TUM – Latest news

The jazz bell

presse@tum.de — Mon, 25 Jun 2018 12:00:00 +0200

The high art of bell casting requires a wealth of experience: In order for the finished bell to create a harmonious sound, the casting mold has to have the exactly right shape, narrow at the top, wide at the bottom, bulges in just the right places. But why? A team with Lennart Moheit of the TUM Chair for Vibroacoustics of Vehicles and Machines tackled this challenging question: "Using what is known as the Finite Element method, the computer can simulate how and at what frequencies a solid body vibrates. These vibrations then generate the characteristic sound."

Bell designs from the computer

To make such a simulation, the TUM team uses computer programs to divide the bell up into many small, virtual cubes, the finite elements mentioned above. When this three-dimensional grid is made to vibrate, the network nodes where the corners of the cubes touch begin to vibrate in a characteristic manner. The representation resembles a bulging hat whose creases move back and forth rhythmically.

The sound of bulging hats

In addition to the movements of the network nodes, when the bell is struck the frequencies that sound particularly loud because of the resonances occurring can also be identified: Here the fundamental tone is dominant, while the multiples of this frequency, e.g. octaves, thirds and fifths, are less pronounced. The characteristic sound of the bell results from the overlapping of these tones, which have different loudnesses and which fade off at different rates. In order to verify the virtual models, the simulations were compared with the vibration characteristics of real bells. Then the researchers designed a sound taking the expectations associated with a jazz bell as well as psychoacoustic perceptual parameters into account. Its shape was optimized in such a way that it produces the desired A9 chord.

Research with an off-key note

The jazz bell, approximately 30 centimeters tall, has been cast at the TUM Chair of Metal Forming and Casting. A bell expert then identified the resonance frequencies in the traditional manner, using tuning forks. These resonance frequencies can then be compared with the results of the computer simulation and precise acoustic measurements. "This is the first time that the sound of a bell has been designed and optimized with regard to structural dynamics and psychoacoustic parameters. The chance to actually cast a first prototype of a virtually designed bell right here on the TUM campus and subject it to a realistic check is absolutely unique," Moheit emphasizes. The engineer goes on to explain that there is a reason why the jazz chord produced by the bell sounds so off-key and unusual, or at least very different from the sound usually expected from a bell: "As acousticians we're interested in how people react to unusual tones." The researchers will be able to use the bell to derive fundamental discoveries about the expectations placed on a sound and their actual effect. "We intend to further investigate this in combination with sound design and optimization."

More information:

Chair of Vibroacoustics of Vehicles and Machines
Chair of Metal Forming and Casting

images for editorial use:

https://mediatum.ub.tum.de/1444948?change_language=en

Contact:

Lennart Moheit
Technical University of Munich
Tel.: +49(0)89/289-55126
lennart.moheit@tum.de

Navigating indoors

a.schmidt@tum.de — Fri, 22 Jun 2018 11:59:00 +0200

On a smartphone NavVis lets users find their way easily in complex building units such as plant halls, convention centers, airports, train stations and shopping centers. It also makes it possible to experience entire exhibitions online. To do this, the company digitalizes indoor spaces using mobile trolleys equipped with a variety of cameras. The footage is used to create photo-realistic 3D maps of buildings exact to the centimeter. This data is supplemented with a navigation system and interactive location-specific services.

basic research and start-up consulting at TUM

The technology for a camera-based navigation system was developed by Georg Schroth, later one of the company's founders, during his doctoral studies at the TUM Chair for Media Technology. The first to join the subsequent research project were the doctoral candidates Sebastian Hilsenbeck and Robert Huitl, followed by Economics PhD graduate Felix Reinshagen. The four founded NavVis in 2013 with the support of TUM and UnternehmerTUM, Center for Innovation and Business Creation, for example in the KICKSTART program for entrepreneurial qualification. In addition to basic research and start-up consulting, TUM also played a role in the majority of technical developments. Thus for example the trolley prototypes and the company's corporate design were created in collaboration with the Chair for Industrial Design. NavVis won out over two competitors who had also been able to take advantage of the wide range of support available from TUM and UnternehmerTUM in the form of start-up consulting, qualification and research cooperation:

ParkHere – Digital parking

ParkHere simplifies the parking process for drivers and parking lot operators alike with a combination of smart hardware and software that learns. All three ParkHere founders are TUM graduates and worked on the development of the sensor and business planning in their Bachelor's thesis projects. The EXIST start-up grant gave them the opportunity to continue developing their idea to a mature business concept and ultimately to spin it off. Today the company has a headcount of 30 employees and has already equipped more than 10,000 parking spaces with sensors.

Customized Drinks – Do-It-Yourself beverages

Bored by the classic assortment of available beer, Dominik Guber, Ping Lu and Wolfgang Westermeier came up with the idea of marketing a do-it-yourself beer brewing kit. As part of the UnternehmerTUM Manage&More subsidy program the three TUM students initially developed the concept of the "Braufässchen" or mini-brewing keg. Today the company also sells other kits for producing foods and beverages at home. After the awards ceremony, a large number of start-ups created by students, employees and alumni presented themselves as a part of the TUM Entrepreneurship Day yesterday. Visitors were also able to develop their own products in a very short period of time during a prototyping workshop.

More Information:

Entrepreneurship at TUM
Entrepreneurship Day 2018
Our start-ups
UnternehmerTUM

Anniversary greetings from space

stefanie.reiffert@tum.de — Fri, 22 Jun 2018 12:25:00 +0200

The experiment is based on a joint research project of the TUM and the German Aerospace Center (DLR). "We have developed a new measurement method that allows us to use radar reflectors for surveying," explains Prof. Michael Eineder, Honorary Professor at the TUM and Head of Department at the DLR Institute for Remote Sensing Technology. As with GPS, highly accurate, three-dimensional position measurements can be made. However, instead of GPS devices only simple reflectors, which can be made of inexpensive material, are required on the ground.

The researchers wanted to use their new method to send their congratulations from space for the TUM anniversary. They arranged the so-called corner reflectors on the southern lawn of the Alte Pinakothek Museum to emulate the TUM logo. And indeed, the satellite images created from the raw data show the logo made of bright dots.

The operation also had a scientific aspect, says Michael Schmitt of the Department of Signal Processing in Earth Observation. "In this experiment, we were able to demonstrate that the reflectors, with an edge length of 50 cm, dominate the natural reflections from buildings and cars in the urban surroundings and are thus ideally suited for surveying."

Among other things, the new methodology will be deployed for earth surveying in the future and will be helping to improve the accuracy of digital maps.

Further information

The planning and execution of the event involved members of the Chair of Remote Sensing Technology, the Professorship for Signal Processing in Earth Observation and the Chair of Geodesy, as well as the DLR Remote Sensing Technology Institute (IMF). The joint research project, High Resolution Geodetic Earth Observation, of the DLR@Uni alliance Munich Aerospace also involved employees of the Institute of Astronomical and Physical Geodesy and the DLR German Space Operations Center (GSOC).

Publications:

Gisinger, C.; Willberg, M.; Balss, U.; Klügel, T.; Mähler, S.; Pail, R.; Eineder, M.: Differential geodetic stereo SAR with TerraSAR-X by exploiting small multi-directional radar reflectors. Journal of Geodesy 91 (1), 2017, 53-67.
Montazeri, S.; Gisinger, C.; Eineder, M.; Zhu, X. X.; Automatic Detection and Positioning of Ground Control Points Using TerraSAR-X Multi-Aspect Acquisitions. IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 56 (5), 2018, 2613-2632.

Contact:

For the experiment
Dr.-Ing. Michael Schmitt
Technical University of Munich
Professorship of Signal Processing in Earth Observation
Tel: +49-89-289-22643
m.schmitt@tum.de

For the research project
Hon.-Prof. Michael Eineder
DLR Remote Sensing Technology Institute (IMF)
Tel. +49 8153 281396,
Michael.Eineder@dlr.de

Producing sensors with an inkjet printer

paul.hellmich@tum.de — Wed, 20 Jun 2018 16:54:00 +0200

Researchers from TUM and Forschungszentrum Jülich have successfully teamed up to perform inkjet printing onto a gummy bear. This might initially sound like scientists at play – but it may in fact point the way forward to major changes in medical diagnostics. For one thing, it was not an image or logo that Professor Bernhard Wolfrum's team deposited on the chewy candy, but rather a microelectrode array. These components, comprised of a large number of electrodes, can detect voltage changes resulting from activity in neurons or muscle cells, for example.

Second, gummy bears have a property that is important when using microelectrode arrays in living cells: they are soft. Microelectrode arrays have been around for a long time. In their original form, they consist of hard materials such as silicon. This results in several disadvantages when they come into contact with living cells. In the laboratory, their hardness affects the shape and organization of the cells, for example. And inside the body, the hard materials can trigger inflammation or the loss of organ functionalities.

Rapid prototyping with inkjet printers

When electrode arrays are placed on soft materials, these problems are avoided. This has sparked intensive research into these solutions. Until now, most initiatives have used traditional methods, which are time-consuming and require access to expensive specialized laboratories. "If you instead print the electrodes, you can produce a prototype relatively quickly and cheaply. The same applies if you need to rework it," says Bernhard Wolfrum, Professor of Neuroelectronics at TUM. "Rapid prototyping of this kind enables us to work in entirely new ways."

Wolfrum and his team work with a high-tech version of an inkjet printer. The electrodes themselves are printed with carbon-based ink. To prevent the sensors from picking up stray signals, a neutral protective layer is then added to the carbon paths.

Materials for various applications

The researchers tested the process on various substrates, including PDMS (polydimethylsiloxane) – a soft form of silicon – agarose – a substance commonly used in biology experiments – and finally various forms of gelatin, including a gummy bear that was first melted and then allowed to harden. Each of these materials has properties suitable for certain applications. For example, gelatin-coated implants can reduce unwanted reactions in living tissue.

Through experiments with cell cultures, the team was able to confirm that the sensors provide reliable measurements. With an average width of 30 micrometers, they also permit measurements on a single cell or just a few cells. This is difficult to achieve with established printing methods.

"The difficulty is in fine-tuning all of the components – both the technical set-up of the printer and the composition of the ink," says Nouran Adly, the first author of the study. "In the case of PDMS, for example, we had to use a pre-treatment we developed just to get the ink to adhere to the surface."

Wide range of potential applications

Printed microelectrode arrays on soft materials could be used in many different areas. They are suitable not only for rapid prototyping in research, but could also change the way patients are treated. "In the future, similar soft structures could be used to monitor nerve or heart functions in the body, for example, or even serve as a pacemaker," says Prof. Wolfrum. At present he is working with his team to print more complex three-dimensional microelectrode arrays. They are also studying printable sensors that react selectively to chemical substances, and not only to voltage fluctuations.

Publication:

N. Adly, S. Weidlich, S. Seyock, F. Brings, A.Yakushenko, A. Offenhäusser, B. Wolfrum. “Printed Microelectrode Arrays on Soft Materials: From PDMS to Hydrogels.” Npj Flexible Electronics 2:1 (2018). DOI:10.1038/s41528-018-0027-z.

More Information:

Prof. Wolfrum’s lab is part of the Munich School of BioEngineering (MSB). This interdisciplinary TUM research center is Europe’s most multi-disciplinary university institution focused on the interface between medicine, engineering and natural sciences.

Munich School of BioEngineering (MSB)
Neuroelectronics Group

Contact:

Prof. Dr. Bernhard Wolfrum
Professor of Neuroelectronics
Munich School of BioEngineering
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Technical University of Munich (TUM)
Tel.: +49 (89) 289 – 10887
bernhard.wolfrum@tum.de

Hochauflösende Bilder für die redaktionelle Berichterstattung:

https://mediatum.ub.tum.de/1446441

Results of the 2018 university elections

Wed, 20 Jun 2018 13:11:00 +0200

The following posts were up for election:

Student representatives in the TUM Senate

Nora Weiner
Zaim Sari

Deans of the following departments

TUM School of Education: Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Kristina Reiss
Mathematics: Prof. Dr. rer. nat. habil. Folkmar Bornemann
Physics: Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Johannes Barth
Chemistry: Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Stephan Sieber

fURTHER eleceted POSTS

Moreover, student representatives in several department councils, student departmental councils as well as representatives of professors, academic and non-academic staff at the TUM School of Education were elected. All results are still preliminary.

MORE Information

All results: University election office TUM Senate

Entrepreneurship Day on June 21

a.schmidt@tum.de — Tue, 19 Jun 2018 15:28:00 +0200

Start-up fair, prototyping workshop, live pitch competition, innovative technologies and many other insights into the start-up culture of the Entrepreneurial University: At the "TUM Entrepreneurship Day" on 21, numerous spin-offs from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) present themselves. Furthermore the president of TUM will honour an outstanding spin-off whose business idea is largely based on research results with the Presidential Entrepreneurschip Award.

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"In Germany our thinking has to be more global and more networked"

a.schmidt@tum.de — Thu, 21 Jun 2018 08:10:00 +0200

The labor market is changing at an ever-increasing speed – What skills do you look for in recruiting today and what skills will become even more important in the upcoming years? The labor market is changing because the world around us is constantly changing. We are currently in the midst of a structural change with a scope and speed unheard of in the last few decades. The trigger is primarily digitalization, which at the same time places entirely new requirements on qualifications – and new requirements will continue to emerge. In this sense the need for specialized qualifications, for example in the areas of Data Analytics, Artificial Intelligence and Virtual Reality, is the important issue. But at the same time the candidate's inner attitude, what we call the candidate's mindset, is also particularly important. The younger generation today has to know that vocational training is only the first step in the career journey, and has to be followed by constant further qualification. It's about Lifelong Learning – by the way, also for those of us who are already in the middle of our careers. How can universities prepare their graduates for this? We'll only be able to maintain our prosperity if we do the things that will make us successful in the future as well – and not if we simply hold on to what has made us successful up to now. This means that universities will have to constantly put their curricula to the test. In addition to fundamental knowledge and current qualification requirements, future qualification requirements continue to grow in importance. It's certainly not easy to recognize them right now, but this is a challenge that universities and students will have to face. The best way is through a broad international and cross-cultural network. This will make it possible for students to gain practical experiences which go beyond theory – experiences which, by the way, cannot be replaced by machines. It should also be clear that qualification in only a single specialization won't cover the holistic requirements of a working life. So I'd like to see students learning and working in a more interdisciplinary manner. For example, an engineer should also learn something about employee management. Managers around the world are asked about the universities with the best graduates for the Global Employability Ranking. Here TUM is regularly chosen as the best German university and is also among the international frontrunners – Why do you think this is the case? Germany is a high-tech country and the educational system has a very good reputation worldwide. One essential reason for this is the close partnership between science and business. This means universities benefit from the companies' proximity to market and application-oriented expert knowledge; the companies benefit from close networking with academic research and a very promising pool of well-educated and talented young individuals. TUM is one of the leading German technical universities and has an outstanding worldwide network. It maintains a wide variety of partnerships with other universities and companies. For example TUM has been collaborating with Siemens for over 100 years in one of the longest-lasting partnerships of its kind anywhere. TUM is also a leader when it comes to covering future-oriented fields. All the focus topics that Siemens researches together with TUM are driven by digitalization, for example robotics, virtual engineering, IT security and cloud computing. What can German universities improve in general to further narrow the gap to British and American universities? First of all we should orient ourselves to the needs of the respective labor markets and not to the ranking lists or the educational concepts of the individual countries. Things that work well in English-speaking markets don't necessarily have to work well in Germany. Nevertheless there are aspects where German universities can catch up, for example in weighting of course content. Or attracting more foreign students – that's a good way for us to learn from other cultures. On the whole in Germany our thinking has to be more global and more networked; we have to think about how to make our country so attractive that highly-qualified people from around the world want to work and live with us. How do global players like Siemens search for, select and promote young talents and what opportunities for collaboration with educational institutions do you use? As a technology company in the future we'll only be able to employ people with qualified professional educations. And universities are an important means to reach young talent. This is why we've built up a broad, strategic and long-term network which currently includes 25 universities. We have developed new, interactive formats for approaching the students and engaging them directly at the universities. A wonderful example here is the IT Security Hackathon that we held in March 2017 on the TUM campus. In the contest IT students from TUM and LMU solved a complex software problem that was presented to them by Siemens developers. Siemens was able to acquire about a third of the finalists as working students, all of whom are still working at Siemens today. Another good example is our IT mentoring program, which we've been offering at TUM for six years. We currently have around 15 mentees from ten countries – half of whom are by the way women. All of them will be mentored for a year by an experienced Siemens manager, from coaching and career planning all the way to networking. And external perception is extremely important to us as well. Siemens competes against major IT players like Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook, etc. in the struggle for the brightest minds, especially in the fields of IT, engineering and software development. That's a real challenge. And it's also the reason we're taking new approaches here – digital approaches. One example is our employer branding campaign #FutureMakers which is extremely successful in social media. In the campaign Siemens employees from around the world share their personal stories. And this was not an assignment for the employees, these are all voluntary blog and 360-degree video posts. Here we're giving candidates an authentic insight into the world of Siemens and are showing how diverse the people are who work with us. And in order to keep the best people on board, we invest quite a bit in the training and continuing education of our employees, more than half a billion Euros every year.

More INFORMATION on tUM anniversary symposium:

Keynote Speaker:

Ms. Fabienne Gautier, Head of Unit, DG Research & Innovation, European Commission
Mr. Lim Chuan Poh, Chairman, Singaporean Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR)
Prof. Patrick Aebischer, President Emeritus, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Experts Panel-Discussion

Mr. Jacques Biot, President, École Polytechnique
Prof. Gerhard Casper, President Emeritus, Stanford University
Prof. Wim de Villiers, Rector & Vice-Chancellor, Stellenbosch University
Prof. Günther Hasinger, Director of Science, ESA - European Space Agency
Prof. Wolfgang A. Herrmann, President, Technical University of Munich
Prof. Peter Høj, President, University of Queensland
Prof. Heather Hofmeister, Professor of the Sociology of Work at the Goethe-University, Frankfurt
Mr. Harald Krüger, CEO, BMW Group
Ms. Janina Kugel, Chief Human Resources Officer and Member of the Managing Board, Siemens AG
Mr. Christian Müller, Director Department of Strategy at DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service)
Prof. Eliezer Rabinovici, Vice President, CERN Council
Prof. Otmar D. Wiestler, President, Helmholtz Association

Program

Program „Global University, Society, Labor Market"

Automatic detection of security vulnerabilities in network applications

lisa.pietrzyk@tum.de — Mon, 18 Jun 2018 16:27:00 +0200

Checking web applications for security vulnerabilities takes work, time and money. To address this problem, the founders of Crashtest Security GmbH have automated the security check for web developers. Their software uses artificial intelligence to seek vulnerabilities that are otherwise difficult to detect. In this way, Crashtest Security protects web applications, mobile apps and the Internet of Things against cyber attacks. The software is especially useful for web development teams that lack special IT security skills. The underlying idea was created by three former TUM informatics students in a course assignment in which participants were asked to develop an online banking application. To perform a security check, they hacked into the applications developed by the other teams. After realizing how much work was involved in performing the check manually, Janosch Maier, René Milzarek and Daniel Schosser automated some of the steps. This later served as the basis for developing a security scanner, which became the prototype for their business model today.

Self-testing for vulnerabilities

The winners of the CEBIT Innovation Awards are selected by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and Deutsche Messe AG. This year's second prize went to Crashtest Security in recognition of its excellent ease of use. "New customers just need to log in to start an immediate check of their applications," says Janosch Maier. After vulnerabilities are detected by the software, the web developers can take action themselves to eliminate them with the help of easy-to-follow explanations in a security wiki resource. Federal research minister Anja Karliczek presented the company founders with the award, which comes with a cash prize of 30,000 euros, at the CEBIT trade fair in Hanover last week. Attendees at the world's biggest IT fair had the opportunity to test the product of the TUM spin-off for themselves.

Start-ups need support

On their path from the initial idea to a market-ready product, the Crashtest Security team was advised and supported by the TUM Start-up Advising team. The founders also received support from other students. While the three informatics students tinkered with their idea in an office space in TUM’ s "incubator", students at the TUM School of Management looked into possible market entry scenarios. Today the young company, with managing director Felix Brombacher, has its own management expert. In the beginning, Prof. Florian Matthes was on hand as a technical mentor. He does research in software engineering for business information systems at TUM. This enabled the founders to successfully apply for the EXIST program, a federal scholarship fund that provides start-ups with up to a year of financial support. UnternehmerTUM, the Center for Innovation and Business Creation at TUM, helped the young entrepreneurs prepare for their market launch. The XPRENEURS program gave them access to coaching and a network of entrepreneurs along with funding. A major benefit of that program: the network contacts gave Crashtest Security early access to investors. The start-up, which was established in February 2017, now has seven employees. More than 250 users have signed up for the award-winning security scanner.

TUM takes first place in "Start-Up Radar" rankings

According to the latest "German Startup Monitor" report, TUM leads all German universities for the number of start-ups generated. Every year TUM spawns around 70 spin-off companies. The outstanding support provided by TUM is confirmed in the "Start-Up Radar", a survey conducted by the German business community's innovation agency (Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft), where TUM also placed first.

More information:

CEBIT Innovation Award (German Website)
Entrepreneurship at TUM
Informatics study programs at TUM

Top-class sports in Munich’s Olympiapark

Mon, 18 Jun 2018 13:39:00 +0200

Teams from 29 countries will be taking part, including the leading beach volleyball nations USA, Spain, Poland, Austria, and Switzerland. Being the host country, Germany will be represented with two men’s and two women’s teams, consisting of members of the junior national teams.

New TUM’s beach volleyball facilities

The TUM’s beach volleyball facilities, which were opened last summer, offer the best possible conditions. “The approximately 200 athletes can look forward to a top location: the Olympiapark is a home to the largest and most modern beach volleyball facilities in Bavaria,” stated Michael Hahn, Munich’s University Sports Director and Vice President of the organizing committee. Hahn is organizing the event in Munich together with his team. The Student World Cup will be accompanied by a diverse framework and cultural program, offering the spectators a lot of excitement and fun in the vicinity of the courts – and the summerly beach bar will be offering culinary highlights. Admission to the Student World Cup is free.

On the way to the world’s sporting elite

The World University Beach Volleyball Championship (WUBC) is organized by the World Federation of University Sports (FISU), and hosted by the German University Sports Association (Allgemeiner Deutscher Hochschulsportverband, adh) and the Zentrale Hochschulsport München (ZHS). More than 30 Student World Championships will be taking place in 2018 – in various disciplines. The championships are open to student athletes between the ages of 17 and 25. The WUBC is to be seen as an important stepping stone for numerous talents in the international beach volleyball scene on their way to the world’s sporting elite. The most successful German teams of the last years are – for example: Karla Borger/Britta Büthe, Armin Dollinger/Jonas Schröder, Chantal Laboureur/Anni Schumacher, Frederike Fischer/Julia Großner, Kim Behrens/Sandra Seyfferth, Philipp Bergmann/Malte Stiel, Victoria Bieneck/Marika Steinhauff, and Tom Götz/Markus Böckermann.

Competition schedule

Sunday, July 8, from 7 pm to 8 pm: opening ceremony
Monday, July 9, from 9 am to 7 pm: group matches
Tuesday, July 10, from 9 am to 7 pm: group matches
Wednesday, July 11, from 9 am to 7 pm: main field
Thursday, July 12, from 9 am – to 6 pm: main field
Friday, July 13, from 10 am to 3 pm: placement matches; final match women at 3 pm; final match men at 4 pm (followed by an award ceremony and a closing ceremony)

More information:
www.wucbeachvolley2018.com

The transparent soccer player

Mon, 18 Jun 2018 13:37:00 +0200

Goals in soccer only provide limited information about a team’s performance and the quality of its players: Goals are scored only rarely in soccer, and can come about through an individual moment of loss of concentration, while a very dominant team might simply be unlucky sometimes.

Central criteria for “performance” in soccer

Traditional indicators such as shots on goal, number of completed passes, tackle rates, team ball possession, and distances covered are widely used, especially in the media, but their significance for performance is doubtful. In the 2014 World Cup semi-final, for example, Germany had fewer shots on goal than Brazil (14-18), but hardly any observer would doubt Germany’s superiority in that match (7-1 goals).

The book “Data Analytics in Professional Soccer” by Dr. Daniel Link posits situations that present the danger of a goal being scored as central criteria for “performance” in soccer. “In soccer, the most important thing is for a team to get the ball into the dangerous area around the goal and to prevent the opposing team from doing the same,” said the scientist from the Chair of Performance Analysis and Sports Informatics at TUM. In his recently published work, he presents six individual studies with innovative mathematical approaches to match analysis and player evaluation in professional soccer.

Real-time analysis using optical tracking

In Chapter 3, originally published in “PLOS One”, the sports scientist presents objective criteria for determining team performance in real time using a specially developed algorithm. He uses this procedure to determine a quantitative representation of the probability of a goal being scored for each point in time at which a player is in possession of the ball — “I call this Dangerousity,” said Link. The calculation of this metric is based on the spatial constellation of

the player and the ball and comprises four components: Zone, Control, Pressure, and Density. The term “Dangerousity” has since been widely adopted by the global sports data community.

The author has used this approach by evaluating 64 Bundesliga matches in cooperation with the German Soccer League (DFL). An optical tracking system was used to acquire the positional data of the players and the ball. In addition, the evaluation by Link’s algorithm was compared with assessments of semi-professional soccer coaches in 100 match scenarios and showed a high agreement between the computer and the humans. The analysis was supported by the DFL subsidiary Sportec Solutions (STS).

Criterion that does not depend on chance or results

“Dangerousity can be used to derive further metrics that can help answer questions regarding the analysis of the match,” said the sports scientist when explaining his new approach. “We use these metrics to analyze individual actions in a match, to describe passages of play, and to characterize the performance and efficiency of teams over the course of a season.” For future studies, they provide a criterion that does not depend on chance or results to investigate the influence of central events in a soccer match, various playing systems, or tactical group concepts on success.

Photo box on tour in Garching and Weihenstephan

Mon, 18 Jun 2018 13:34:00 +0200

A photo box offers the opportunity to congratulate the TUM with a personal greeting to its 150th anniversary. The "FoTUMat" will be located at the Research Campus in Garching and at the WZW.]]> ]]>

Building bridges on the Life Science Campus Freising-Weihenstephan

Mon, 18 Jun 2018 13:30:00 +0200

It leads along Thalhauser Straße and connects the campus centre with the northern campus area. The road crossing is named after Professor Thomas Scharnagel, a pioneer in agricultural science. Initiated by President Wolfgang A. Herrmann measures the TUM Jubilee Bridge about 180 meters - from the Maximus-von-Imhof Forum in front of the central lecture hall building to the Hans Eisenmann Forum. "I wanted to see the separate campus areas linked together to send out a signal for our expansion plans," said the president. This ensures a comfortable and safe road crossing. The costs amounted to approximately 3.5 million euros, which were raised by TUM from own funds and sales proceeds.

The footpath and cycle path over the jubilee bridge commemorates Thomas Scharnagel (1880 - 1953), who ran the Bavarian seed breeding institute Weihenstephan (1928 - 1950) and was a professor at the present TUM. "He was responsible for researching and breeding high-yielding wheat varieties with a high baking capacity and mildew and frost-resistant barley varieties," said the President at the inauguration.

In cooperation with the aquatic systems biology of the TUM and the fish farms located there, the bridged biotope was completely preserved. Animals taken before construction and stored in a temporary solution have now returned to their former environment undamaged.

"The life science campus is to grow together with the new bridge. It symbolically links the different scientific disciplines," said TUM President Wolfgang A. Herrmann, who announced an interdisciplinary research center for the North Campus as the next new building project.

Future-oriented claim is refelcted in the architecture

Lord Mayor Tobias Eschenbacher praised the bridge construction over Thalhauser Straße: The modern architecture impressively takes up the future-oriented claim of the TUM at its Freising location and invites to "open up the campus north of Thalhauser Straße within walking distance and to experience how future-oriented the teaching and research centre of the Technical University of Munich is developing".

The cooking pot – his or hers?

Mon, 18 Jun 2018 13:27:00 +0200

What is the “His or hers”-campaign about? Eva Sandmann: The idea of the campaign is to initiate a lively discourse on “gender stereotypes” at TUM, with simple symbols and eye-catching posters. It was the office of gender equality of the Munich University of Applied Sciences that came up with the idea of starting a campaign to raise awareness for gender roles. The office of a Women’s Representative at Bavarian universities was introduced 30 years ago, and the campaign is to be seen as a “return gift” of the Women’s Representatives to the Bavarian universities and higher education institutions. Which of the motifs is your favorite – and why? The “brain”-motif often leads to fruitful discussions. Referring to the biological viewpoint, it is often the differences between women and men that are mentioned – although there are much more “similarities” in the way the organ works. This is often followed by astonishingly controversial discussions about general societal “prejudices” regarding gender roles and specific behavior. The cooking pot – her domain or his metier? To build racing cars – his career aspiration or her dream job? How do the TUM-students see this? I think that the students here have – as with other topics – very diverse and highly individual opinions, and this is exactly what the campaign is about: it aims to inspire spontaneous discussions about prejudices, as a basis for cognitive processes that lead to attitude changes. TUM is currently celebrating its 150th anniversary. A lot has changed over the years, but certainly not enough. What are your hopes for the ideal TUM of the future? The gender issue is definitely present in higher education policy, but it is often discussed in a superficial and polarizing manner. There should be more space and time for important discourses like this at TUM – even outside of one’s individual scientific field. If you have a packed schedule, there’s not much room to address complex topics such as one’s own prejudices or the “unconcious bias”. What I would hope for are better evaluation and decision-making processes and, thus, more tolerance for other patterns of thinking.

Speakers for “Mädchen in Wissenschaft und Technik”

Mon, 18 Jun 2018 13:26:00 +0200

The core of “Mädchen machen Technik” are 2-day project courses which we offer at schools in Munich and the surrounding area, using our mobile laboratories. You would be working in two-person teams, teaching small groups of pupils (6th to 9th class) based on the method of active learning. For the school projects in the scope of “Mädchen in Wissenschaft und Technik”, we are looking for speakers who would enjoy teaching scientific-technical content. The agency “Mädchen in Wissenschaft und Technik” is an institution of the SSZ’s Unit for Student Advertising and Prospective Student Programs. The agency aims to introduce girls and young women to science and technology, and to provide them with a more insight for their study and career orientation.

You would be an interesting candidate for us if you:

are interested in providing schoolgirls with insight and information
are reliable and capable of teamwork
are open-minded towards and aware of gender-specific teaching of scientific-technical issues
are at least in your 3rd semester of a Bachelor’ course of studies in the fields of MINT or architecture (Master’s students and doctoral students are welcome too)

We offer

diverse activities
qualified multi-day training in the fields of technology and educational training (in fall/winter 2018/2019)
flexible work on a freelance basis
independent work and an opportunity to expand your social skills

Interested? If so, we are looking forward to your informative application – which we would ask you to send to Barbara Krischer (agenturM@tum.de) until October 14, 2018.

More information:
TUM Mädchen machen Technik

Wanted: musicians of all sections

Mon, 18 Jun 2018 13:25:00 +0200

The band started out only five years ago. A poster call in the summer of 2013 brought together a small group of musicians for first rehearsals. All instruments were welcome. What started off on a small scale soon took shape – thanks to enthusiastic founding members and the first self-financed instruments.

A fixed line-up of 25 musicians

Soon, things were really underway – especially since the first public performance, a charity concert for Ghana. Since 2014, the band (which is self-organized) is supported by a non-profit organization, and the fixed line-up consists of 25 musicians from TUM and the LMU. The band is managed by students of the Hochschule für Musik und Theater, and conductor Korbinian Bauer has been contributing his experience from (among others) the National Youth Jazz Orchestra of Bavaria since autumn 2017. The band is becoming more and more established at TUM. Following the performance at the Dies Academicus, the band was proud to present its first own concert in December 2017: the “Sacred Concert” by Duke Ellington served as the centerpiece of a jazz-filled evening at the Audimax on Main Campus.

A vast repertoire

The former conductor Jacob Burzin founded the TUM JazzChoir especially for this purpose. In February, the TUM JazzBand was visited by the Edinburgh University Jazz Orchestra, which led to joint concerts in the Black Box of the Gasteig and at the Carl-von-Linde-Hörsaal. The repertoire is not limited to the obligatory Swing, but also includes Latin, Funk, as well as catchy tunes from the areas of film music and Pop. In addition to the concerts, there are regular appearances at TUM events, but also outside the university and at student festivals – and things are still developing. Once per semester, the musicians invest a whole weekend for intensive rehearsals and togetherness. In May, the band was able to benefit from a workshop day with the renowned music teacher Harald Rüschenbaum. Ongoing future plans include two regular concerts per year and musical trips abroad – as well as plans to finance new equipment.

Male singers wanted

At the beginning of each semester, the Big Band tries to find new musicians in all sections, and male singers are always in demand. All interested students and doctoral candidates from Munich are welcome. During the semester, the rehearsals will take place on Thursdays from 6:30 pm to 9 pm in Room 2100, Arcisstr. 21 – and as of autumn 2018 presumably in the StudiTUM in Garching. The TUM JazzBand wants to enrich the cultural life at its alma mater, and will thus gladly provide musical accompaniment for events at the university as well as for external ones. More information:
www.jazzband.tum.de
TUM Jazzband on Facebook

TUM recounts its history during the Nazi era

Mon, 18 Jun 2018 13:21:00 +0200

The exhibition on the history of the Technische Hochschule München (now the Technical University of Munich) during the Nazi era documents in particular the personnel, ideological and institutional changes that took place at that time, as well as efforts to engage the university in war preparations and the development of armaments. Other topics will include the expulsion of Jewish and politically “incompatible” university lecturers, the stripping of doctoral titles and the willingness of professors to self-mobilize in service of the Nazi regime. The focus is on changes in teaching and research in the individual departments and on the ideologization and militarization of the university.

The joint exhibition hosted by the Munich Documentation Centre for the History of National Socialism and TUM was curated under the stewardship of Prof. Winfried Nerdinger, TUM Emeritus and founding director of the center.

“Acknowledging and engaging with all facets of our history”

“The twelve years under the Nazi regime marked a black spot in the history of science and universities in Germany,” comments Wolfgang A. Herrmann. “The Technical University of Munich is acknowledging and engaging with all 150 years of its history, without brushing over or concealing any facets of it. Besides celebrating, this important anniversary gives us an opportunity to reflect on the past and shine some light in the dark corners.” Hence the importance of making new findings available not just to the academic community but also to the wider public.

TUM has been continuously furthering research into its history during the Nazi regime since the early 1990s. An initial paper was written by Prof. Ulrich Wengenroth for the university’s 125th anniversary in 1993. Soon after that, President Herrmann asked historian Dr. Martin Pabst and the director of the TUM archives at the time, Dr. Margot Fuchs, to produce a comprehensive history of TUM. This was published in 2006 and also documented the university’s history under the National Socialism.

Honorary titles between 1933 and 1945

Based on the findings of this research, TUM symbolically reinstated doctoral titles to the scientists who had been stripped of them on racial grounds during the Nazi regime. In 2014, TUM Emeritus Prof. Joachim Hagenauer worked with Pabst on three case studies describing the courses of action open to scientists during that time. Currently, researchers are investigating the circumstances and motives for the bestowal of honorary titles between 1933 and 1945.

President Herrmann also underlines how the past informs the way TUM operates today: “What we have learned about our history during the Nazi era has prompted us to push the social sciences more to the forefront at TUM over the past decade and integrate them into our established core subjects. Our objective is to embed the social impact of science and technology firmly within all research projects and study programs.”

“THM supported the Nazi regime”

Interview with Prof. Winfried Nerdinger about the exhibition

Exhibition

Munich Documentation Centre for the History of National Socialism
Max-Mannheimer-Platz 1 (former Brienner Straße 34)
80333 Munich
Opening times:
May 18 to August 26, 2018
Tuesdays to Sundays
10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The CSD, photos of Europe, and Harald Lesch

Mon, 18 Jun 2018 13:04:00 +0200

This time, the motto of the CSD will be “Bunt ist das neue weiss-blau” (“colorful is the new white-and-blue”). We are still looking for enthusiastic helpers who would like to take a stand for equal rights and against discrimination of any kind. There will be a free T-shirt and free catering as a reward. Participation is only possible with prior registration. The participation fee is € 10 (including T-shirt and drinks). More information: pride.tum.sexy

TUM Entrepreneurship Day

Are you interested in the topic of founding a company? If so, you should visit the TUM Entrepreneurship Day, learn more about the offers of TUM and UnternehmerTUM, and get to know many of the present TUM’s start-ups. You will be able to exchange ideas with founders, network partners, and TUM founding consultants, to get to know innovative projects, and to establish contacts. As a highlight, one of the TUM’s outstanding spin-offs will be awarded with the TUM Presidential Entrepreneurship Award. June 21, 2018, starting at 4 pm, in the foyer of the Audimax; Arcisstraße 21, 80333 Munich. More information: TUM Entrepreneurship Day 2018

Photo contest: Europe on my Mind

Not to be missed: the deadline for submitting your photos to the 2018 Photo Contest of the TUM’s International Center is June 25, 2018. This year’s motto is “Europe on my Mind”. Share your personal experiences with your photos! Show us Europe and its people – the diversity, connectedness, and peculiarities. Each photo has a chance of being published in the International Center’s Photo Calendar 2019. In addition, the twelve winners will be awarded with vouchers for photo and media stores. More information: TUM International Center Photo Competition 2018

Career Days at the WZW and in Garching

At the Career Days, you will have the opportunity to learn more about a wide range of topics related to careers, job applications, and career entries: in Weihenstephan on June 26, 2018, in the central auditorium building, Maximus-von-Imhof-Forum 6 and in Garching on July 5, 2018, in the building of the “Exzellenzzentrum”, Boltzmannstraße 17.

Research School for Diabetes

Excellent new talents for the next generation – this is what the new International Helmholtz Research School for Diabetes is all about. The deadline for the first application round is June 29, 2018. Young researchers with an interest in diabetes, endocrinology, molecular biology, (epi-) genetics, epidemiology, and other related fields can apply for a Master’s course. Prerequisites are an excellent command of English and practical laboratory experience. More information: Helmholtz Research School Diabetes

The Troubled Dreams of Harmonization

Munich Colloquium on Technology in Society: On Tuesday, 3 July, Brice Laurent will give a talk on “European Objects. The Troubled Dreams of Harmonization.“ at 5:00 pm, TUM School of Education, Marsstr. 20 - 22, Panorama Deck, Room 607. Laurent’s (Centre de Sociologie de l’Innovation de Mines ParisTech) work focuses on the relationships between the making of science and the construction of democratic order. Using an approach based on Science and Technology Studies, his work analyzes the devices that connect research programs, the making of technical objects and the production of various types of publics. More information: www.mcts.tum.de

Harald Lesch at TUM

Harald Lesch, probably Bavaria’s most famous scientist, will be visiting TUM. On July 4, 2018, the scientist, television presenter, and “Mitwelt”-activist Harald Lesch will give a lecture in the scope of the lecture series on environmental topics, focusing on the issue of global warming and energy transition – and on the question why we are not doing what we should be doing. The lecture series on environmental topics is organized and carried out by the Environmental Department of the Student Representation. This semester, the motto of the lecture series is “Sustainable University”. More information: TUM AStA Umweltreferat

Room raffle of the Studentenwerk

The Munich Student Union is holding a room raffle until July 15, 2018: for Students who will be starting a course of studies in one of Munich’s universities in the winter semester (Bachelor, Master, etc.) this is an opportunity to find a room (as of October 1, 2018). Exchange students cannot take part. In order to participate in the raffle, you have to fill out a regular application form (online) for a flat of the Studentenwerk München: just follow the link on the website and add the reference “Erstsemester im Wintersemester 2018/19“. More information: Studentenwerk München Room raffle

Help as a mentor

Would you like to help high school graduates or qualified professionals to decide on a course of studies? If so, you can share your study experiences at TUM in the framework of StepInside – mentoring for prospective students. You will be able to strengthen your social and communication skills, take part in a free workshop on communication – and you will receive a certificate of participation at the end. Application deadline is July 15, 2018. More information: TUM Step Inside

Akademie des Schreibens 2018/19

This year’s motto of the student workshop of the Bayerische Akademie des Schreibens is “Nichts kann so erstaunlich sein wie das Leben – außer dem Schreiben” (“There’s nothing as amazing as life – except writing”), and TUM-students can apply for a course (three weekends) in Bamberg, Augsburg, or Bayreuth by writing on the subject “Haben und Sein”. The application deadline is August 3, 2018. Participation in the workshop (including accommodation) is free of charge. Contact: Dr. Fred Slanitz, Munich Center for Technology in Society (MCTS), slanitz@tum.de. More information: Akademie des Schreibens 2018

VDI Prize 2018: the country needs engineers

Engineers from southern Bavaria and Austria can now apply for the VDI-Prize 2018, with separate categories for Bachelor’s theses, Master’s theses, Diploma theses, dissertations, engineering start-ups, and young engineers from the industry. The work has to be outstanding with regard to an innovative solution or be of special economic importance or social relevance. You can apply yourself or suggest someone. Please send the respective documents to the VDI Bezirksverein München until September 13, 2018 – by e-mail: bv-muenchen@vdi.de. More information: VDI Prize 2018

New award for groundbreaking research

paul.hellmich@tum.de — Mon, 18 Jun 2018 13:06:00 +0200

The prize is endowed with 30,000 euros and will be awarded annually by the Friedrich Schiedel-Stiftung. The Foundation honors entrepreneur and philanthropist Friedrich Schiedel (1913-2001). It supports both social and scientific causes. The newly-established prize will be awarded to outstanding individuals who contribute to inter- and transdisciplinary projects linking politics and technology. Friedrich Schiedel was one of TUM's Honorary Senators. His Foundation supported TUM from the very beginning, among others by establishing the Friedrich Schiedel Endowed Chair of Neuroscience and the Friedrich Schiedel Endowed Chair in the Sociology of Science. The award enables a guest stay at the Technical University of Munich’s TUM School of Governance. Lectures, participation in TUM’s academic life and discussion with students and researchers will allow for insights into the scientists’ research achievements.

Outstanding research on politics in the age of the Internet

Helen Margetts is Professor of Society and the Internet at the Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford and Programme Director for Public Policy at the Alan Turing Institute, the UK's national institute for data science and artificial intelligence. Her research investigates political behavior and institutions in the age of the Internet, social media and data science. She has published over one hundred books, articles and major research reports in this area. Her most recent book "Political Turbulence: How Social Media Shape Collective Action" (with Peter John, Scott Hale and Taha Yasseri) uses data science and experimental methods to reveal the underlying patterns of political behavior. The book won the 2017 W.J. Mackenzie Prize from the UK Political Studies Association. From 2011 to April 2018, she was Director of the Oxford Internet Institute, which investigates the relationship between Internet-related technologies and society. She is editor-in-chief of the journal Policy and Internet, a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences, and sits on the UK government’s Digital Economy Council and Home Office Scientific Advisory Council.

The prize will be awarded at the traditional TUM Awards Dinner on December 3, 2018. Professor Margetts' guest stay at TUM is scheduled for the 4th quarter of 2018. She will also participate in the Munich Politics Network's inaugural event ‘Disruptive Politics & Technology’ on November 22 and 23.

Further Information:

TUM School of Governance
Munich Politics Network
Friedrich Schiedel-Stiftung

Anniversary year for IKOM

klaus.becker@tum.de — Mon, 18 Jun 2018 15:28:00 +0200

The IKOM became a polished, professional event long before this anniversary year, independently organized by about 130 students, working in their spare time. The forum brings together companies in search of skilled employees with students planning their entry into the career world. Apart from visits to booths manned by company representatives, students can arrange one-on-one meetings. In addition, IKOM offers training for the application process, a CV review service and a program of information and discussion events.

Along with the main IKOM fair, the team stages several specialized events every year. These include IKOM Startup, which will take place tomorrow (June 19). Last week the first winner of the IKOM Award for employers with exceptional corporate responsibility was announced.

Dates:

IKOM
June 18–21, 2018
Daily, 9.30 am – 4.30 pm
Garching Campus
Department of Mechanical Engineering

IKOM Start-Up
June 19, 2018
9.30 am – 4 pm
Garching Campus
Mathematics / Informatics Building

More information:

IKOM (German website)

More than just a good flavor

letz@zv.tum.de — Mon, 18 Jun 2018 08:24:00 +0200

Human saliva is a complex, watery mixture made up of vastly different components. In addition to mucosal and immune cells, it contains a large number of molecules that perform a wide variety of biological functions. Not only does saliva play an important role in dietary intake, but it is also crucial to maintaining the health of one’s teeth, gums, and oral mucosa.

At the same time, it also represents the first bulwark against external pathogens. For this purpose, saliva contains various antimicrobial molecules, including the antibacterial lysozyme. These are part of the innate molecular immune system.

It has been proven that factors such as age, health, and what someone eats and drinks influence the composition of saliva. However, little is known about the effects of individual food constituents.

In order to learn more about this, a team of scientists led by Professor Thomas Hofmann, head of the Leibniz-Institute for Food Systems Biology at TUM, studied the influence of the following flavors on the composition of human saliva: citric acid (sour), the sweetener aspartame (sweet), iso-alpha acids (bitter), the flavor enhancer monosodium glutamate (umami), table salt (salty), 6-gingerol (spicy), and the substances contained in Sichuan pepper —hydroxy-alpha-sanshool (tingling) and hydroxy-beta-sanshool (numbing).

How the Molecular Defense System is Activated in Saliva

As the scientists first demonstrated by combining salivary flow measurements, proteome analyses and bioinformatic evaluations, all the substances under investigation modulate the protein composition of saliva to a greater or lesser extent.

Analyses of the biological function of the salivary proteins affected by modulation also showed that the changes triggered by citric acid and 6-gingerol activate the molecular defense system in saliva.

For example, 6-gingerol increased the activity of an enzyme that converts the thiocyanate contained in saliva into hypothiocyanite, approximately tripling the amount of the antimicrobial and fungicidal hypothiocyanite in saliva. The changes triggered by citric acid, on the other hand, caused lysozyme levels in saliva to increase tenfold.

Studies on bacterial cultures have shown for the first time that this increase is sufficient to almost completely prevent the growth of Gram-positive bacteria. Lysozyme acts against this type of bacteria by destroying their cell walls.

“Our new findings show that flavoring substances already display biological effects in the oral cavity that go far beyond their known sensory properties,” said Professor Hofmann from the Chair of Food Chemistry and Molecular Sensory Science at TUM. The food chemist explains that one of the goals of food systems biology is to further investigate these using the latest analytical methods. In his opinion, this is the only way to find new approaches for the long-term production of food whose ingredient and function profiles are aligned with the health and sensory needs of consumers.

Publication:

Matthias Bader, Andreas Dunkel, Mareike Wenning, Bernd Kohler, Guillaume Medard, Estela del Castillo, Amin Gholami, Bernhard Kuster, Siegfried Scherer and Thomas Hofmann: Dynamic Proteome Alteration and Functional Modulation of Human Saliva Induced by Dietary Chemosensory Stimuli, Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 6/2018. DOI: 10.1021/acs.jafc.8b02092

Contact:

Prof. Thomas Hofmann
Chair of Food Chemistry and Molecular Sensory Science
Leibniz-Institute for Food Systems Biology at TUM
Mail: thomas.hofmann@tum.de
Phone: +49 (89) 289 - 22201 oder
Phone 2: +49 (8161) 71-2902

Research for healthy and delicious nutrition

g.olias.leibniz-lsb@tum.de — Tue, 19 Jun 2018 15:35:00 +0200

The 100 years of the Leibniz-Institute's history reflect the development of food and nutrition research in Germany during the 20th and 21st centuries. Founded by the Royal House of Wittelsbach in 1918, the Institute's initial mission was to improve the nutrition of the population in times of war-related food shortages. Today the Institute combines basic biomolecular research and bioinformatics analysis methods with high-performance analytics to decode the complex ingredient signatures, from raw materials all the way to the final food products, and to explain their function as biologically active molecules in terms of human biology.

New directions

Prof. Dr. Thomas F. Hofmann has led the newly organized Leibniz-Institute since September 2017. He is also the TUM Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation and chair of Food Chemistry and Molecular Sensory Science. Biological system-based approaches in food and nutrition research are pursued to align the ingredient signatures and functional profiles of foods with nutrition and health requirements as well as with the sensory preferences of the consumer. Products resulting from this research will help supply the population of the future sustainably and adequately with food that promotes health and also tastes good. Furthermore, the newly gained scientific findings are to be used in the development of personalized nutrition concepts which will for example help people with food intolerances stay healthy without restricting quality of life. “With its avant-garde research program, exactly 100 years after being founded the Institute is beginning to grow well beyond the boundaries of its previous core discipline, Food Chemistry. Food systems biology opens a new and expanded horizon for the TUM Freising-Weihenstephan campus, one which includes our medical research and as such promises international brilliance,” says TUM president Wolfgang A. Herrmann. He added that this has all been made possible by the outstanding support of Bavarian state politicians, in particular by precinct representative Dr. Florian Herrmann and Ilse Aigner, responsible until recently as minister of Economics. As president Herrmann emphasized, the rapid realization of new construction at the Institute is part of the business basis of the agreements with the State of Bavaria. The Bavarian State Ministry of Economic Affairs, Energy and Technology is convinced of the potential of the Leibniz-Institute. State minister Franz Josef Pschierer: “Today we look back on 100 years of successful food and nutrition research. We will energetically support the continuing development of the Leibniz-Institute and will initiate structural renovations all the way to food systems biology. Therefore we will provide almost 17 million Euros for investment in a modern research infrastructure. In doing so we are further expanding the strong position of the Institute as a driver of innovation.”

Interdisciplinary Research

The interdisciplinary character of the Leibniz-Institute is evident in the diversity of its talents in Food Chemistry, Nutrition Science, Human Biology, Biotechnology and Bioinformatics. Leibniz president Matthias Kleiner regards this as an important breeding ground for application-oriented and cutting-edge research: “Consolidating interdisciplinary, complementary research disciplines at a single location in an idea factory empowers translational research for the benefit and good of society. The new orientation of the Institute together with its new Director is entirely in keeping with the intent of the Leibniz Association. This makes me confident that the Institute's work will be highly beneficial.” Hofmann greatly appreciates the trust placed in the Institute and looks to the future with an equal sense of optimism. “The newly created configuration of the Leibniz-Institute and its expanded focus beyond the investigation of individual food ingredients to include a systemic approach is a significant gain for research at the Weihenstephan site. In close integration with the TUM reference disciplines, new local synergies will emerge which will further increase the site's international standing.”

"We're hoping for up to 600 kilometers per hour"

presse@tum.de — Fri, 15 Jun 2018 13:26:00 +0200

Tell us about the pressure to succeed after the two victories in the first two competitions…

We're taking it in stride. Of course expectations are very high; we still want to be better than this year's competition. But this pressure doesn't result in stress for the team, much more it increases our motivation.

You were on board last year as well. What motivated you to sacrifice another year of your free time for the Hyperloop project?

The project really is very time-intensive, but it's also a lot of fun. On top of that, we're learning things that don't come up in normal studies, for example project management and working together with colleagues from other disciplines. I'm a physicist myself, but the team also includes many mechanical engineers, electrical engineers, information scientists and business economists. There are a total of over 40 students on the team. And the only way to realize a pod that has a chance of winning is when we all contribute our knowledge.

Is this interdisciplinary collaboration the secret to success?

The fact that the team includes students from many different disciplines is of course a great advantage, since each of us comes with the expertise from his or her own curriculum. Our "secret", though, is primarily the fact that so many people on the team have decided to invest so much time in the project. Building a pod like this is very complicated and it wouldn't work if so many people weren't working on the project full-time in spite of their studies.

What did you do this year that was different from last year?

The requirements of the competition are different: This year all pods that drive through the test track's tube in Los Angeles will have to have their own drives. That was optional in the previous years, it was also possible to use SpaceX technology. But we've had our own drive since 2017. This meant we were able to further develop our concept in principle. But we've still thoroughly revised and optimized the design as well as the drive.

What were the biggest challenges you faced?

We had to reduce weight while increasing drive performance at the same time. We succeeded by building the new model from lightweight carbon fiber-reinforced composite materials. We also replaced the 50 kilowatt electric motor from last year's design with eight small motors, each of which drives one wheel. This increased the power performance to 240 kilowatts, or 320 horsepower. At under two meters in length, the new pod is shorter than its predecessor and has an aerodynamically optimized shape.

Where was the new pod built?

Like its predecessors, the new pod was built in the MakerSpace at TUM's UnternehmerTUM innovation center in Garching. In addition, many of the vehicle's parts were manufactured by external partners. Working together with experts from industry was a great help to us when it came to improving the pod's performance.

How fast is the third pod?

We won't really see until we're actually on the test track. Up to now we've only conducted simulations and investigations on the test stand. We're hoping for up to 600 kilometers per hour.

The sounds pretty fast, but it's still a long way from Elon Musk's objective of having the Hyperloop transport passengers at 1200 kilometers per hour…

This goal can't be achieved on the test track. The tube in front of the SpaceX building in Los Angeles is only 1.2 kilometers long, and the pod has to accelerate to full speed and then brake again within this distance. This is a gigantic challenge: Our pod accelerates five times faster than an airplane during take-off. At the same time forces are generated that would be too much for any passenger to withstand.

With its length of almost two meters and a height of almost 30 centimeters, the pod is also much too small to transport passengers. Is the technology you've developed suitable for constructing larger passenger compartments?

Not directly. The technology is still in the development phase and our prototypes are built with the initial objective of testing various technologies. However, this way we can contribute to making the Hyperloop vision a reality one day. That's why we decided this year to build a second prototype in addition to the pod for the competition. We want to explore other systems, in particular levitation systems and frictionless drive systems, which in our opinion will be very significant for the competition and for the further development of Hyperloop technology in the future.

Other than congratulations, what is there to win?

A trophy. We already have two of them: They're 3D printed models of the tube with a pod, signed by Elon Musk personally. They're on display in our office. I hope we'll soon be able to add a third one.

Further information:

WARR Hyperloop is a project of the student initiative WARR (Scientific Workgroup for Rocketry and Spaceflight), which has been active at the Technical University of Munich in the field of aviation and astronautics since 1962. The current WARR Hyperloop team is led by Gabriele Semino, Martin Riedel, Florian Janke and Joachim Sturm. The WARR Hyperloop team received financial support from TUM. For other sponsors visit: http://hyperloop.warr.de/sponsors/

Pictures for editorial use:

https://mediatum.ub.tum.de/1446039?change_language=en

Contact:

Technical University of Munich (TUM)
WARR Hyperloop Team Leaders
Gabriele Semino, Martin Riedel, Florian Janke, Joachim Sturm
Tel.: +49 (0) 89 28916028
E-Mail: hyperloop@warr.de
Homepage: hyperloop.warr.de

Automation in the histopathology lab

paul.hellmich@tum.de — Thu, 14 Jun 2018 14:07:00 +0200

“When a layperson hears the word pathology they tend to think of TV crime dramas and autopsies,” says Dominik Sievert, one of the founders of inveox. “But the main function of histopathology is to save lives.” Diseases like cancer can only be optimally treated if they have been correctly identified – which is usually done by analyzing a tissue sample. Sievert and his co-founder Maria Driesel set up inveox to improve the reliability of these diagnostic tests.

The idea that ultimately inspired them to found the company was of a highly personal nature: “My grandfather developed cancer when I was a teenager,” relates Dominik Sievert. “Something must have gone wrong in his diagnosis at the time. The progression of the disease was incorrectly assessed, so he didn’t receive the optimum treatment.”

Everyday processes prone to errors

Over the years, other reports of irregularities in cancer diagnoses came to the attention of Sievert, who studied “Molecular Biotechnology” and „Management and Technology“ at TUM. One common cause of such errors is the fact that much of the work in histopathology labs is done by hand. The tissue sample is prepared, dehydrated, preserved and finally sectioned and examined under the microscope. In the course of this process, the samples have to be repackaged into various containers more than once and relabeled each time. “Sample entry is a particularly critical phase. A lot of things can go wrong, including mix-ups, contamination or even the loss of tissue samples,” explains Maria Driesel, who received her degree 2015 as an industrial engineer at TUM.

Three components

The inveox system is designed to prevent mix-ups and contamination. It eliminates the need for frequent repackaging for one thing, because all the different vessels are kept together in a single sample container, which is given a unique identification number. Another component is the automated sample entry system also developed by inveox. This device can handle several dozen containers at a time. It records the sample data, removes the preserving agent and takes photos of the tissue for documentation purposes. After that, the sample container is passed on to the next processing stage.

The data captured by the system is fed into a database. Both the physicians who submitted the samples and the pathology lab staff can access this encrypted web-based data and communication platform at any time to check the current status. “The interplay between our three components greatly improves the reliability of the diagnostic process and thus also patient outcomes, while also boosting the efficiency of process flows,” claims Maria Driesel.

Building a prototype at MakerSpace

Driesel and Sievert first met in the „Manage & More” coaching program run by UnternehmerTUM, the Center for Innovation and Business Creation at TUM. The team built their first prototypes for the containers and the automation platform at MakerSpace, the high-tech workshop run by UnternehmerTUM. Further support came from TUM’s start-up consultation service and an EXIST-start-up grant. This was also how the team got in contact with their mentor, Dr. Markus Eblenkamp from the Chair of Medical and Polymer Engineering.

Since its foundation in February 2017, inveox GmbH has picked up numerous awards, become part of the Roche Diagnostics accelerator program, and been named as German start-up of the year 2017 by “Für-Gründer.de”. The company has long outgrown its office at TUM’s incubator. inveox currently has 20 employees and a number of student research assistants.

Successful presentation

inveox recently had an opportunity to present the first pre-series version of its automation system to investors and industry experts. “All of the labs we have spoken to so far have expressed huge enthusiasm, with many of them interested in a concrete purchase,” Dominik Sievert is happy to report. The next investment round for the start of series production and the introduction of the system in the European and US markets has begun.

Further Information:

Entrepreneurship at TUM
MakerSpace

According to the current “German Startup Monitor”, TUM produces more startup founders than any other German university. Around 70 companies are founded at TUM every year. The outstanding support for founders is recognized by the “Start-Up Radar” of the German business community's innovation agency (Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft), which lists TUM in 1st place among major universities.

High-Resolution Images:

https://mediatum.ub.tum.de/1445965

Antarctic ice cap melting faster and faster

stefanie.reiffert@tum.de — Sun, 17 Jun 2018 16:32:00 +0200

The results of the study, published in the journal "Nature", place the loss of ice in the Antarctic before 2012 at approximately 76 billion tons a year. This is equivalent to an annual rise in sea level of 0.2 millimeters. Since then this rate has tripled: Between 2012 and 2017 the continent lost 219 billion tons of ice annually, equivalent to a 0.6 millimeter rise in sea level each year.

The study has created the most comprehensive image yet of the changes in the Antarctic ice cap. 84 scientists from 44 research institutes participated in the joint project IMBIE (Ice Sheet Mass Balance Inter-comparison Exercise) under the direction of Prof. Andrew Shepherd (University of Leeds ) and Dr. Erik Ivins (NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory). The project received support from the European space agency ESA and the US space agency NASA.

Various methods reveal an overall picture

The special aspect of the project: A total of 24 satellite missions were evaluated independently of one another using different analytic methods; these results were then consolidated to create an overall picture. This procedure compensates for the inaccuracies and errors of individual evaluations.

Dr. Alexander Horvath also contributed data evaluation to the project. During his dissertation at the TUM Chair for Astronomical and Physical Geodesy he determined the changes in the ice masses using gravimetric methods.

Minimal disturbances in satellite orbits are measured

The geodesist used data on the changes in gravity which the twin GRACE satellites over a period of 15 years. The orbital path in which the satellites travel is influenced by minor variations in the earth's gravitational field: When the amount of ice at the earth's pole increases or decreases in the course of a year, the result is minute orbital disturbances and thus changes in the distance between the two satellites. The scientists used these changes to determine the changes in the mass of ice within a defined area. "Our results match the overall picture painted by the other measurements as well," Horvath explains.

In theory the Antarctic stores enough frozen water to raise the global sea level by 58 meters. The scientists write that the development of the melting of the ice cap has to be documented as precisely as possible in order to properly asses the impacts of climate change.

Publication:

"Mass balance of the Antarctic Ice Sheet from 1992 to 2017", A. Shepherd et al., Nature 558, 219–222 (2018), DOI: 10.1038/s41586-018-0179-y
Link: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0179-y

ContaCt:

Prof. Roland Pail
Technical University of Munich
Chair for Astronomical and Physical Geodesy
+49 (0) 89 289 23190
pail@bv.tum.de
http://www.bgu.tum.de/en/iapg/welcome/

Premiere of the first student-nominated employer awards

klaus.becker@tum.de — Thu, 14 Jun 2018 15:27:00 +0200

When looking at potential employers, students are increasingly interested in business ethics and sustainability. But in many cases, companies with a strong sense of corporate responsibility – especially small and medium sized enterprises – go almost unnoticed. To remedy this situation, IKOM, a not-for-profit student initiative to promote contacts between students and companies, established the award. The jury, made up of representatives from the student body, the world of science and research, the business community and the media, applies the following criteria: A focus on values and sustainability, a commitment to Germany as a place for doing business, entrepreneurial continuity and good opportunities for recent graduates to start their careers and move up the ladder.

At the inaugural awards ceremony yesterday evening, with 200 guests in attendance – half students, and the other half business people, scientists, politicians and members of society at large – IKOM, vbw and TUM honored five mid-sized companies:

Duschl Ingenieure GmbH & Co. KG, Rosenheim

Category "Companies with up to 250 employees"

The jury praised Duschl, a consulting firm for engineering equipment and energy technology, as "a family company through and through": "open, honest, decent – pragmatic, goal-driven, reliable". The employees have plenty of scope to take initiative and the employer is willing to accommodate individual living situations. Duschl works with customers and suppliers in a spirit of open and honest partnership.

sonnen GmbH, Wildpoldsried

Category "Companies with 250–500 employees"

The products and services of sonnen GmbH address one of the most important challenges of our time: an ecologically sound and sustainable energy supply. The one-time start-up is now regarded as a global market leader in energy storage systems and as the operator of the world's largest power sharing platform. And at the same time, as the jury noted, "In a highly competitive market environment, sonnen GmbH succeeds in manufacturing its products at its head office in the Allgäu region". The company provides employment to 400 people there.

DELO Industrieklebstoffe GmbH & Co. KGaA, Windach

Category "Companies with 500–1500 employees"

Established in 1961, DELO has expanded over the past 20 years from less than 70 to more than 600 employees, with most of them working at the Windach site. "Despite the rapid growth, DELO has retained its family-like corporate culture, characterized by respect, trust, and team spirit," said the jury. The owner-managed company is a global market leader for special adhesives used in countless products, from credit cards to mobile telephones.

BMZ Group, Karlstein am Main

Category "Companies with over 1,500 employees"

BMZ is regarded as the European leader for lithium-ion batteries, a key technology for electromobility and thus for sustainable energy use. "Despite global growth at multiple locations, this owner-managed mid-sized company makes massive investments in its home town in Lower Franconia. Creating and securing jobs remains a personal priority of the founder and managing director, who is also strongly committed to creating opportunities for weaker members of society," said the jury.

Alberdingk Boley Gmbh, Krefeld

Special Environmental Award

For more than 190 years, this mid-sized, family-owned manufacturer of environmentally friendly, water-based binding agents and plant oils has successfully competed against major corporations and gained market share with sustainable products. The jury singled out Alberdingk Boley's strong sense of responsibility, reflected in "a structured but pragmatic/individualized approach with its own employees as well as a financial commitment in the region in India that produces the raw materials for the oils".

“Responsible entrepreneurship as a competitive advantage”

"We need responsible entrepreneurship now more than ever before. That made it even more important for us as students to create the first-ever award that honors employers who live up to that standard," said Niclas-Alexander Mauß, who headed IKOM last year and was the co-initiator of the IKOM Award with his fellow student Marius Beller. "Today's award winners can serve as a role model for many others – and an inspiration to us to ask ourselves, as we start out on our careers, where it is worthwhile to make our own contribution."

In the view of the Bavarian economic affairs minister Franz Josef Pschierer, corporate social responsibility is now "a competitive advantage in the increasingly challenging search for skilled people. The IKOM Award for Employers of the Future not only rewards employers for sustainable business operations. It also offers a good starting point for job seekers. In Bavaria, especially mid-sized, family-operated companies often show a strong sense of responsibility for employees and a commitment to their home regions. If we can raise awareness of this type of entrepreneurship, that will also help to preserve value and foster a harmonious relationship between employees and employers in our state."

"Students make strong statement for sustainable business"

"The Bavarian economy needs qualified young talent, especially in the MINT fields (mathematics, informatics, natural sciences and technology). High-profile initiatives such as the IKOM Award offer companies the opportunity to present themselves to potential applicants as attractive employers – an increasingly important consideration in times where skilled specialists are in short supply. Employers can win over the young talent with their commitment in areas such as sustainability, corporate values and loyalty to their regional roots. That is why we are pleased to stand behind the IKOM Award as a sponsor," said Bertram Brossardt, the managing director of vbw, at the awards ceremony.

Albert Berger, the Chancellor of TUM, also had praise for the students' commitment: "TUM is a leading international university that believes that it is here to serve society. We are proud of the broad support for this philosophy among our students. Alongside their studies, the IKOM team members make enormous investments of time and energy and now, with this initiative – unique in Germany – they are making a strong statement for sustainable business operations."

IKOM:

In IKOM, approximately 130 students at TUM work on a voluntary basis to organize career forums, seminars, excursions and other events. With more than 300 exhibitors, the event bearing the same name is Germany's biggest career fair supported entirely by students. IKOM has been fostering the transfer of knowledge and experience from generation to generation since 1989.

The next IKOM event is scheduled for June 18–21, and the IKOM Start-up fair will take place on the Garching campus on June 19.

Mapping the threat of small near-Earth asteroids

battenberg@zv.tum.de — Wed, 13 Jun 2018 08:00:00 +0200

Sixty-five million years ago, a 15-kilometer-sized asteroid wiped out two-thirds of all life on Earth, including the dinosaurs. But it’s probably not this kind of monster asteroid that we should be worried about. It’s actually the smaller Near Earth Objects (NEOs) that pose a greater imminent threat, like the asteroid that struck Earth on June 2 that scientists only saw coming a day in advance. Internationally renowned astronomers, astrophysicists and space researchers gathered in Garching near Munich for the past four weeks to develop new strategies for the improved detection, scientific and commercial exploitation of and defense against NEOs. The conference was organized by the Munich Institute for Astro and Particle Physics (MIAPP), a subsidiary of the Cluster of Excellence “Origin and Structure of the Universe” at the Technical University of Munich (TUM). Dr. Detlef Koschny, head of the Near Earth Objects team at the European Space Agency (ESA) and a lecturer with the TUM Chair for Astronautics, explains why scientists are increasing their research focus on smaller NEOs. Let’s start with a basic question: How is an asteroid different from a meteorite? Detlef Koschny: Asteroids are objects larger than one meter – for example the object that exploded over Botswana earlier this month. Meteoroids are objects smaller than one meter. If they enter and pass through a planet’s atmosphere, they are called meteorites. Comets are asteroids with large amounts of volatile compounds such as water ice. If they come close to the Sun, these compounds vaporize, creating their distinctive tails. Hollywood disaster films like “Armageddon” always feature colossus asteroids on a direct collision course with Earth. So why should we be worried about smaller NEOs? Detlef Koschny: NEOs that might potentially come close to or hit our planet range in size from a few millimeters to about 50 to 60 kilometers in diameter. We’ve detected the majority of the larger NEOs and computed their trajectories and the statistical risk for collision with Earth 100 years into the future. We’ve mapped 90 percent of the asteroids that are a kilometer in size or larger. We know precisely where the big ones are and that they won’t pose a threat. In the ‘mid-size’ region, the situation is completely different: We have only detected and mapped less than one percent of NEOs smaller than a kilometer. If a 100-meter asteroid hit Earth, it would cause significant damage in an area the size of Germany, and even affect the surrounding region. But asteroids of this size don’t strike Earth very often. Maybe every 10,000 years on average. Going from 100 meters down to 50 meters, the statistical frequency of strikes increases to once every 1,000 years. Exactly a century ago in 1908, a 40-meter object struck the Earth over Tunguska, Siberia, destroying an area of forest the size of the Munich metro area. And then if we go down to asteroid sizes around 20 meters – like the asteroid that exploded over Chelyabinsk in Russia in 2013, which ended up injuring 1,500 people – these occur on average once every 10 to 100 years. We will definitely see something like that again in our lifetime. Nobody saw the Chelyabinsk asteroid coming before it hit. And scientists only spotted the one that hit Botswana a few hours in advance. What is the current state of NEO detection technology? Detlef Koschny: Right now, there are two main survey programs running on Earth, both funded by our American colleagues. They utilize optical telescopes that cover a large field of view and can continually scan the night sky to detect any objects that are bright enough. When it comes to detecting larger objects, this strategy works quite well, as these are visible even when they’re still far away from the Earth. But to detect smaller objects down to a size of 20 meters is very difficult. They are not bright enough to be detected until they are at least as close as the Moon. If you only have two of these telescopes on the planet and it takes each telescope three weeks or so to cover the complete sky, you have to be really lucky that a small asteroid crosses your field of view just when you’re looking in the right direction. That’s why we are currently developing extremely wide-field telescopes that will have the ability to scan the entire sky in just 48 hours. Additionally, within the ESA Space Situational Awareness (SSA) program, in which I work, we mobilize observatories and astronomers worldwide through the NEO Coordination Centre at the Agency's European Space Research Institute (ESRIN) facility in Italy. So what are your recommendations for improving detection and tracking capabilities, and what new detection technologies are being deployed either currently or in the near future? Detlef Koschny: There’s a system called Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) that just went online in the U.S. It consists of small telescopes which, while they don’t see very faint objects, cover almost the complete night sky once per night. Here in Europe, we are building the Flyeye telescope, with a one-meter effective aperture. It provides us with a big field of view that is more than 100 times the size of the full Moon in the night sky. In one night, with one telescope, we can cover about half the sky. The strategy to achieve this was developed by one of our master’s students here at TUM. Our conclusion as the conference wraps up and one of the recommendations we’ll be making in the post-conference whitepaper: There’s an urgent need for more telescopes that can scan the sky for these NEOs, and a global network of telescopes that are working in concert, so that we can truly cover the smaller size range of asteroids in near-earth orbit. We definitively need to FIND these objects first before we can take any concrete action to defend ourselves against them.

Further information:

The conference was organized and hosted by the Munich Institute for Astro and Particle Physics (MIAPP) and funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) via the Cluster of Excellence “Origin and Structure of the Universe” at the Technical University of Munich (TUM). MIAPP, which is based at the Garching Research Campus north of Munich, is embedded in the academic environment of the physics departments of TUM and Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, and the locally based Max Planck Institutes and the European Southern Observatory (ESO). Cluster of Excellence “Universe” Munich Institute for Astro- and Particle Physics Conference: Near-Earth Objects: Properties, Detection, Resources, Impacts and Defending Earth Website of the ESA SSA-NEO Program ESA-Videos about Asteroids World Asteroid Day, 30. Juni ESA World Asteroid Day ESO World Asteroid Day

Contact:

Dr. Detlef Koschny
Technical University of Munich
Chair of Astronautics
Boltzmannstr. 15, 85748 Garching, Germany
Tel.: +49 89 289 16003
detlef.koschny@tum.de European Space Agency SXI-S
Keplerlaan 1, NL-2201 AZ Noordwijk ZH, The Netherlands
Tel.: +31 71 565 48 28
detlef.koschny@esa.int

Urban planning: Green spaces for a better climate

presse@tum.de — Tue, 12 Jun 2018 10:00:00 +0200

Current climate prognoses are forecasting that mean annual temperatures in Bavaria will markedly rise. Extreme weather events such as heat waves and heavy rainstorms are on the increase. Cities are particularly impacted by the effects of climate change. Because of their higher degree of sealed surfaces and denser development, which combine to trap heat and prevent cooling, cities experience more heat waves compared to more rural areas. Extended heat waves can put the health of people and animals at risk. The high degree of sealed surfaces also means that high levels of rainfall cannot filter downwards – this leads to flooding and property damage.

Towns and cities need more green

How can city planning help to resolve these issues? Working together with Bavarian communities and local councils, researchers at TUM's Centre for Urban Ecology and Climate Adaptation (ZSK), which is funded by the Bavarian State Ministry for the Environment and Consumer Protection, drew up “Guidelines for climate-oriented municipalities in Bavaria”. The guide for planners makes one thing clear: cities need more green spaces. Trees and parks help to cool and purify the air as well as reduce noise pollution. Green spaces also absorb excess rain water and thus are a valuable buffer against flooding. Next to climate adaptation, the authors point out that climate protection is equally as important. That’s why the guidelines also include recommendations for building renovation measures.

Specific measures depending on urban structure

In their analysis, the scientists focused on three particular types of urban development structure typical for Bavaria: the central Munich district Maxvorstadt as an example of late-nineteenth-century inner-city block development, the Munich suburb Neuaubing as a typical early-twentieth-century row development, and Heidingsfeld in Würzburg as an example of a historic town centre. A detailed analysis of these three types helped the research team to formulate a series of recommendations for the most effective landscaping and planting measures for each, taking into account the differing requirements and possibilities of each urban structural type. One conclusion is that trees have the greatest impact on urban microclimates, whereby the guidelines specify that tree-planting schemes need to pay particular attention to the more climate-resilient varieties and ensure plenty of room for root development. Green or so-called living roofs and facades are also efficient methods of providing cooling due to evapo-transpiration and the shading they provide.

Solutions even for high-density areas

The results of the Centre’s research are encouraging: even in Bavaria’s most densely built-up areas, there are ways of facing the challenges posed by climate change. However, appropriate measures should be implemented as quickly as possible, recommend the authors.

Publication:

Werner Lang, Stephan Pauleit: Leitfaden für klimaorientierte Kommunen in Bayern (PDF, 46,9 MB).

More information:

Centre for Urban Ecology and Climate Adaptation (ZSK)

Contact:

Technical University of Munich
Centre for Urban Ecology and Climate Adaptation
Subproject 1: Mitigation and Urban Green Infrastructure

Chair for Energy Efficient and Sustainable Design and Building
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Werner Lang
tel.: +49 (89) 289 23988
email: w.lang@tum.de

Chair for Strategic Landscape Planning and Management
Prof. Dr. Stephan Pauleit
tel.: +49 (8161) 71 4780
email: pauleit@tum.de

Festival summer at TUM

Mon, 11 Jun 2018 13:26:00 +0200

Both festivals are organised by students for students - over 400 helpers will be on duty during the two weeks. The program at the Campus Garching includes a sports festival with basketball and beach volleyball tournaments, open-air cinema, lectures, yodelling courses and above all lots of live music – from Hip-Hop to Ska and Metal. At TUNIX in Munich the musical focus is on newcomer bands from the region. Both festivals also feature beer gardens with Bavarian specialities and chill-out areas with deck chairs.

More Information:

Students Council at TUM
Program GARNIX 2018
Program TUNIX 2018

Building bridges on the Life Science Campus Freising-Weihenstephan

letz@zv.tum.de — Mon, 11 Jun 2018 11:01:00 +0200

Initiated by President Wolfgang A. Herrmann measures the TUM Jubilee Bridge about 180 meters - from the Maximus-von-Imhof Forum in front of the central lecture hall building to the Hans Eisenmann Forum. "I wanted to see the separate campus areas linked together to send out a signal for our expansion plans," said the president. This ensures a comfortable and safe road crossing. The costs amounted to approximately 3.5 million euros, which were raised by TUM from own funds and sales proceeds.

The footpath and cycle path over the jubilee bridge commemorates Thomas Scharnagel (1880 - 1953), who ran the Bavarian seed breeding institute Weihenstephan (1928 - 1950) and was a professor at the present TUM. "He was responsible for researching and breeding high-yielding wheat varieties with a high baking capacity and mildew and frost-resistant barley varieties," said the President at the inauguration.

In cooperation with the aquatic systems biology of the TUM and the fish farms located there, the bridged biotope was completely preserved. Animals taken before construction and stored in a temporary solution have now returned to their former environment undamaged.

"The life science campus is to grow together with the new bridge. It symbolically links the different scientific disciplines," said TUM President Wolfgang A. Herrmann, who announced an interdisciplinary research center for the North Campus as the next new building project. 

Future-oriented claim is reflected in the architecture

Photos for editorial coverage

https://mediatum.ub.tum.de/1445771

École Polytechnique new member of the EuroTech Alliance

a.schmidt@tum.de — Fri, 08 Jun 2018 10:30:00 +0200

“We are delighted to have France’s most distinctive university of science and engineering on board. With Macron’s call for the creation of European networks of universities, École Polytechnique’s accession is also politically very timely”, says Jan Mengelers, current President of the EuroTech Universities Alliance. The French President’s speech at Sorbonne University last September has provided a new impetus for European university networks, with a dedicated EU funding initiative to be launched in the autumn. “With the EuroTech Universities Alliance widely quoted as a model network, we are well positioned for the take-up of EU funding in the future, not least through the future Horizon Europe programme proposed by the European Commission today”, highlights Jan Mengelers.

EuroTech As pioneer for inter-university collaborations

TUM president Wolfgang A. Herrmann furthermore emphasizes the importance of the new partnership for transfer of technology. “The École Polytechnique will further strengthen the EuroTech Universities Alliance’s position as pioneer for inter-university collaboration and will provide impetus for new, exciting collaborations to address the major societal challenges of the coming years” “École Polytechnique offers innovative, international and multidisciplinary scientific programmes in strategic fields, bringing together research staff and students to develop the latest technologies, with focus on artificial intelligence, energy transition, smart cities, healthcare or cybersecurity”, says Jacques Biot, President of École Polytechnique. Joining the EuroTech Universities Alliance will create a larger pool of complementary strengths, excellent talent and unique learning and scientific environments. École Polytechnique’s Drahi X-Novation Center offers an ecosystem of prototyping space, early start-up acceleration, incubation, finance and open innovation with large multinationals. “Our unique French offer will boost the EuroTech Universities’ academic, scientific, entrepreneurial and corporate networks and will facilitate the connection of Europe’s strongest innovation hubs even further”, added Jacques Biot.

Relaunch of the science Magazine Technologist

As a special welcome to École Polytechnique, the first series of articles of the EuroTech Universities Alliance’s relaunched communications platform TECHNOLOGIST zooms in on the best of French Technologies, including the science and innovation landscape in France.

About the EuroTech Universities Alliance

The EuroTech Universities Alliance is a strategic partnership of leading Universities of Science & Technology in Europe: DTU (Technical University of Denmark), die EPFL (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne), l’X (École Polytechnique), die TU/e (Eindhoven University of Technology). Through the EuroTech Universities Alliance, the now five institutions combine their strengths and connect their eco-systems across borders, contributing to Europe’s leadership in technology. The EuroTech Universities Alliance is committed to raising public awareness of the opportunities offered by science and technology. TECHNOLOGIST is a key initiative of the Alliance to highlight the best and most exciting research and innovation in Europe.