With the 'Digitalization in Mechanical Engineering' prize for young talent, the VDMA is honouring outstanding theses by engineering and computer science graduates as part of its Maschinenhaus initiative. "When universities and industrial companies work closely together on digitalization, it's a win-win situation for both sides," says Dr Jörg Friedrich, Head of the VDMA's Education Department. "The training at universities will thus have more practical relevance. The junior staff learn how to deal with specific tasks from the world of work at an early stage and can directly apply the methods and specialist knowledge they have acquired. "This is why we at VDMA Education support the Young Talent Award with our Maschinenhaus initiative," adds Friedrich.

The students were nominated for the VDMA Young Talent Award by professors at German universities. A total of 31 graduates from 20 universities in Germany stood for election with their final theses from Bachelor's and Master's degree courses. Under the direction of Karl Friedrich Schmidt, the jury selected the following winners for the 2019 Young Talent Award:

Christian Hemming from Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences

Christian Hemming, a student of electrical engineering and information technology with a specialization in mechanical engineering and plastics technology at Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences, was awarded first prize for the best master's thesis. He worked on the creation of a concept for a generic application (app) as a B2B service in the IIoT sector in Prof. Bernhard May's Automation and Drive Technology department. In this context, Hemming developed a new generic model for determining overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) at the company Adamos in Darmstadt, which can be used in many different areas, both in discrete and continuous production.

Oliver Tosta from Bochum University of Applied Sciences

Oliver Tosta, a student of mechatronics and mechanical engineering at Bochum University of Applied Sciences, received the special prize in the master's thesis category. As part of his master's thesis, which he wrote at Prof. Jens Feldermann's Institute for CAD/CAE, he implemented the automation of the design process for carrier and accumulating chain conveyors at the company Automatisierungs- und Fördertechnik from Schopfheim using a product configurator. In the course of this, Tosta developed a set of rules that enables solutions to be found in a matter of seconds, taking all boundary conditions into account. The configurator is not limited to use in the design department, but can be used across departments in the future to optimize the entire order cycle and gain a decisive competitive advantage.

Dominik Weppert from the Würzburg-Schweinfurt University of Applied Sciences

Dominik Weppert, mechanical engineering student at the Würzburg-Schweinfurt University of Applied Sciences, was awarded first prize for the best bachelor's thesis. His thesis was supervised by Prof. Christoph Bunsen from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering. In his thesis, he dealt with the development of augmented reality assembly instructions for the assembly of a model pick-up truck. For the implementation, a useful assembly support was derived in the form of an animated demonstration mode. The developed application offers the assembler the opportunity to keep his eyes and hands on the assembly workstation at all times without having to turn his attention away from it.

Tim Eric Kurz from Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences

Tim Eric Kurz, mechatronics student at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Mechatronics at Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences, received the special prize in the bachelor thesis category. His bachelor's thesis, written under Prof. Fahmi Bellalouna, deals with the application of virtual reality (VR) in the context of digital transformation. Together with the company Rosenbauer Karlsruhe, he developed a VR-based training application for a fire engine turntable ladder. The prizewinner also created and implemented a VR-based simulator for a suction excavator with the company MTS Mobile Tiefbau Saugsysteme from Germersheim in order to provide machine operators with practical and efficient training.