News

Launch of the DFG-funded project on the automated conversion of aesthetically and technically functional design geometries from topology optimization results in November 2025. Topology optimization is an established method in lightweight design that enables the systematic determination of mechan...

Computer-Aided Tolerancing software has become the standard for statistically analyzing the effects of geometrical part variations on product quality. The consideration of physical product behavior requires the solution of differential equations, conducted numerically using Finite Element Analysis ...

As a consequence of the development of energy-efficient and sustainable technical products, reducing friction losses and preventing wear in lubricated contacts of machine elements has become extremely important. Oil is often used as a lubricant to separate the contact surfaces in these tribological...

Christopher Platis joined the Machine Elements and Tribology team as a research assistant at the beginning of October. He previously studied mechanical engineering at Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, specialising in engineering design, advanced mechanics and production metrology. ...

In the now completed research project “LightConstruct,” a methodology for multi-material topology optimization (MMTO) was developed at Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg in collaboration with partners PH-Mechanik GmbH & Co. KG and Wilhelm-Plastic GmbH & Co. KG. The goal was t...

Tim Ruf joined the Lightweight Design Group as a research assistant at the beginning of November. He previously studied mechanical engineering at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg. In his master's thesis at KTmfk, he developed methods for quantifying subjective design characteristic...

Conventional tolerance management aims to limit variations of components to a degree that guarantees the function of the product. Frequently, aspects such as manufacturability, assemblability, and influences of operation are not taken into account. As a result, variations that lead to assembly prob...

The consideration of variations and their functional restriction during the design of a product is an important task of tolerance management. Endless-fiber reinforced plastics (FRP), which are increasingly used due to their high lightweight potential, increase the complexity of this task due to the...

The Chair of Design Engineering congratulates Dr. David Scherb on passing his doctoral examination with flying colors. In his dissertation, Mr. Scherb addressed the topic of “Simulative design of wearable support systems using musculoskeletal human models, using the example of an ankle orthosis.” I...

Following the invitation of Prof. Zimmermann, Head of the Laboratory for Product Development and Lightweight Design, the WiGeP Assistants Meeting took place in Munich on October 23-24, 2025. Researchers from across Germany, including Simon Schleifer from the Chair of Engineering Design (KTmfk), gat...

On October 7, the CADFEM Conference 2025 took place in Künzelsau. The focus of this application-oriented conference was on simulation and digital methods in engineering, particularly in the areas of structural mechanics, AI, automation, process integration, and design optimization. The KTmfk partic...

We congratulate PD Dr.-Ing. habil. Jörg Miehling on successfully completing his habilitation in the field of "User-Centered Design" and on being granted the teaching authorization. His research, titled “Integration of Simulation Models and Sensor Data into Human-Centered Engineering”, focused on li...

The KTmfk – Chair of Design Engineering at FAU Erlangen-Nuremberg received two awards at the 2025 fall conference of the Scientific Society for Product Development (WiGeP) at Chemnitz University of Technology. Dr. Benedict Rothammer received the Pahl-Beitz Prize for his dissertation “Amorphous carb...

The Chair of Design Engineering congratulates Dr. Christopher Sauer on passing his doctoral examination with very good results. In his dissertation, Mr. Sauer addressed the topic of ‘The use of machine learning for data-driven synthesis and analysis of product properties in the context of linked pr...

The 24th International Conference on Composite Materials (ICCM24) took place at the University of Delaware from August 4 to 8. The conference not only provided an excellent platform for professional exchange on current developments in the field of composite materials, but was also a special celebra...

The Institute of Engineering Design congratulates Ms. Julia Kröner on successfully passing her doctoral examination with the distinction “very good.” In her dissertation, titled “Green Bearings – Service Life Calculation of Dry-Running, PVD-Coated Deep Groove Ball Bearings,” Ms. Kröner impressively...

On September 23, 2025, the KTmfk – Institute of Engineering Design at FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg – hosted its annual summer festival. In a relaxed atmosphere, staff members from all research groups took the opportunity to engage in personal exchange and networking. A special highlight was the warm welcom...

The complexity of multi-criteria decision-making in product development arises from numerous interactions between requirements, product and process data, as well as relevant standards. Heterogeneous data complicate the consistent evaluation of alternatives and their integration into seamless, comput...

The International Conference on Engineering Design (ICED), the flagship conference of the Design Society, took place in Dallas this year with over 400 participants. The Chair of Engineering Design KTmfk was represented with eight exciting presentations on various topics and was able to leave a lasti...

With the 36th DfX Symposium, the Chair of Design Engineering has two days of exciting discussions, inspiring contributions, and intensive exchange behind. The program was framed by keynotes from representatives of Airbus and Lufthansa Technik, as well as an evening event with a sunset boat trip fol...

From September 8 to 12, this year’s “Girls and Technology” workshop for students in grades 7 to 12 took place at Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg. Under the theme “Machine & Human,” Gwen Spelly and Jessica Pickel (KTmfk) gave participants fascinating insights into how gears and t...

Madeleine Helmer joined the Dimensional Management research group as a research assistant since the beginning of August. She previously studied Mechanical Engineering at Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg. In her master's thesis at KTmfk, she focused on the development of a modular ca...

From July 26 to 31, the 35th International Symposium of the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) took place in Ottawa, Canada. The International Symposium (IS) is the largest international conference on systems engineering and combines research, industrial application, and teaching....

High-quality manufactured products are not only a key customer requirement but also a decisive factor for economic success in international competition. This is especially for delicate high-precision products. Since manufacturing operates at the limits of technological feasibility, tolerance allocat...

The KTmfk was represented at the 30th International Society of Biomechanics Congress in Stockholm. The ISB Congress is one of the most important international conferences in the field of biomechanics. Current research results in the simulation of postural control simulation and multimodal motion me...

Tobias Kirch joined the Digital Engineering research group as a research assistant in mid-July. He previously studied mechanical engineering at Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg. During his student work at KTmfk, he focused on designing a hybrid AR-based workstation for CAx and its i...

From June 25 to 27, the 27th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (HCII) took place in Gothenburg, Sweden. KTmfk contributed with a scientific paper at the affiliated 16th International Conference on Digital Human Modeling & Applications in Health, Safety, Ergonomics & Risk...

The development of complex products is characterized by ever-increasing requirement specifications. Use cases are often used to take these into account in a structured way during product development. Since their manual identification is very time-consuming, especially in large requirements specifica...

When generating an optimal design proposal, one of the main challenges is to maximize material efficiency and minimize stress concentrations while taking various boundary conditions and loads into account. In this context computer-aided algorithms are increasingly being used in terms of structural o...

A new interactive touchscreen now welcomes all visitors to our main site in Martensstraße – offering quick and direct access to the latest updates from the chair. Whether it’s news, upcoming events, or newly posted thesis topics – all it takes is a tap. The system was created as part of a Bachelor's...