transition or further develop electromobility. They are already helping to shape a sustainable world for tomorrow.
TU Ilmenau/ariWith the Scientific Year 2023 "Sustainability", we are focusing on projects that pursue novel and resource-saving approaches in energy and medical technology, industrial production and informatics - technologies that record and regulate the state of plant and animal life in our ecosystems, especially in our forests, but also research that establishes new methods in our working world, in climate and energy communication or in the field of digitalization.
We are pleased to provide insights into our research activities in cooperation with international partners from science and industry and cordially invite you to enter into dialogue with us and to walk the path to a sustainable future together.
Yours, Stefan Sinzinger | Vice President for Research and Young Scientists at TU Ilmenau
Major project on environmentally friendly air traffic
This major European project is making air traffic fit for a sustainable and climate-neutral future. 37 partners from eleven countries are developing new technologies for hybrid aircraft of the future, i.e. aircraft with combustion engines and electric motors. The task of the Department of Electrical Devices and Systems at the Technical University of Ilmenau is to develop new types of switchgear for the innovative distribution of electrical energy in hybrid aircraft.
Resource-efficient energy distribution network for Germany
Researchers from six groups at TU Ilmenau are developing a resource-efficient energy distribution network for Germany based on direct current technology. It will be tailored specifically to the increasing use of renewable energy generated by a large number of decentralized plants and will offer significantly higher operational reliability than the current grid. The six-year VERNEDCT research project will start in July 2023.
Chronolite: IoT sensors for healthy sleep
In the Chronolite project, researchers want to use an app to adjust the lighting in cars, trains and planes to the chronobiological clock of travelers for the first time. To do this, they are developing intelligent sensors that communicate data to a cloud. Prof. Christoph Schierz, head of the group: "With our app, we take into account different everyday situations of people and promote healthy sleep by regulating exposure."
CO2 reduction: Novel sensor for exhaust systems
Researchers at the Electronics Technology Group have developed a sensor element based on low-temperature ceramics (LTCCs) that can be used to determine and control the dew point of acidic gases from exhaust systems in real time. In this way, the exhaust gas temperature of fossil fuel plants can be kept low and environmentally harmful CO2 emissions can be reduced without sulfuric acid condensing in the exhaust tract and destroying the chimney.
July 2022
Smart sensor technology in nature: Scientists bring digitization to the forest
"We would like to make the forest more resilient," says Prof. Gunther Notni, head of Quality Assurance and Industrial Image Processing at TU Ilmenau. Together with the UAS Erfurt, the scientist would like to use his know-how to develop Thuringia into a model region for forest conversion and sustainable forest use und uses energy-efficient, networked spectral and 3D sensors to this end.
Energy-efficient production of organic sheets for automotive and aircraft construction
As part of the "VerDiOr" joint project funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, the Plastics Technology Group at TU Ilmenau is working together with Folienwerk Wolfen GmbH on an innovative manufacturing process for the energy-efficient production of organic sheets, which are used in particular in automotive and aircraft construction. Among other things, this is intended to increase the energy efficiency of electric vehicles.
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In the "BeesUp" project, scientists at TU Ilmenau are developing a digital planning tool supported by artificial intelligence (AI) for the wild bee-friendly design of open spaces in urban areas. Project leader Dr. Marco Seeland, Philipp Gattung, student assistant in the project, and Prof. Patrick Mäder, head of Data-intensive Systems and Visualization, on their commitment to wild bee-friendly cities:
"The 'bee die-off' must be viewed in a differentiated way."
In just a few clicks through 16,000 plant species - that's what the plant recognition app "Flora Incognita" makes possible. App inventor and head of Data-intensive Systems and Visualization Prof. Patrick Mäder tells how he uses Deep Learning to document plant species, monitor wild bee populations and create habitats for insects.
"We need AI to preserve biodiversity".
Prof. Jens Wolling, Head of the Group for Media Research and Political Communication, is part of the research team that has developed the exhibition Power2Change: Mission Energiewende from a communication science perspective and says:
"Many of the problems of the energy transition are communicative in nature"
To ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all isone of the United Nations' 17 Sustainable Development Goals. On the occasion of World Water Day Prof. Pu Li, head of the Process Optimization Group, tells us how he uses mathematical modeling and optimization not only to protect water from contamination, but also to reduce energy consumption in waterworks.
"We optimize water quality with mathematics"
Prof. Florian Puch, head of the Plastics Technology Group and scientific director at the Thuringian Institute for Textile and Plastics Research (TITK) in Rudolstadt, an affiliated institute of TU Ilmenau, on the challenges and prospects of plastics in the circular economy.
"We need to close loops"
In an interview, Prof. Horst Michael Groß explains where assistance robots are already relieving people in everyday life and how they can become a reliable partner in care.
"It's not about making robots more and more intelligent and autonomous, but about letting them become an aid to video-based human care."
Through numerous activities, researchers at the TU Ilmenau play a decisive role in shaping the international state of research and development. intelligent technical solutions significantly: They further develop the performance of intelligent sensor technology, research for the future generation of microsystems, realize solutions for the mobility of the future, energetically highly efficient microelectronic circuits or novel assistance systems for intelligent industrial manufacturing and advance the state of the art in wireless communication technologies.
Scientists from different disciplines at TU Ilmenau have been working intensively in the field of energy research for years in order to answer the multitude of still unanswered questions regarding the energy transition. Within the framework of the Scientific Year "Energy", we would like to make the complexity and breadth of the joint efforts in this field of science more visible and provide insights into our research activities. We report on ongoing projects and invite you to events on the topic of energy.