KARL KOLLE Prize | Awarded for outstanding theses

Amelie Merbach | Energy, Building and Environmental Engineering (EGB)

Amelie Merbach has been awarded the KARL KOLLE Prize 2024 for her Bachelor's thesis "Performance parameters of intensive retention green roof variants in extreme weather events". Her thesis was supervised by Prof. Dr rer. nat. Ingo Hartmann (HTWK Leipzig) and Dr Marc Breulmann (UFZ Leipzig) at the end of her Bachelor's degree in Energy, Building and Environmental Engineering.

As part of the Leipzig BlueGreen II project, led by the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research GmbH - UFZ, the suitability of blue-green infrastructures for the retention and use of rainwater is being evaluated. In her final thesis, Amelie Merbach analysed various green roof variants in terms of their rainwater retention capacity. To this end, Amelie Merbach constructed three lysimeters to simulate different green roof structures and equipped them with measurement technology to record weight changes, soil moisture, runoff and climate data. As part of the bachelor's thesis, extreme weather events such as heavy rainfall were then simulated and the evapotranspiration performance, water retention and runoff delay as well as the influence of the retention layer thickness were analysed under these conditions.

Graduate Merbach was able to prove with her work that intensive retention green roofs can perform better than conventional green roofs with drainage both in dry periods and during heavy rainfall events. The results of their work prove that retention green roofs can be used effectively for decentralised rainwater retention in order to reduce flooding in neighbourhoods and relieve the urban sewage system during heavy rainfall.

Marten Tschatschanidse | Mechanical Engineering (MBB)

Marten Tschatschanidse received the KARL-KOLLE Prize 2024 for his Bachelor's thesis "Experimental investigation of the damage state of a discarded E40 rotor blade belt structure and identification of possible damage models to describe diagnosed defects". The thesis was supervised by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Philipp Johst.

There are currently no established methods and processes in Europe for the recycling of fibre composites, which are used in wind turbine components, among other things. In addition to recycling (which is difficult to realise), the direct reuse of rotor blade structures is a promising approach. In this context, there is often a lack of knowledge of the fibre composite structures with regard to the property profile and the state of damage. Marten Tschatschanidse focussed on this problem constellation in his bachelor thesis. He carried out selected experimental investigations on a discarded rotor blade structure from an Enercon E40 wind turbine. Based on these investigations, he identified existing damage models and their model parameters. In the future, such damage models will form the basis for the design of possible 2nd life applications.

Richard Köhler | Electrical Engineering and Information Technology (EIM)

Richard Köhler was awarded the KARL-KOLLE Prize 2024 for his master's thesis "Investigation of the influence of the number of phases and winding design on the torque quality of permanent magnet synchronous machines, especially with tooth coil winding" . The work was supervised by Prof. Dr Cornelius Bode and Dr Andreas Reinhold.

In his thesis, Richard Köhler investigated key issues relating to the optimisation of electric motors with permanent magnets, which are crucial for a sustainable and energy-efficient future. To this end, he has developed an analytical model that analyses the influence of tooth width and polyphase on interfering harmonics and torque quality. He then verified this model with an FEM simulation and showed that targeted adjustments to the tooth width can reduce disruptive torque ripples by up to 71% while increasing the desired effective torque by 14%. These measures offer a simple but effective method of increasing the efficiency and torque density of selected electric motors. Furthermore, noise and vibrations can be minimised and new areas of application opened up for these specific motor variants.

Energy savings can be realised by minimising the losses of electric motors.

Louis Westermann | Mechanical Engineering (MBM)

Louis Westermann received the KARL KOLLE Prize 2024 for his Master's thesis "Simulation-based clocking and evaluation of a variable cycle time of a multi-variant assembly line in the electrical industry". The thesis was supervised by Prof. Dr Martin Gürtler and M.Eng. Marco Moser.

The work is dedicated to one of the central challenges of modern production technology, namely the efficient design of assembly processes, taking into account high product variance and increasing market requirements, because the assembly of fast charging stations with 400kW is facing increasing efficiency requirements due to various configuration options. In his work, Louis Westermann developed a detailed clocking process for the production line of a fast-charging station and designed a core production process that was optimised using the weighted average takt time WATT method and a simulation in the FlexSim environment. By analysing the order data, calculating probabilities of occurrence and identifying assembly-related sequence restrictions, Westermann was able to develop an effective line structure and devise a concept for a variable cycle time that enables a significant increase in efficiency.

The Faculty of Engineering congratulates all the prizewinners and wishes them every success for their future careers.

The founder Karl Kolle saw it as his life's work to be involved in the social and community environment. The declared aim of the foundation is therefore very much the "education and upbringing" of young people, both at home and abroad. The foundation was established in 1998 by Dortmund entrepreneur Karl Kolle. The foundation's assets are based on the company KODA Stanz- und Biegetechnik GmbH - a supplier to the automotive industry. In addition to education, the most important areas of support include "science and research". In this combination, the foundation awards scholarships for particularly outstanding students and prizes for excellent scientific work.

Since 2006, the KARL KOLLE Foundation has supported students at HTWK Leipzig during study visits abroad and honours students for outstanding technical and scientific theses. The Executive Board and the Board of Trustees of the KARL KOLLE Foundation jointly decide on the awarding of grants. The Board of Trustees comprises representatives from science, business and social fields of activity.