Dec 02, 2023
Circle of Friends and Supporters at ITM TU Dresden e.V. Award Sponsorship Prizes 2023 for Outstanding Theses
Dr.-Ing. Dilbar Aibibu (Managing Director of the Freundes- und Förderkreis des ITM der TU Dresden e.V.), Dr.-Ing. Johannes Mersch (award winner), M. Sc. Sabrina Scheele (award winner) and Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Dipl.-Wirt. Ing. Chokri Cherif (Director of the Institute of ITM); from left to right
On the occasion of the Aachen-Dresden-Denkendorf International Textile Conference 2023, which took place from 30.11. - 01.12.2023 in Dresden, two sponsorship awards of the Friends and Sponsors of the ITM of TU Dresden e. V. for outstanding graduate theses were presented during the plenary session by Dr.-Ing. to Ms. M. Sc. Sabrina Scheele and Dr.-Ing. Johannes Mersch.
M. Sc. Sabrina Scheele received the award for her Master's thesis "Method development for the functionalization of chitosan fibres produced on the basis of ionic liquids with enzymatic model active ingredients".
The objective of this thesis was the fundamental development of a functionalization process for chitosan fibres using the two model agents alkaline phosphatase and horseradish peroxidase. This involves the development of two methods on a laboratory scale, one in which the functionalization of the fibres is already implemented in the spinning solution and the other after the fibres have been spun. Starting with the production of the spinning solution, followed by fibre spinning and subsequent analytical methods, the influence of the model materials is investigated and an optimal functionalization process integrated directly into the spinning process is developed. The results of the master's thesis provide an important basis for further developments in the field of innovative textile-based medical products.
Ms. Scheele was enrolled at the TUD Dresden University of Technology from October 2020 to May 2023. As a Student Assistant, she has already contributed to various research projects at the ITM. Ms. Scheele has been working as a Research Associate at the ITM since August 2023. She independently works on and coordinates interdisciplinary research projects in the Textile Chemistry and Polymer and Fiber Technology research group.
Dr.-Ing. Johannes Mersch received the sponsorship award for his successfully completed dissertation "Structure-integrated sensor networks in interactive fiber-elastomer composites and their electromechanical network models".
In his dissertation, he dealt with soft, extremely compliant sensor materials based on conductive yarns, their integration into self-deforming composites and the combined electro-thermo-mechanical simulation of the materials. The work consists of three main focal points. Firstly, Mr. Mersch focused on elastomer yarns mixed with carbon particles and their use as strain sensors. He investigated the so-called shoulder phenomenon and was able to develop a convincing explanation as well as strategies for compensation. Dr. Mersch also investigated silver-plated polyamide yarns as resistive and capacitive strain sensors and was able to significantly improve some sensor metrics such as linearity, drift and hysteresis. The work concluded with the integration of the developed sensors into active elastomer composites. In addition to the characterization of the composites with dielectric elastomer actuators and shape memory actuators, Mr. Mersch's focus in this last area was on modeling using equivalent network models, which were able to map the behavior very well.
Dr. Mersch was enrolled at TU Dresden from October 2012 to November 2017. As a Student Assistant, he already contributed to various research projects at the ITM. From November 2017 to October 2023, Dr. Mersch worked as a Research Associate at TU Dresden. In the first year, he worked at the ITM in the field of non-destructive testing and robot-assisted production of fiber-reinforced plastic composites. He then completed his doctorate at the Institute of Solid State Electronics as part of the research training group "Interactive Fiber-Elastomer Composites". From October 2022 to September 2023, he coordinated this research training group and also worked on various interdisciplinary research projects in the "Sensor, Measurement and Actuator Technology" research group at the ITM. Since October, he has been working as a postdoctoral fellow of the Austrian Academy of Sciences at the Johannes Kepler University (JKU) Linz. His core research areas at the JKU are material characterization using electrical impedance tomography and spectroscopy as well as highly twisted polymer actuators.
Representatives of companies and Institutes from the textile and clothing industry, textile machine construction, lightweight construction and test equipment manufacturers from all over Germany have joined together in the Friends and Sponsors' Association (FFK) of the ITM at TU Dresden. The aim of the FFK is to promote research and training at the Institute of Textile Machinery and High Performance Material Technology, among other things by stimulating research tasks and supporting training by financing or co-financing materials and equipment for teaching. It is also particularly helpful that the students are able to go on annual excursions to the most modern companies in our industry thanks to the considerable commitment of the FFK and VDMA member companies. Furthermore, the FFK awards sponsorship prizes every three years for outstanding graduation theses that are characterized by a high degree of scientific or practical relevance.