05.05.2014 – University research meets industrial development

Exhaust technology specialist Boysen holds second doctoral candidates' event / 24 young academics present their projects

 

Altensteig. The second doctoral candidates' event held by the exhaust technology specialist Boysen in Altensteig was all about building bridges between university and industrial research. A total of 24 young academics from four universities, all accompanied by their supervising professors, presented the current status of their research projects, which are all supported by the Friedrich and Elisabeth Boysen Foundation.

 

The charitable foundation has been providing financial support for academic work in the field of environmental technology since 1996. There is a particular focus on projects that aim to reduce harmful emissions, noise and energy consumption. The projects currently supported are running at the University of Stuttgart, Aalen University of Applied Sciences, Dresden Technical University (TU) and the Karlsruhe Institute for Technology (KIT). Research topics include: "Hydrogen as an alternative energy source", "CO2 neutrality of energy systems" and "Thermo-electric systems for future drive concepts".

 

"We started with the intention to organise the doctoral candidates' event every two years. But the feedback and the huge interest generated by the initial event in 2013 quickly made it clear that we had created something that should be a regular and important annual date in the Foundation's calendar", says Stefanos Fasoulas, Professor at the Institute for Space Flight Systems at the University of Stuttgart, and Chairman of the Foundation board.

 

Dr. Jürgen Schmidt, Head of Development at Boysen and a member of the Foundation board summarised the core objectives: "We see the event as the perfect instrument for promoting networking and sharing of knowledge among those involved. The students also get an in-depth insight into day-to-day work on the industrial side - where academic ideas are put into practice. For some, it's like looking into their own future." The "desired building of bridges between university and industrial research" was the overriding theme of Boysen CEO Rolf Geisel's speech.

 

Electric and hybrid cars that run almost silently are a great example of this bridge building. While it means increased comfort for passengers and a reduction in general traffic noise, it is simultaneously a potential source of danger for pedestrians and cyclists. To prevent accidents, numerous traffic experts are calling for vehicles of this type to be fitted with an acoustic warning signal, something that is already a legal requirement in Japan. "We developed the appropriate system and are ready to move to series production", says Geisel, referring to Boysen Active Sound Modelling (BASM), which has "a special speaker that can create the desired vehicle sound by generating additional sound".

 

KIT doctoral candidate Frank Hartmann is researching a different approach to the same issue. He wants to use ultrasonic transmitters that will audibly warn only those people who could actually be in danger. The possible scenario: People sitting outside a street café will continue to hear nothing when an electric vehicle approaches, unlike a pedestrian who is standing on the pavement. The vehicle will transmit a targeted warning sound to them.

 

"This research work deserves huge respect, which is why it is being supported by the Foundation. If Mr Hartmann can achieve his objective, it will be a major milestone, but he needs some time yet to get to that stage", explained CEO Geisel. He added: "With car manufacturers' increasingly short model cycles and increasingly small time windows for development, we don't have the luxury of this time in our day-to-day business. Therefore, for us concentrating on small advances is often more effective than the vision of a great leap forwards."

 

The doctoral candidates and their supervising professors got a further insight into industrial practice on a tour of the testing facilities in the Boysen development centre and on a visit to subsidiary Boysen Abgaskomponenten (BAK) in Simmersfeld. At BAK, the academics found out about the processes involved in just-in-sequence production of complete exhaust systems for the Mercedes Benz E Class. Rolf Geisel highlighted that, even after successful research and development work, there are still plenty of hurdles to be overcome to bring an innovation to series production and get it to the customer's assembly line at the right time.
 

 

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The Boysen Group develops and produces manifolds, diesel particulate filters, silencers, trims and complete exhaust systems for cars, commercial vehicles and off-highway applications. In addition to its three main customers Audi, BMW and Daimler, the exhaust technology specialist works for the German car manufacturers Volkswagen and Porsche, the British manufacturers Bentley and Rolls Royce, the commercial vehicle manufacturers MAN and Daimler, and for Krauss Mafffei, mtu, Voith and others in the off-highway sector.

 

The Boysen Group currently employs around 2,200 people at 17 domestic and international sites. In addition to the development sites in Altensteig and Nagold, Boysen has production sites in Altensteig, Simmersfeld, Salching, Ingolstadt, Plauen and Achim, and also in France, Egypt, India, China and the USA.

 

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In case of any queries, please contact:

Christian Grimm
Marketing Team Leader
BIN Boysen Innovationszentrum Nagold GmbH & Co. KG
Lise-Meitner-Straße 21
72202 Nagold
Tel. 07452/83988-20
Fax 07452/83988-99
E-mail christian.grimm(at)bin.boysen-online.de

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Boysen has 5300 employees worldwide

The Boysen Group's turnover has risen to
3.36 billion Euro

Since 2024 the Boysen Group operates at
28 locations worldwide