Frini Luise Leufer was awarded first prize for her bachelor’s thesis “Development of a connector for the transmission of digital signals in medical technology”. In fact, there is currently no connector technology for the transmission of digital signals that fully meets the standard for medical electrical devices ICE 60601-1 (including disinfectability, handling with one hand, electrical safety, usability). Comparable connectors for medical technology are currently not available; all connectors currently used work with special approvals. That could now change: in your bachelor’s thesis in your course Mechanical engineeringwhich she writes at Drägerwerk AG and through Prof. Dr. Nils Kohlhase, Frini Luise Leufer developed two functional prototypes: a reusable connector and a disposable product.
The Possehl Prize is endowed with €5,000. A second prize of €3,000 and a third prize of €2,000 will also be awarded. In addition to the written work, a five-minute short presentation will also be included in the evaluation. “The graduates conveyed their complex scientific topics to a non-specialist audience in a very interesting and clear way, which was a lot of fun!” said Max Schön, chairman of the Possehl Foundation. “We would also like to encourage all other young people to find training that suits them and inspires them.
At the same time, we also think it is important to get involved and get involved beyond your job, because we need courageous and self-effective young people today more than ever to keep our society together.”
Use smartphone for eye examination
Marvin Feddersen’s bachelor’s thesis “Autofocus smartphone-based, non-mydriatic fundus camera without infrared lighting” by Marvin Feddersen was awarded the second prize. The work was carried out as part of the course of study Biomedical engineering in the Medical optics laboratories with Professor Dr. Mathias Beyerlein carried out. The vision: To enable inexpensive and uncomplicated early detection of eye diseases using smartphones. Feddersen developed a smartphone-based fundus camera that is easy to use and does not require the use of mydriatics (pupillary dilating agents). This new technology allows images to be taken easily with a standard smartphone and will therefore also be interesting in the future for follow-up care at home or for screenings completely without specialist staff in medically underserved areas.
Which surfaces provide little support for germs?
The third prize was awarded to Franziska Sophia Waide for her work “Optimization of a method of reproducible quantitative transfer of bacteria to identify antimicrobial surfaces and test the contaminability of selected surfaces”. The bachelor’s thesis was carried out as part of the course of study Applied Chemistry made, supervisors were Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Dagmar Willkomm from TH Lübeck and Dipl. Ing. Hendryk Schnaars from Drägerwerk AH & Co.KGaA. The transmission of infectious agents via contaminated surfaces contributes significantly to infection transmission, particularly in hospitals. Up to 20,000 deaths every year in Germany are caused by hospital germs. But how can you test which materials reduce the risk of infection? In her bachelor’s thesis, Franziska Waide revised a novel transfer method that tests the transfer of bacteria to surfaces. This will now make it easier to select anti-adhesive surfaces for medical devices in the future, so that contact transmission of bacteria in hospitals is kept as low as possible.
The audience was enthusiastic about the application-oriented research
All five students thrilled the audience that evening with insights into application-oriented research. “What have we learned this evening!” enthused the chairman of the jury, Prof. Dr. Manfred Rößle. “Electrical connectors are much more than just two plastic things pushed together. With a smartphone you can not only take selfies, but you can also look deeply into your eyes. Listening and understanding can be seen in the eyes. Smart fiber composite materials make life easier. And as nasty as hospital germs are, we find them!”
Muriel Helbig, President of TH Lübeck, summed up the mood of the evening: “At the moment there is so much political upheaval, so much uncertainty and worry – but today we experienced an optimistic evening. An evening in which we got to know young academics and their work and who showed us how clever thoughts are created here on site and how good ideas are worked on. Forward-looking and practical.”
Also nominated for the Possehl Engineering Prize 2024 were:
Jessica Herrmann, degree program Hearing acoustics and audiological technology: Influence of noise reduction in hearing aids on listening effort investigated using pupillometry in comparison to speech intelligibility” (master’s thesis), in collaboration with the company Oticon A/S in Smørum, Denmark, nominated by Prof. Dr. rer. nat Dipl Phys. Tim Jürgens.
Paul Christian Sager, course Mechanical Engineering: Development and optimization of a ply and path generation solution for manufacturing small 3D lightweight components using automated fiber placement”, master’s thesis in collaboration with the company Composite Technology Center GmbH (CTC GmbH), nominated by Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Ahmad Zeinolebadi.
Background: About the Possehl Engineering Prize
Since 1983, the Possehl Engineering Prize has honored outstanding work by graduates of the Lübeck University of Technology once a year. Since the first awards ceremony, over 100 prizes have been awarded. The Possehl Engineering Prize illustrates the full diversity of teaching at the Lübeck University of Applied Sciences and its departments Electrical engineering and computer science, Applied Natural Sciences, Construction as well as Mechanical engineering and economics.