Chemnitz Innovation Makes a “Best of 2018” List
A fully electric 3-D printing motor impressed the editors of the journal “Konstruktionpraxis” and the readers of the “Materials & Design” section
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In the laboratory, Johannes Rudolph watches over the 3-D multi-material printing of an electric machine in which copper, ceramic, and iron are simultaneously used in a single printing process. Photo: Jacob Müller
Last year, electrical engineers from Chemnitz University of Technology produced the world’s first 3-D printed electric motor made from iron, copper and ceramic, and presented it for the first time at the Hannover Messe. This innovation so inspired the editors of the journal “Konstruktionspraxis”, that they published an article on the Chemnitz development in their end-of-the-year special issue, titled “Best of 2018”. This special issue includes a collection of the most interesting articles and product news, the most surprising results from research and development, and the most noteworthy pictures in the field from the year 2018. The 3-D printed electric motor from Chemnitz reached the “Top 12” for the year. It is also among the top 10 most clicked articles from the category “Materials & Design”.
Johannes Rudolph, one of the developers of this project and a Research Assistant for the Professorship of Electrical Energy Conversion Systems and Drives at Chemnitz University, is pleased about these ratings. “The press release from Chemnitz University about our engine and the presentation of the 3-D multi-material printing process in Hannover brought a lot of media coverage – numerous daily newspapers, trade media, online services, radio and TV stations picked up the topic,” recalls the researcher. As a result, the professorship greeted an extremely high number of visitors at the fair in Hanover, and these visitors were particularly interested in the potentially high operating temperatures of printed winding structures or motors. “Numerous interested parties from science and industry also came to Chemnitz to get a concrete picture of the printing process in the labs of our professorship,” adds co-developer Fabian Lorenz, who is also employed as a member of the Professorship, which is led by Prof. Dr. Ralf Werner. This was followed by a discussion of collaborative projects – mainly with well-known automotive suppliers and companies from the European aerospace industry. An industrial research project began in autumn 2018. The Chemnitz researchers want to continue developing the process until it is ready to hit the market.
Homepage of the subject “3-D Multimedia Printing”: https://www.tu-chemnitz.de/etit/ema/AMMM/index.php
Further Information: Johannes Rudolph, Telephone +49 371 531-38938, E-mail johannes.rudolph@etit.tu-chemnitz.de; as well as Fabian Lorenz, Telephone +49 371 531-32482, E-mail fabian.lorenz@etit.tu-chemnitz.de.
(Translation: Jeffrey Karnitz)
Mario Steinebach
09.01.2019
