Jakob Hampel and Lukas Leon Barthelmann, young scientists at TU Ilmenau, have been awarded the Silicon Science Award for their final theses in the Computer Engineering and Mechanical Engineering programs. With the award, which was presented on September 4 during the Ilmenau Scientific Colloquium (ISC), CiS e.V. and CiS Forschungsinstitut für Mikrosensorik GmbH particularly recognize the high practical value of their challenging research work.
In his thesis "Time-correlated single photon counting for time-domain characterization of high-speed light sources using configurable logic devices", which was prepared at IMMS GmbH and supervised by the Advanced Electromagnetics Group at TU Ilmenau, Jakob Hampel developed a low-cost measuring system, only the size of a palm, which measures light pulses with a resolution of 20 picoseconds. This means that it can be used, among other things, in miniaturized and particularly sensitive laboratory devices that analyze patient samples such as blood or urine in the immediate vicinity of the patient - so-called point-of-care devices such as those being developed by the IMMS. The system is also already being used in research into quantum technologies in the QuantumHub Thuringia project. Department Head Prof. Hannes Töpfer:
With his work, Mr. Hampel not only addresses highly topical research questions, but also opens up many new areas of application. At the same time, he impressively demonstrates how, thanks to the close cooperation of the TU Ilmenau with non-university research institutes, it is possible to combine sophisticated theoretical knowledge with current practical relevance already during the studies.
Lukas Leon Barthelmann also dealt with a very application-oriented research topic: As part of his bachelor thesis, which was prepared at the CiS Forschungsinstitut für Mikrosensorik GmbH and supervised at the Institute of Process Measurement and Sensor Technology (IPMS) of the TU Ilmenau, he examined and optimized so-called redundant temperature measurement systems. In contrast to systems with single sensors, such measuring systems use several sensors that differ from each other with regard to the correlation between the physical quantity to be measured and the resulting electrical quantity. If one sensor fails, the temperature can still be measured correctly. This makes the measurement systems much more reliable and safe.
By automating the evaluation of sensor data in the industrially relevant temperature range from -40 °C to +140 °C as much as possible, Mr. Barthelmann generated a lot of metrologically extremely meaningful and resilient data, which is relevant for the development of redundant systems in industrial measurement technology or in the automotive sector.
explains Prof. Thomas Fröhlich, head of the Process Measurement Technology department, who supervised the work at IPMS.
With the Silicon Science Award, CIS e.V. and CiS Forschungsinstitut für Mikrosensorik GmbH want to encourage young scientists to deal with topics and research tasks that are related to silicon-based microsystem technology, optoelectronics and quantum technologies and that are fundamental for many scientific and economic innovations to solve societal challenges such as climate protection or resource efficiency. A total of five people were honored this year as part of the IWK, including researchers from the Technical University of Dresden, Eberhard Karls University Tübingen and Ruhr University Bochum.