Project title:

Corpus digitalis: digital culture and transformation in the Anthropocene

Cooperation partner:

Prof. Dr. phil. Juliane Noack Napoles, Chair of Educational Sciences, Faculty 4

Project description: 

The body of human being in the hominization process is accompanied by transformation in climate, biogenetics, and technology, thus the body of Homo sapiens sapiens is the result of a multidimensional morphogenesis of interactions between ecological, genetic, cerebral, social and cultural factors. The body is currently inserted into a technologized biodiversity of Homo digitalis, such as artificial intelligence, humanoid robotics, CRISPR.

In the dynamic process of the Anthropocene, the body has been modified in the process of digitalization taking into account the diverse interactions with the very body, things, objects, and artifacts that, based on embodiment, build, reproduce, and transform social reality. The understanding of the body is a challenge and requires shifting of the focus from established epistemological limits to a new understanding where the body is investigated and reflected in the bodily learning of the human being in the digitalization process. Therefore, one can question: what borders require to be crossed to understand the corpus digitalis in its process of transformation in digital culture in the Anthropocene? How does bodily learning in the human being occur inserted into the digitalization process? The project aims to research on bodily learning of children and young people in their natural settings. In order to answer these questions, the project will use videos and digital media as methodical path for understanding hermeneutically the corpus digitalis.

The understanding of corpus digitalis significantly contributes to: (a) education field: bodily learning process in interactions of human/human and human/non-human elements and (b) humanoid robotics: to heuristically create a model for understanding situated bodily experience. In this regard, I would like to contribute to the Department of Education at the Institute for Social Work and to research areas as Biotechnology, Environment and Health and Cognitive and Cyber-Physical Systems to an understanding the transformation processes of body regarding the globalized responsible society before the challenges of interdisciplinary, sustainable, and cultural diversity, and digital transformation for the future.

Short bio:

She has undergraduate degree in Pedagogy, master and doctorate in the Educational Science field at São Paulo State University, São Paulo, Brazil. During her doctorate, she was a visiting researcher at Free University Berlin in 2015. Her doctoral research focused on a detailed analysis on the Educational Anthropology field in Brazil. For that, her research scrutinized papers published in Brazil applying  the Hermeneutic Content Analysis. The German Educational Anthropology supported the theoretical approach of her thesis in order to achieve a critical position and reflection on the publications in Brazil. Due to relevant result of her work in the Anthropology of Education field, she was prominent scholarship holder by the Brazilian Capes Foundation in 2017.

In Brazil, she had important experiences for academic career, as: (a) professor in the Educational Science field and Socio-anthropological Fundamentals of Education; (b) coordinator of researches; transfer projects focusing on social inclusion, cultural learning, and educational anthropology;(c) coordinator of research group on Afro-brazilian culture; (d) critical review in publishing house; (e) literacy teacher for youth and adults; (f) developer of social project focusing on literacy and social inclusion of vulnerable young people; (g) field researcher in innovation projects on digitalization.

Futhermore, she published two books in Brazil: Antropologia da Educação: levantamento, análise e reflexão no Brasil [Anthropology of Education: survey, analysis and reflection in Brazil] (2017) and  A Educação para as relações étnico-raciais [The Education for ethnic-racial relations] (2012), and papers on Education fundamentals, Bildung, Anthropology of Education, Body, Anthropocene, Digital Media, Qualitative Method, Human Rights.

Since 2015 she has cooperation with Freie Universität Berlin researching themes as education, diversity, cultural learning, body,  mimesis, globality, and anthropocene. Moreover, she translated recently the book Bildung als Wissen vom Menschen im Antropozän (Christoph Wulf – FU Berlin), and it was published in Portuguese in Brazil. She is also member of DGfE and Gesellschaft für Historische Anthropologie (FU Berlin).

Her aims as a researcher consist of developing the scientific, epistemological, theoretical and methodical interest in areas as Science Educational fundamentals and Bildung and Education Theoretical, Educational Anthropology, Eudaimogenese and Well-Being, Dimension Planetary, and Digital Transformation in Anthropocene.

Project title:

The prediction and change of the L-PBF processing parameters based on the aluminium alloys powder characteristic change during recycling.

Cooperation partner:

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Matthias Ziegenhorn, Chair of Engineering mechanics and machine dynamics, Faculty 3

Project description: 

One of the benefits of using Additive Manufacturing (AM) technologies, especially those based on metal powders, is material savings. Material that is not melted in one process can be used successfully in subsequent processes. However, a change in the characteristics of a powder material in its lifetime due to its reuse, especially fraction distribution, oxidation, or surface morphology, can change the properties of processed material and final part.

It is important to be aware of the condition of the powder material and, if necessary, to tune the processing parameter values to maintain the resulting material properties unchanged. The aim of the project is to create a prediction algorithm for resulting properties of the material processed in Laser-Powder Bed Fusion (L-PBF), based on the evaluation characteristics of the aluminium powder after consecutive processes where it was used. Based on the obtained dataset, instructions for the change of processing parameters would be defined to obtain qualitatively unchanged material after the AM process. The results of the proposed research will be published in a joint publication (BTU – WUST) in an internationally accomplished research journal (with IF).

Short bio:

Andrzej Pawlak finished his Master’s Degree in Management and Manufacturing Engineering at the Wroclaw University of Science and Technology. His Master thesis was related to process optimization of the Additive Manufacturing (AM) parts from titanium alloy. After graduation he starts work at project group where he further optimised the process for manufacturing titanium scaffolds for Tissue Engineering Products. The application of AM methods in biomedical applications and related possibilities, especially the design of freedom and possibilities to tune material properties by applying different processing conditions (energy input required to melt the powder), inspired him to carry out Ph.D. studies under “Interdisciplinary doctoral studies ‘Mechanical Engineering and Automatization” programme and work on the topic “Application of Selective Laser Melting Technology for the Processing of Magnesium Alloys”. This topic was very challenging, because when he started to study processing very reactive materials like magnesium powders in L-PBF techniques only a few research papers published worldwide were available, and only one University in Europe was also working on this material group. During his PhD studies period, he was also involved in other research projects realized in his Department: Centre for Advanced Manufacturing Technologies, where he experienced a lot of processing and investigating different materials in various AM processes. After his Ph.D., he became a leader of a project group involved in the international consortium in the research project ‘AM-Crash - Additive Manufacturing Technologies for Crash loaded structural Components’.

Project title:

Influence of the aluminium alloys powder reuse on the quality and mechanical properties of L-PBF-ed samples

Cooperation partner:

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Matthias Ziegenhorn, Chair of Engineering mechanics and machine dynamics, Faculty 3

Project description: 

Additive Manufacturing (AM) has gained more popularity and implementation in different industries. Some AM categories (ISO/ASTM 52907:2019), such as powder bed fusion (PBF): including laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) and electron beam melting (EBM) methods, find wide application in the aerospace, medicine and automotive industry. AM technologies became a lead candidate for sustainable manufacturing (Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production according to UN goals of sustainable development) due to their unique benefits, i.e. shape freedom, reduction of production costs and the possibility to reuse or decrease using raw materials.

However, one of the challenges before the full implementation of the PBF-technologies is repeatability (in terms of sample quality and properties). The process parameters and the quality of input material should be set up to ensure the quality of the final product. The powder as an input material in PBF technologies has a noticeable impact on result. At the same time, the genesis of AM considers that after-process powder can be successfully reintroduced to the following processes. However, aluminium alloys are highly reactive and often show a high level of degradation. Therefore, it is critical to understand the degradation process and its influence on the quality of the samples. Creating the roadmap of powder qualification of different alloys for an LPBF process is one of the current challenges in metal AM.

The research project aims to evaluate the influence of aluminium alloy powder reuse on the mechanical and structural properties of LPBFed samples. The powder will be reused in subsequent processes without adding (recycling/rejuvenation step) virgin powder, just sieving to eliminate the scrap.

Short bio:

Dr.-Eng. Irina Smolina was born in Sievierodonetsk – a small town with a chemical plant in eastern Ukraine. She always has been interested in technology, learning about new people and cultures. Therefore, in 2004 Irina went to the National Technical University of Ukraine “Kyiv Polytechnic Institute” (KPI) to study material science. She was keen to know what materials looked like and what are they hidden inside. During her studies, she actively participated in student organisations. She co-organised an international Summer School “Achievements and applications of contemporary informatics, mathematics and physics” (AACIMP). It was a unique and precious experience that boosted her curiosity about life and the world.

Then, in 2012, Irina Smolina joined for a 4-month internship at the Wroclaw University of Science and Technology (WUST). For the first time, she saw the 3D printing technology from both sides – hobbyists (makers) and, more importantly, industry. Witnessing the miracle of layer-by-layer technology, Irina understood that it would be a perfect match for exploring the behaviour of materials and transferring those results and understandings into practical applications. Therefore, in 2013 under the supervision of prof. Edward Chlebus and co-supervision of dr hab. eng. Tomasz Kurzynowski, Irina started work on PhD thesis titled “Selective Laser Melting (SLM) for processing CoCrMo alloy modified with rhenium” (2017). Since October 2017, Irina is adjunct at WUST and try to develop AM technology and make it more reliable and accessible for industry applications.

Now Dr.-Eng. Irina Smolina faced a new challenge – developing and analysing the behaviour of aluminium alloys in L-PBF technology. The part of this research she realises in BTU, and the other part is her research project AddAluMat in WUST.

Project title:

CO2-rich residues valorisation using hydrophobic biochar supported catalysts

Cooperation partner:

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Arellano-García, Chair of Process and Plant Technology, Faculty 3

Project description: 

Syngas, a mixture of CO and H2, is used to produce a great variety of chemicals and fuels. In addition, it is obtained by reverse water gas shift (RWGS) reaction from CO₂-rich feedstock´s. The project focus on developing a catalytic reactor suitable for syngas production through the valorization of CO₂-rich feedstock’s containing fractions CO and CH₄ species as impurities. Therefore, we propose the design of advanced catalytic systems capable of converting the CO₂/CO/CH₄ mixtures into syngas feedstock’s. For that purpose, the RWGS reaction will be considered as the central reaction. Being generally present in CO₂-rich waste streams, the consideration of side reactions involving CO/CH₄ species represent a central focus of this project. Therefore, a multifunctional Cu supported biochar catalyst active in RWGS reaction will be adequately functionalized by incorporating active sites for Dry Reforming of Methane and extra resilience against cooking deposits. Very importantly, the impact of hydrophobic carbon surfaces towards the minimization of undesired forward Water Gas Shift reactions will be also intensively addressed. Once the catalytic system is developed, characterized and evaluated regarding activity and stability, a kinetic model based in Langmuir-Hinshelwood mechanisms will be developed for ideal and realistic conditions. The development of the kinetic equation will therefore consider the influence of the different species present in real CO₂ wastes on the reaction kinetic and therefore the catalyst performance. The obtained outcomes should provide the necessary platform towards the design of catalytic reactors units with advanced implementation potentialities within the transitioning towards low carbon models.

Short bio:

Pilar Tarifa finished her High Degree in Chemical Engineering at the University of Zaragoza. In her early years as a research, her final project was related with renewable hydrogen production from a fraction of bio-oil. After that, she holds a PhD in Chemical and Environmental Engineering with the thesis title “Ni catalysts supported on biomorphic carbon for CO₂ hydrogenation” where she fascinated the huge possibilities derived from the use of CO₂ as starting compound. In that period, she also worked at the University of Bolonia on steam reforming of biogas to syngas production, a precursor of valuable chemicals and fuels. After PhD, she went on natural gas synthesis for a year as a Junior Collaborating Doctor unravelling kinetic mechanism of CO₂ hydrogenation. This reaction is accompanied by reverse water gas shift (RWGS) reaction obtaining CO as by-product. Therefore, she decided moved on Cottbus and work at the research group heterogeneous catalysis in energy applications of BTU as a Postdoctoral student to study this reaction more deeply. The wide experience of this group along with the innovative and captivating research project constitute a great opportunity. In addition, the international environment and very dynamic group complete a perfect life experience.