Maximilian Schima, a doctoral student in the Electrical Apparatus and Switchgear Research Group at TU Ilmenau, has received the prestigious Paul & Dee-Dee Slade Young Investigators Award 2024. With his experimental research on arc extinguishing, he impressed the jury at one of the most important international conferences in this field of research.
M. Sc. Maximilian Schima, doctoral student in the Electrical Apparatus and Switchgear Research Group at the Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology at TU Ilmenau, was honored with the Paul & Dee-Dee Slade Young Investigators Award 2024. The award ceremony took place as part of the 32nd International Conference on Electrical Contacts (ICEC) and the 69th IEEE Holm Conference on October 9, 2024 in Annapolis, USA.
The conference is considered one of the most important international events in the field of electrical contacts and switching devices. Each year, the prize is awarded to a scientist under the age of 35 for special achievements in the field of research. Maximilian Schima prevailed against five other finalists and impressed the jury with a lecture and a poster on his research.
Under the title Experimental Investigation of the Influence of Different Magnetic Field Alignments on the DC Arc, Maximilian Schima presented his investigations into arc running and extinguishing behavior in different magnetic field alignments. The special feature of his work is the use of a combination of two magnetic field directions to extinguish the arc. By using a high-speed camera, it was possible to experimentally verify a specially developed model for arc movement in axial magnetic fields in air.
The statistical analysis of the measurement data was supported by Matthias Glock, a scientist in the Group for Probability Theory and Mathematical Statistics at TU Ilmenau. The results of the research can be used in the development and optimization of low-voltage DC switching devices, which are of central importance for the energy transition. These devices are needed to ensure the safe operation of DC systems such as electric vehicles, data centers or DC factories.
The award-winning paper was written as part of the HybSchaDC research project, which is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection. Maximilian Schima is continuing his research in this field as part of his dissertation under the supervision of Prof. Frank Berger.
Holm Conference & ICEC – International Conference on Electrical Contacts
The Holm Conference (IEEE), which takes place annually in the USA, and the International Conference on Electrical Contacts, which is held internationally every two years, cover topics relating to electrical contacts. This also includes research issues in the field of various contact systems, contact materials, switches, relays for the automotive industry, arc modeling, connectors, arc fault detection, smart grids, MEM systems, renewable energy generation and real design and application problems in the manufacture of connection elements.
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M. Sc. Maximilian Schima
Research assistant at the Electrical Apparatus and Switchgear Research Group