Third place in the Hamburg Aviation Young Talent Awards 2023 for ProMat alumnus Jan Yorrick Dietrich

Another great success for a former ProMat masters student!

Jan Yorrick Dietrich from the Master's programme Process-orientied Materials Research has been awarded 3rd place in the Hamburg Aviation Young Talent Awards 2023for his Master's thesis "Ultrasonic welding of thermoplastic composites: Explicit dynamic analysis of heating mechanisms".  We congratulate our ProMat alumnus and use the opportunity to talk to him about his award:

Dear Jan, congratulations on winning 3rd place in the Hamburg Aviation Young Talent Awards 2023! What was the subject of your thesis for which you earned this distinction?

In my work, I dealt with the ultrasonic welding of thermoplastic fibre composites. In aviation, the aim is always to be as light as possible, because most of an aircraft's emissions are produced during the use phase, and the heavier such an aircraft is, the higher the emissions. One group of materials that is both particularly light and particularly strong and rigid are fibre-reinforced materials, above all carbon fibre-reinforced plastics (CFRP) - often referred to as "carbon" in the German vernacular. New aircraft generations already consist of more than 50% of this material, but the materials currently used also have some problems: among other things, they usually have to be joined with special rivets made of titanium, which is both expensive, takes a lot of time, adds weight to the aircraft and is not really compatible with today's production rate requirements. One of the more promising solutions to this problem is thermoplastic fibre reinforced composites, a new form of "carbon", which have the advantage that they can be welded similarly to metals. This potentially saves weight, reduces production times and costs, and makes it possible to meet tomorrow's rate requirements by eliminating the need for rivets. One of the promising technologies for this approach is ultrasonic welding, which heats the CFRP locally and thus enables welding. In my work, I created a mathematical model, a so-called explicit finite element simulation, which models the various physical effects in the material and the process and calculates the heating in the welding process based on high-speed camera footage.

What role did the ProMat master's programme take, e.g., in finding your research question and to realise your research project?

Thanks to ProMat, I got to know my mentor, Prof. Axel S. Herrmann. Through his first-class network in industry-related aerospace research, I was able to do my Master's thesis at the Composite Technology Center, an Airbus subsidiary. I talked to my mentor about my interests at an early stage, and since I had been interested in welding plastics for years, it made sense to me at some point to combine all my interests - welding plastics, simulation and fibre composites. Through my personal mentor in ProMat and his network, I was given the opportunity to prove myself – my individual curriculum in ProMat was the basis for this. For example, I dealt with the mechanics of fibre composites, thermodynamics and macroscopic modelling (the numerics of partial differential equations) during my studies - all topics that helped me a lot when working on my Master's thesis.

And what are your professional and academic goals now that you have successfully completed your Master's degree?

I received a job offer as a research assistant early on and gratefully accepted it after completing my Master's thesis. I have already worked as a student assistant at the Faserinstitut Bremen and am now doing full-time research on exciting aerospace topics - including the welding of thermoplastic CFRP with the aim of gaining a doctorate.

What recommendations do you have for young people who are interested in the ProMat programme, or for new students starting the programme?

ProMat is really something special - in a way, I ventured a lateral entry, as I had previously studied Industrial & Business Systems (international study program of industrial engineering) and had little contact with the natural sciences. During my bachelor's thesis, I realised how much I enjoy scientific work and how much I am fascinated by one topic: Fibre composites. At that time, I was looking for a suitable degree programme and ProMat had the perfect all-round package for me: a personal mentor who opens the door to science, tailor-made content (curated by the mentor) as well as interdisciplinary work, and last but not least, without having to have a bachelor's degree in materials science. It was just the right thing for me, and I can only recommend anyone and everyone to get more information about ProMat if they are interested in research around materials, materials or their processes! There are not many study programmes that allow such a targeted and interdisciplinary view of a specific research field.

And finally, what are you planning to do with the prize money? Will you treat yourself to something nice?

That's a good question - a little something for me, a little something for my loved ones, maybe a party, I'm sure I'll come up with something....

Thank you very much for your answers. We from the ProMat study programme wish you continued success in achieving your goals and plans!