Professor Grace Li Zhang awarded ERC Starting Grant

etit Professor Grace Li Zhang has been awarded a Starting Grant by the European Research Council (ERC) for her research project “LogiNet”. She will receive 1.5 million euros. LogiNet pursues a new approach to making neural networks – the heart of many artificial intelligence (AI) applications – more energy-efficient and transparent. LogiNet not only develops new solutions for green AI to benefit the economy and the environment but also lays the foundation for new directions such as logic-based DNN validation in the era of large-scale models that have started to influence our society fundamentally.

On 1 July, Dirk Hartmann joined the Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology as a cooperation professor for the research area ‘Digital Twins’. The 47-year-old scientist, who completed his doctorate at the University of Heidelberg and worked there as a junior research group leader at the Institute for Scientific Computing, has had an expert career with various management roles at Siemens AG. He currently heads the technology innovation team for the simulation products of Siemens Digital Industrie Software.

Since July 1, Yvonne Späck-Leigsnering has been a cooperation professor for “Computational Electromagnetic Compatibility” at the Department of Electrical and Information Engineering. The scientist, who earned her doctorate from TU Darmstadt in 2019, has been leading the independent junior research group “Quasistatics in Computational Engineering (QuinCE)” at the TU's “Electromagnetic Field Theory (EMFT)” department since 2022. Additionally, she has been heading the simulation team in the ME/EMC division of Robert Bosch GmbH since 2023.

Since July 1st, Holger Maune has been a Professor of High-Frequency Engineering at the Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology at TU Darmstadt. The 43-year-old completed his doctoral studies at TU Darmstadt in 2011 and subsequently worked as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Institute of Microwave Engineering and Photonics. In 2020, he habilitated in the field of High-Frequency Engineering at TU Darmstadt. Most recently, he held the position of Professor of High-Frequency and Communication Engineering at Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg since 2021. In an interview, he shares what particularly attracts him to return to TU Darmstadt and the challenges he anticipates in his new role.

Universities co-operate within the framework of the IJRL Solid State Lighting Technology

As part of the International Joint Research Lab (IJRL) ‘Solid State Lighting Technology – Components to Systems’, leading European universities are working closely together to improve the reliability and service life of semiconductor-based lighting and irradiation systems.

TU Darmstadt and MIT develop methods for monitoring with machine learning

The safe use of lithium-ion batteries, such as those used in electric vehicles and stationary energy storage systems, critically depends on condition monitoring and early fault detection. Failures in individual battery cells can lead to serious issues, including fires. To mitigate these risks, researchers at TU Darmstadt and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed novel methods for battery analysis and monitoring that leverage physically constrained machine learning approaches.

Start-up Metalonn reduces satellite components more than tenfold

Much more than we realise is controlled by satellites today: from navigation devices and weather forecasts to the transmission of television and the internet, they provide valuable data for our everyday lives. And this is increasing exponentially: ‘In the last three to four years, three times more satellites have been launched into space than existed before,’ says Emrah Fuat Talan, describing this growing market. This is where the start-up Metalonn, which he and Arshad Mehmood founded in mid-2023, comes into play.

Innovative ultrasonic detection method finds cavities in foamed sandwich elements

Scientists at the Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology at TU Darmstadt, in collaboration with Inoson GmbH, have developed a new type of non-destructive testing method that uses air-coupled Lamb waves to detect cavities in sandwich panels. The research is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Policy.

Upcoming start-up wants to revolutionise the generation and use of terahertz waves

Terahertz waves have a wide range of potential applications: From materials testing to biomedical and security technology to telecommunications. The THzNanoVision project utilises innovative semiconductor technologies to develop compact terahertz sources. There is also a clear focus on sustainability and environmental compatibility.

The TUDa start-up MimoSense develops film sensors in a class of their own

They are highly sensitive, reliable and widely applicable: the patented foil sensors from MimoSense make it possible to measure small forces such as touch, pulse, breathing and the smallest vibrations of any kind. But even large forces, such as those that occur on scales or on the blades of wind turbines, can be precisely recorded by these wafer-thin electronic marvels. Omar Ben Dali, Romol Chadda and Stefan Trillig are now receiving funding from the German government's EXIST research transfer programme. They want to use these funds to develop their foil sensors into market-ready products. Large companies have already come knocking.