University of Melbourne and TU Braunschweig to collaborate more closely Memorandum of Understanding signed today
The Technische Universität Braunschweig (TU Braunschweig) and the University of Melbourne plan to intensify their cooperation in research and teaching. This was officially recorded in a Memorandum of Understanding signed today in Melbourne by the President of TU Braunschweig, Angela Ittel, and Professor Mark Cassidy of the University of Melbourne. In this document, both universities commit to further strengthening and deepening the academic exchange of students and researchers.
Since 2020, the two universities have been actively collaborating in the areas of sustainable production and environmental assessment of battery material value chains, as well as the application of scale-resolution simulation techniques to the study of flows in aircraft engines and fluid machines. These collaborations have already resulted in successful projects with funding from both countries, such as the SUSTRAB project, which was submitted in collaboration with the Australian research organisation FBRIC and funded by the BMBF. This project is coordinated by the Institute for Machine Tools and Manufacturing Technologies (IWF) and makes a significant contribution to the holistic understanding of the battery life cycle in terms of the circular economy. In addition, the EU Horizon project Sci-Fi-Turbo, in which the Institute of JetPropulsion and Turbomachinery and the University of Melbourne are working with other European partners on new design processes for turbomachinery, was recently successfully applied for. The Memorandum of Understanding, which has now been signed, will further develop this successful partnership to promote student and academic exchanges.
“Expanding our global network with like-minded, research-intensive universities is an important part of our university development. By deepening our partnerships with Australian universities such as the University of Melbourne and the intensive collaboration of our researchers, we can make an important contribution to the development of future technologies,” says TU Braunschweig President Angela Ittel.
The University of Melbourne is one of Australia’s oldest educational institutions and is internationally recognised for its excellent academic reputation and research excellence. TU Braunschweig is also one of the oldest technical universities in Germany and a member of the TU9 association of leading technical universities in Germany. The collaboration between the two universities combines the expertise and experience of two world-class research partners and provides opportunities for students and researchers to engage in fruitful academic exchange and collaborative research.
Professor Mark Cassidy, Dean Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology (FEIT) stated he was pleased to see the established research relationship between our institutions being elevated to the next level through the signing of the MOU: “My colleagues in FEIT look forward to discussing with their collaborators at TU Braunschweig how we can build on the existing initiatives, to include further research groups and Schools, create additional funded staff mobility platforms and to expand student exchange platforms to suit our respective Master programs”.
Dr Wen Li is the academic lead for our partnership at the University of Melbourne. Wen spent six months at TU Braunschweig during strategic collaboration during which the established collaboration with Prof. Dr.-Ing Christoph Herrmann and Dr. Felipe Cerdas in sustainable manufacturing and life cycle engineering commenced. He is particularly excited that the MoU will help boost research on sustainable battery value chains and extend the partnership to other FEIT departments. It already includes further colleagues in Wen’s School – Professor Richard Sandberg at FEIT and Professor Jens Friedrichs and Dr Christoph Bode at TU Braunschweig have launched an active cooperation on computational compressor flow simulation.
Dr Christoph Bode from the Institute of Jet Propulsion and Turbomachinery (IFAS) comments: “Scale-resolution simulation techniques are an essential building block in the development of sustainable and future jet propulsion and turbomachinery. We are therefore very pleased to be working closely with Prof. Richard Sandberg, a world-renowned expert in this field”. Prof. Dr.-Ing. Christoph Hermann, Head of the Institute for Machine Tools and Manufacturing Technology (IWF), adds: “More than ever, global challenges need to be tackled through international cooperation. The universities’ complementary expertise, for example in the production of batteries in Germany and the extraction and processing of raw materials in Australia, means that they complement each other excellently in their research”. The partnership with the University of Melbourne will now be extended to other areas of research. In addition to student and researcher exchanges, there are plans to apply for further research and mobility projects.
The MoU was signed on the sidelines of a trip to Australia by a German TU9 Alliance delegation.
More information:
www.tu-braunschweig.de
www.unimelb.edu.au/