The Institute of Materials Engineering is delighted to announce that a recent bachelor's thesis on "Influence of monotonic pre-deformation on the residual stress depth of a layered metal composite" has been awarded third place in the Dörrenberg Study Award. In recognition of her outstanding achievement, Johanna Zeisberg was awarded with a prize money of €2,000.

Award ceremony, from left: Prof Dr Sebastian Weber (University of Bochum), Prof Dr Reinhold Schneider (FH Wels), Michelle Treppmann (finalist), Prof Dr Christoph Broeckmann (RWTH Aachen), Korbinian Höger (finalist), Prof Dr Christoph Escher (Head of Research Dörrenberg GmbH), Pia Huckfeld (finalist), Niklas Weber (finalist), Johanna Zeisberg (finalist), Marc Breidenbach (Managing Director Dörrenberg GmbH). @ Andreas Dick, Dörrenberg GmbH

Thanks to newly developed, hot-rolled layered composites, sheet materials with adjustable, graded properties, which are cost-effective and suitable for large-scale production are available for the first time. As a result, there is great interest in answering key research questions for further application, for example in the area of residual stresses. Ms. Zeisberg tackled this complex of topics as part of her Bachelor's thesis, which she wrote in the Department of Metallic Materials under the supervision of Prof. Thomas Niendorf. She was able to gain far-reaching new insights that will make it possible to tailor the layered composites for the respective application in the long term.

The Dörrenberg Study Award was presented for the 16th time in 2024. The prize, which is endowed with prize money totaling 10,000 euros, is awarded each year by Dörrenberg Edelstahl GmbH for outstanding scientific work in the field of materials technology with a focus on steel, which establishes a link between theoretical knowledge and practical application. The best five participants were selected from a large number of applications received from across the country and even beyond its borders. As part of a presentation, the finalists had the opportunity to present their projects and determine the winner.

The jury, consisting of three university professors and the Head of Research at Dörrenberg Edelstahl GmbH, Prof. Dr. Christoph Escher, led the intensive discussions and carried out the final evaluation. They emphasized that the quality of the work went far beyond the usual theses. The participants were not only allowed to delve deeper into their main topics, but also to answer relevant questions beyond their research.