The awards ceremony of the Walter Reiners Foundation of the VDMA Textile Machinery Association for students and early-career engineers from German universities for outstanding achievements in their studies took place during the Techtextil 2024 exhibition in Frankfurt/Main. The nationwide awards were presented by Mr. Peter D. Dornier, Chairman of the Board of the Walter Reiners Foundation, at the VDMA trade fair stand.

M. Sc. Katharina Maria Ernst developed a process for the thermal stabilization of chitosan filament yarn on the basis of thermoanalytical investigations and batch tests.

© ITM/TUD

The objective of the project, endowed with €3500, was to investigate chitosan as an alternative raw material for carbon fiber production. Up to now, the petroleum-based precursors PAN and pitch have mainly been used. Due to the increasing demand for carbon fibers, new precursors based on renewable raw materials are being investigated. In contrast to cellulose and lignin, chitosan has not yet been extensively researched and could also be suitable for carbon fiber production due to its chemical similarity to cellulose. Chitosan was thermoanalytically explored in the thesis and a stabilization process with several heating zones was developed, where stabilized fibres based on chitosan could be successfully produced. With the thermal stabilization processes developed, no positive influence on the carbon yield could be demonstrated. However, the investigations of the conversion processes form a good basis for adapting and optimizing the stabilization process accordingly so that more sustainable carbon fibres can be produced from chitosan in the future.

Lena Fink was awarded the sponsorship prize in the category "Project work in German textile mechanical engineering" for her work entitled "Development of a device for changing bobbin lace spring tensioning systems".

© ITM/TUD

The project work, endowed with €3,000, was completed as part of a specialist internship at ADMEDES GmbH. The aim of the project work was to develop a new device for changing the flat springs of the clapper spring assembly. To this end, the existing assembly process was analyzed and then the entire design development process was run through. The preferred variant identified was manufactured, assembled and tested. The device  enables the safe and time-efficient changing of spring tensioning systems for the braided bobbins used. It meets all safety and quality requirements. The use of the device reduces the risk of injury and accidents for production employees and increases the effectiveness of the changing process.

The employees of ITM are proud and congratulate the award winners.