The Institute of Lightweight Structures with Hybrid Materials (ILH) is expanding its research capacities with the acquisition of a state-of-the-art high-speed atomic force microscope (HS-AFM), which was sponsored by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The new device, a JPK NanoWizard® Ultra Speed 3 (Bruker), enables high-resolution surface analyses. Thanks to a scan rate of up to 1400 lines per second,…

Another specialist group has been part of the ILH consortium since January 2025. In spring 2024, the professorship for ‘Sustainable Industrialisation and Resilient Infrastructure’ was established in cooperation with the family-owned company Bette GmbH & Co. KG from Delbrück and has been headed by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Alexander Schlüter. The specialist group focusses on the holistic consideration of energy supply, production processes and products over…

The 27th Jour Fixe 'New Processes: Composites in the Automotive Industry' took place on 21 October, with around 30 CU members and guests discussing using fibre-reinforced plastics and how they're likely to develop in the future. The ILH was represented by Mr Julian Lückenkötter, who presented a paper on the process development of a box body floor assembly for vehicles in the 3.5t class. The background to the project, funded by the German Federal…

We are pleased to welcome Professor Dr Richard Ostwald as the new Head of the Chair of Structural and Materials Mechanics. Mr Ostwald takes over the position of the former Chair of Engineering Mechanics and brings with him an extensive scientific career.

The meeting of the scientific working group for plastics technology took place on 24 October 2024 in Frankfurt. At this meeting, four prizes were awarded for the best diploma thesis and the best dissertation in the field of the donors. Lisa Tölle won the prize sponsored by Röchling for her dissertation entitled A contribution to controlling the development of fibre dust from fibre-reinforced plastics during mechanical recycling", supervised by…

The second joint meeting of the DMRC-Academic and ILH Advisory Boards and Executive Boards took place as part of the first inter-institute event in the research priority Sustainable Materials, Processes and Products. In addition to Prof. Schmid and Prof. Tröster reporting on current developments and research areas at the DMRC and ILH, Prof. Meschede, Head of the Competence Centre for Sustainable Energy Technology (KET) at the University of…

On 24 September, a special double event took place at the University of Paderborn, focusing on the interdisciplinary power of mechanical engineering and additive manufacturing. The network meeting of OWL3D, an initiative to promote 3D printing in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe region, cooperated with the Mechanical Engineering Forum. The hosts were the Direct Manufacturing Research Centre (DMRC) for OWL3D and the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering for the…

With mixed feelings Professor Mahnken was sent into his well deserved retirement on 29th February 2024, after an impressive career. Because of his long time dedication and outstanding performance he inspired and shaped many students. His engagement for education and his tireless efforts for science have built a solid base for countless academic successes. His entire scientiffic work includes three textbooks on technical mechanics and more than…

Alexander Schlüter has been a new lecturer at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering since January 2024. The newly established endowed professorship was created in collaboration with the Bette family business from Delbrück. Prof. Schlüter's Chair of Sustainable Industrialisation and Resilient Infrastructure conducts interdisciplinary research into the holistic approach to energy supply, production processes and products over their entire life…

Michael Kröker was awarded the Brose Prize by the "Wisssenschaftlicher Arbeitskreis Kunststofftechnik, WAK" (Scientific Working Group Plastics Technology) for his doctoral thesis on "Experimental and model-based investigations into the process behavior of semi-crystalline materials in the special injection molding process GITBlow", supervised by Univ.-Prof. Dr.-Ing. Moritzer. The Brose Prize is awarded for the development and research of new…

The NeMo.bil (New Mobility) project consortium has reached an important milestone: The German Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection is funding the NeMo.bil project to the tune of € 30 million. The aim of the project is to create an innovative, swarm-capable mobility system that will serve as a beacon for the whole of Germany and enable a new form of sustainable and demand-driven passenger and freight transport in rural areas. The…

The International Conference on Composite Materials (ICCM) is the leading international research conference on fibre-reinforced plastics and has been held every two years since 1975. The international conference brings together representatives from academia and industry to present the results of research and development projects. In addition to the optimisation of material and component properties, a particular focus is on the sustainability and…

A new chair enriches the ILH consortium. In August 2022, Prof. Dr. Iryna Mozgova succeeded Prof. Dr.-Ing. Rainer Koch as head of Data Management in Mechanical Engineering (DMB), which focuses on additive manufacturing and data analysis / public safety. The research areas include a number of important cross-cutting issues such as design, product development and quality management. Data management is a central and connecting topic that plays an…

The heart of the technical centre in the ILH research building at the Paderborn University is being installed! The 11 m high hydraulic double-column forming press, manufactured by Schuler Pressen GmbH, was delivered on 16 May and is now being installed in the centre of the experimental areas for materials technology, plastics technology and FRP processing. With a nominal force of 10,000 kN, it is the largest press available to the ILH. Funded by…

Am 21.02.2023 fand am Institut für Leichtbau mit Hybridsystemen (ILH) die erste Sitzung der Ende 2022 eingerichteten neuen Beiräte vom ILH und Paderborner Institut für Additive Fertigung (PIAF) statt.