Prof. Biermann (right) and Prof. Spies (left)

Rector Prof. Barbknecht, Prof. Biermann and Prof. Krüger (from left to right)

Graduates, former and current employees attended the festive colloquium and the student evening at the Alma Mater Fribergensis. A special highlight of the day was the 90th birthday of Professor Heinz-Joachim Spies, which was celebrated with an honorary colloquium. In addition, the TU Freiberg awarded 25 years after graduation the “Silver Diploma” to 15 alumni of the materials engineering program and to 8 doctoral graduates at the anniversary celebration.

In the 50 years, a total of 617 degrees, 110 doctorates and 4 habilitations were supervised at the institute. Currently, more than 30 employees work in various research areas, including the mechanical properties of materials, for example fatigue, multiaxial loading, high-speed materials testing and fracture mechanics. Innovative technologies such as nitriding and electron beam technology, especially in the field of additive manufacturing, are also part of the research. The above-mentioned technologies are always accompanied by comprehensive microstructural investigations, as well as, for example, by measuring acoustic emission, using thermography or digital image correlation.

In addition to its current research projects, the institute is also heavily involved in teaching and further education. The institute is closely associated with the DGM as a member and has been offering the further education seminar on fracture mechanics for over 20 years.