Mechanical engineering student Tim Dietz of TU Ilmenau has been awarded the VDI Prize 2020 of the Association of German Engineers, Thuringian District Association e. V., for his Bachelor's thesis.
In his thesis, which was supervised by Prof. Eberhard Manske at the Department of Production and Precision Metrology, Tim Dietz dealt with the conceptual design of a universal test stand for determining mechanical parameters of functional samples. The work was carried out in cooperation with Carl Zeiss Spectroscopy GmbH. The company develops and builds spectrometer systems for the food and glass industries. Since the quality and productivity of arable soils vary from square metre to square metre, such spectrometers and special measurement methods that take these varying requirements into account are very interesting for the agricultural industry. A new development is the use of near-infrared spectroscopy systems on mobile harvesters. By recording information about the nutrient content of the soil in real time, they enable the farmer to accurately dose fertilizer during harvest.
Tim Dietz's supervisor, Prof. Eberhard Manske, is enthusiastic about the quality of the bachelor's thesis: "In his thesis, Tim Dietz designs and investigates a universal test rig that enables the diverse range of spectrometers and spectrometer systems to be investigated and tested more quickly, reliably and efficiently. He has thus made a valuable contribution to the qualification of development and manufacturing processes at Carl Zeiss Spectroscopy GmbH."
The award ceremony was held following the defense of the thesis by the Deputy Chairman of the Association of German Engineers, Thuringian District Association, Dr. Stephan Husung, and the Chairman of the VDI Thuringia Regional Association, Prof. Gunther Notni. With around 145,000 members, the VDI - Verein Deutscher Ingenieure e. V. (Association of German Engineers) is Germany's largest technical and scientific association.
