Good news for FAU and partners from science and industry: up to 3.5 million euros in funding from the Bavarian Research Foundation for three collaborative projects and one research network. FAU is the project coordinator in each instance.
When presenting the official confirmation of funding for the four groundbreaking projects at the Chair of Engineering Design, the Chair of High Frequency Engineering and the Department of Clinical and Molecular Virology at Universitätsklinikum Erlangen, Science Minister Bernd Sibler announced that 'the state of Bavaria is proud of its outstanding high achievers in science and technology. The four projects which have now received funding - including a new research network coordinated by the Chair of Engineering Design - are positive examples of fruitful collaboration between science and industry. Not only that, they are proof of the cutting-edge research undertaken at FAU. Some of the funded projects are set to have a particularly significant impact in the area of digitalisation. This is exactly the type of research encouraged by our technology offensive, the Hightech Agenda Bavaria promoted by Bavarian Minister President Dr. Markus Söder.'
An overview of the individual projects
MeLD - Machine Learned Dynamics: Using machine learning to take account of dynamic behaviour of cages when designing rolling bearings
The MeLD project is being conducted by the Chair of Engineering Design together with an industrial partner and has received funding of up to 195,200 euros. The aim is to use digitalisation, or more specifically methods from the field of artificial intelligence, to support traditional mechanical engineering processes. It is hoped that algorithms can help to assess the behaviour of rolling bearings early on, thereby reducing friction and saving energy. Their highly efficient calculation times make algorithms like this particularly well suited for use in industry 4.0 and the Internet of Things.
TERAKOMM: Increasing the channel capacity of passive circuit boards for terabit telecommunications systems.
The TERAKOMM project is being conducted by the Chair of High Frequency Engineering together with an industrial partner and has received funding of up to 466,300 euros. Devices currently used in telecommunications infrastructure already process enormous volumes of data totalling several terabits per second. This project focuses on researching new concepts for solutions for future systems with even higher data rates.
DeeP-CMV: Diagnosis, treatment and prevention of cytomegalovirus infections
The project Deep-CMV is being conducted by the Department of Clinical and Molecular Virology in collaboration with other scientific partners of FAU and the University of Regensburg as well as several partners from industry, and has received funding of up to 966,000 euros. The project focuses on developing new diagnostic methods, medication, vaccination concepts and treatment strategies for the cytomegalovirus (CMV). This virus is one of the most significant pathogens in humans and can cause serious and life-threatening infections under certain high-risk circumstances such as during pregnancy or after a transplant. Today, an infection with CMV is the most common infection-related risk for defects in newborns.
FORCuDE@BEV research network: 'Customised digital engineering for Bavarian SMEs using the example of power transmission in electric vehicles'
The FORCuDE@BEV research network is coordinated by the Chair of Engineering Design and includes other scientific partners from Technische Universität München (TUM), the University of Bayreuth and Universität der Bundeswehr in Munich. 20 industrial partners are also involved, half of which are small and medium-sized enterprises (SME). The research network has received funding of up to 1,888,000 euros. The aim behind FORCuDE@BEV is to draw up a digital engineering process for SMEs using power transmission in electric vehicles as an example, thereby allowing them to transfer the potential offered by digitalisation to their business processes and drastically cut the time and costs needed for development.
