News

On 10/02/2024, a scavenger hunt organized by the ING took place for the 11th grade of the WWG on the university campus. The task was to “hunt” from station to station or workshop to workshop. Despite the rain and the unfamiliar university environment, the brave WWG participants mastered the task brilliantly.

The students were given theoretical and practical impressions of the scientific topics and content of the individual chairs of the ING faculty. One workshop also took place at the Chair of Ceramic Materials Engineering. There, several groups of five students, some of whom joined by teaching staff, met in the hall of the kiln technology. At the center for high temperature process technology, there was the opportunity to learn special features about ceramics with applications far beyond sanitary ceramics and the obligatory coffee cup. Among other things, the participants learned that ceramics are essential for the aerospace industry. On the one hand, ceramics protect spacecraft from temperatures > 1500 °C on re-entry into the atmosphere. On the other hand, they help to reduce emissions in airplanes, as they are very light (1/3 of the metals otherwise used) and therefore consume considerably less fuel. Lightweight construction is also in demand in automotive engineering, where the ceramic brake disk can fully exploit its weight advantage and higher temperature resistance compared to its metallic counterpart. The fact that ceramics can also be thinner, like a hair, and yet extremely strong was demonstrated using ceramic electrolysis membranes made of ZrO₂, which make an important contribution to H₂ production and thus to the energy transition. The pupils were able to experience the special materials and their properties up close and hands-on in small experiments. In a relaxed atmosphere, there were heated discussions and we hope that the clear interest of the participants in materials science has perhaps also awakened the desire to study in Bayreuth.