Die Heyn-Denkmünze ist die höchste Auszeichnung der DGM. Benannt nach dem ersten DGM-Vorsitzenden Emil Heyn, wird sie für jene Leistungen auf dem Gebiet der Materialwissenschaft und Werkstofftechnik verliehen, durch die wesentliche Fortschritte in wissenschaftlicher, technologischer oder wirtschaftlicher Hinsicht erzielt werden konnten. Wie mit den anderen von ihr verliehenen Preisen, will die DGM auch mit der Heyn-Denkmünze auf exzellente Entwicklungen im Fachgebiet aufmerksam machen. Durch die Heyn-Denkmünze kann insbesondere das Lebenswerk einer herausragenden Persönlichkeit gewürdigt werden. Nominierte sollten in der Regel persönliches DGM-Mitglied sein.

Die Heyn-Denkmünze wird in diesem Jahr an Prof. Dr. Klaus Jandt und Prof. Dr. Georg Pharr verliehen.

Prof. Klaus D. Jandt is an exceptional and internationally leading materials scientist, the incumbent Chair of Materials Science at Friedrich Schiller University Jena and a distinguished senior scientist, scholar, mentor, inventor and dedicated university teacher.

Prof. Jandt studied physics in Hamburg and received his Dr. rer. nat. in materials science for his work “Investigation of polymer-metal epitaxy in computer simulation and experiment” from Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH) under the guidance of Prof. Dr. J. Petermann.

Inspired by work in nanomaterials and nanocrystals, sustainability/ “green” materials, polymers and atomic force microscopy, Prof. Jandt developed an independent and highly innovative research program focusing on biomaterials, nanomaterials, and polymer composites. Prof. Jandt recognized earlier than others the connection between the materials structure and properties of biomaterials - such as biopolymers - from a materials science perspective.

As a doctoral researcher he was one of the pioneers in nano structural investigations of semicrystalline polymers with novel scanning probe microscopes. He introduced the first STM at the TUHH in Hamburg. He was one of the first to investigate the surface nanostructure of polymer-metal interfaces with AFM.

As a Humboldt-Feodor-Lynen fellow at Cornell University, NY, USA, he and his coworkers unraveled the nanostructure and the microstructural evolution of novel melt-intercalated polymer-organically-modified layered silicate nanocomposites using HRTEM methods. These materials have attracted great interest, both in industry and in academia because they often show remarkable improvement in material properties when compared with polymers or conventional micro-composites. Prof. Jandt’s papers have become standard works in this area and are frequently cited.

The pioneering concept for the use of the blue LED (light emitting diode) as a photo-polymerization device for oral biomaterials is attributed to Prof. Jandt and his coworkers. LED technology is significantly more efficient than the previous quartz tungsten halogen (QTH) curing lights, producing less heat and requiring less overall energy to power. This enables the use of battery-operated visible-light photopolymerization throughout both dental clinics and processing laboratories. It is impossible to overstate the importance of his discovery and its continued translation into the daily practice of dental materials technology that has led to a rapid and profound change in widely accepted paradigms. The details of this innovation and patents and their significance have been documented in “A Brief History of LED Photopolymerization”.

Jandt creatively built upon the original invention - of efficient blue light-emitting diodes, enabling bright and “green” energy-saving white light sources - for which the 2014 Nobel Prize in physics was awarded to I. Akasaki, H. Amano and S. Nakamura. A literature search in Web of Science shows that there have been more than 1000 published articles related to LED light curing over the past 20 years and Prof. Jandt remains its most prolific and most-cited researcher. This revolutionary technology for biomaterials represents a definitive example of successful translational research that is now used globally by millions of clinical practitioners every day. Jandt’s foundational LED work stimulated much subsequent research and inventions from others, including the multi-wave curing lights that have become so popular today. The world-renowned German Optical Museum presented Prof. Jandt’s first dental LED light-cure unit in a special exhibition.

Prof. Jandt’s groundbreaking contributions to the advance of biomaterials science are legendary. He is one of the first materials scientists to recognize the immense impact that materials surface nanostructures of titanium and semicrystalline polymers have on biomolecules and cells. Prof. Jandt and his team discovered that protein adsorption can be controlled by materials nanostructures and his work elucidated the physical mechanisms behind this, which in turn facilitates control of cellular reactions to materials. This established the foundation for future designs of more biocompatible materials and has major implications for materials / life-science interfaces beyond classic biomaterials. His work: Does the nanometer scale topography of titanium influence protein adsorption and cell proliferation? is among the most frequently cited papers in this research field.

For his trailblazing work How the surface nanostructure of polyethylene affects protein assembly and orientation, published in ACS Nano, he received the Thuringia Research Award 2011 for Applied Research. Together with his colleague Daniel Schwarz in Boulder, Colorado, he succeeded in imaging and understanding the microscopic dynamics of adsorbed fibrinogen on nanostructured polymer surfaces. In recent years, Prof. Jandt and his team designed and created groundbreaking hybrid protein nanofiber materials by molecular self-assembly. These are expected to be universal building blocks for an entirely new class of biomaterials with tailored properties.

Due to limited space, I can mention only briefly his further major contributions. These include novel polymer-CNT nanocomposites with an extremely high degree of CNT orientation, intelligent temperature responsive hydrogels for drug delivery and the introduction of nano layer-by-layer functionalization of titanium for promoting bone cell growth. Recently, Prof. Jandt developed a strong research program in the emerging area of antimicrobial biomaterials. According to Google Scholar Prof. Jandt is the second most cited researcher in this area worldwide.

Prof. Jandt is a PI in the DFG Collaborative Research Center 1278 PolyTarget, where he develops new polymer nanoparticles as drug carriers for fighting inflammation. He is the founder and chairperson of the DGM panel of experts (Fachausschuss) biomaterials, was scientific speaker of all DGM panels of experts (Fachausschüsse) from 2013-2016 and a member of the DGM Board. Based on the tremendous success of his new biomaterials panel of experts, he initiated together with Wiley VCH publishing company the new Advanced Biomaterials Section of the international journal Advanced Engineering Materials. This successful journal section laid the foundation for the internationally renowned journal Advanced Healthcare Materials where Prof. Jandt served for several years as founding editorial board member. Prof. Jandt is editorial board member of the international journals Acta Biomaterialia, Dental Materials and Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces.

He is founder and chairperson of the international conference BioMAT of the DGM and made numerous valuable contributions to the DGM. The BioMAT has a special mission of promoting young future leaders in biomaterials science and engineering. Prof. Jandt is a key person in the DGM for the area of biomaterials and his leadership in this area helped to attract several new young members to the DGM.

Prof. Jandt is a dedicated university teacher who educated hundreds of science and engineering students in materials science, polymers and biomaterials at leading universities. In 2019, he received the Teaching Award Certificate Professionalism in Teaching and Leadership, of Friedrich Schiller University Jena. From Prof. Jandt’s groups, ten professors have emerged, now working at universities world-wide. Prof. Jandt’s international recognition is evident from numerous invited talks to international conferences. For several years he has also been a member of European Research Council (ERC) panels. He is a founding member of the new ERC Panel 11 Materials Engineering established in 2021. His research is frequently cited (h-index 67, 16.700 citations) and is published in Q1 (top impact) journals. Prof. Jandt’s research is characterized by both great originality and high scientific relevance.

The year 2022 was another highlight of Prof. Jandt’s career in materials science: he received the IADR Distinguished Scientist Wilmer Souder Award, USA and the Batsheva de Rothschild Fellow Award of Israel. In 2023 he received a large grant of the German Science Foundation (DFG) for the new research training group Materials-Microbe-Microenvironments (DFG RTG 2723), all showing that he is an international leading materials scientist, extremely worthy for the Heyn-Denkmünze.

His altruism is underlined for example by his engagement as spokesperson of the Jena regional group of the German-Humboldt Network, voluntary science projects with school adolescents or expert referee work for Jugend Forscht projects. Furthermore, Prof. Jandt is continually active in engaging the public for better understanding of materials science and engineering as evident from several “Saturday Lectures of Science” for the public, his engagement in “Long Nights of Science” and several press releases and tv and radio appearances.