Two master's theses and one dissertation were awarded cash prizes totaling 11,000 euros. The handover event took place in mid-December as an online event in line with the current Covid 19 precautionary measures.
Dr. Stefan Wallmeier, Vice President Technology of the Kamax Group, congratulated the winners from the company headquarters in Homberg (Ohm) and explained, "An important part of our DNA is to always be innovative and future-oriented. This is the only way we can meet our high quality standards and be among the best suppliers in the mobility industry. To do this, however, we also need the right and well-trained employees. That's why we see it as our duty to support and promote young people who have drawn attention to themselves through outstanding performance in their training." It is particularly worth mentioning that the relevance and suitability for implementation in industrial production has been demonstrated in all three award-winning works. Dr. Wilko Hinrichs-Stark, plant manager at Kamax's Osterode am Harz site, was also among the online congratulators.
5000 euros for the dissertation, 3000 euros each for the master's theses
On the part of the Clausthal University of Technology, the award ceremony was attended by University President Professor Joachim Schachtner and from the board of the Clausthal Center for Materials Technology (CZM) Professor Wolfgang Maus-Friedrichs and Professor Volker Wesling, as well as CZM Managing Director Dr. Henning Wiche. In addition to the basic willingness to newly establish a sponsorship award in the current situation, the amount of the endowment in particular was special (5000 euros for the dissertation, 3000 euros for each of the master's theses), the Clausthal representatives expressed their gratitude. "On the other hand, it shows that we work on topics with high industrial relevance, especially at CZM," Professor Wesling further summarized.
The work of Dr. Farzad Foadian, in which he developed a multi-scale simulation of the drawing process in the manufacture of tubes, was honored as the best doctoral thesis. As a result, it is possible to predict the effects of the material, the initial conditions (residual stresses and textures) and the manufacturing parameters on the final product. Dr. Foadian earned his doctorate at the Clausthal Institute of Metallurgy and is currently a substitute professor at the Dortmund University of Applied Sciences and Arts.
The new sponsorship award is to be presented in each winter semester
In the area of master's degrees, two outstanding works were awarded prizes: Maraike Gräbner dedicated her thesis to the influence of properties of arc-additive manufactured specimens, for example usable for forming tools. Philipp Moritz investigated how cold plasmas for surface activation can be used to increase the adhesive strength between polymer and steel, for example for cold-formable sandwich composites. The award will be presented in cooperation with the Clausthal Center for Materials Technology every winter semester in the future.
The Kamax Group has around 3,350 employees at 13 locations worldwide. Sales reached a total of 774 million euros in 2019. For more than 80 years, its core business has been the development and production of high-strength fasteners and complex cold-formed parts for the global automotive industry.
