Everything about Engineering Sciences

Tradition and experience play an important role in viticulture, especially for small wineries. But even tried-and-tested methods sometimes reach their limits – for example, when yeast fails to perform as expected during fermentation. A young research team is now working with winegrowers in the Southern Palatinate to develop a simple process that makes yeast use more reliable.

Yoghurt, pharmaceuticals, specialty coatings: many products are manufactured in multi-stage, finely tuned steps known as batch processes. These are sensitive operations: poor timing can ruin an entire batch. A research team is developing new concepts to help manufacturers rethink these traditionally rigid workflows. The reason? Electricity from renewable sources comes with fluctuating availability and prices, demanding greater flexibility from industrial production.

The civil engineer Henning Knerr is refining technologies for wastewater treatment plants that can remove environmentally hazardous synthetic substances – such as painkillers or X-ray contrast agents – from sewage.

Fabian Jirasek uses artificial intelligence to predict the properties of pure substances and mixtures. The goal is to help the industry develop new active ingredients and chemicals more sustainably in the future.