Great support and great talent: Student Mohamed Helaoui (left) is awarded this year's DAAD prize at the suggestion of Professor Dr. Jörg Friedrich.
DAAD Prize for Mohamed Helaoui, mechanical engineering student at Furtwangen University
There is a great atmosphere in the “Technikum”, the mechanical engineering laboratory at Furtwangen University (HFU). This is where Mohamed Helaoui is tinkering with a recycling system, enthusiastically supported by Prof. Dr. Jörg Friedrich, Dean of the Mechanical Engineering and Mechatronics programme. Helaoui is 21 years old, comes from Tunisia and perfected his German in a very short time with the “HFU Prep” preparatory programme so that he could then start his dream degree in “Mechanical Engineering and Mechatronics” on the Schwenningen campus. In just three semesters, he not only excelled in the course content, his social commitment is also remarkable. “I'm good at math and computer science, so I can help others quite well,” says Helaoui modestly. “He is already teaching his fellow students control engineering,” Friedrich clarifies. Mohamed Helaoui was selected as this year's DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) award winner because of this special combination of skills. In December, he will be awarded the prize of €1000, at a ceremony. “This is so well deserved!” says a delighted Friedrich, who nominated the promising young mechanical engineer for the award.
With the revision of the recycling plant, Mohamed Helaoui managed to do what some student groups before him had not succeeded in doing. “He looked at it for two minutes and said, ‘this and this, it all has to go’,” recalls Professor Friedrich with a laugh. “Well, if we can do something better, then let's do it!” Helaoui said with a laugh. So he set up a new power supply as well as measurement and communication units that control the entire system. In order to be able to reuse the plastics, they are shredded several times and turned into small granules. In future, this will be heated in the new system, pulled into uniform, thin strands and wound onto spools − as a starting material for 3D printers, which can then be used to produce new machine parts. “Mr. Helaoui's development is a huge step forward in terms of sustainability − and the material only costs us a tenth of the price of new material,” praises Friedrich.
Professor Friedrich has been dedicated to the field of mechanical engineering for nine and a half years. "The basic idea is − we build everything ourselves. We build machines that we can use to build machines again," he reports. Friedrich is passionate about his subject and leads students through the laboratories, where exciting new student projects are created every semester. Whether cleaning robots or talking workbenches, Segways, driving simulators or a moving transport system that can cope with corners... the possibilities are endless and depend entirely on the students' interests. “Compared to other universities, the proportion of practical work here is exceptionally high,” says Professor Friedrich, interrupting the following lengthy list of the many practical opportunities with the words, “There's always something being built here.” The next major project, the Dean of Studies reveals, is an autonomously flying drone.
The many machines in the laboratories are made entirely in-house from components that are also produced here, for example in the plasma cutter or in 3D printers. “We need at least six kilograms of plastic per week,” reports Friedrich − which makes the in-house recycling process all the more important, as it significantly reduces the ecological footprint of laboratory work in addition to the acquisition costs.
Mohamed Helaoui examines his plant. The final test is still pending, “Then we can recycle all plastic waste here ourselves”. Numerous sacks full of plastic waste are already waiting. The DAAD prize means a lot to the ambitious student − “but I also get great support here,” he makes clear. He is particularly looking forward to the upcoming practical semester, which he will spend at Marquardt. “They can look forward to it,” smiles Professor Friedrich, “we can expect great things from him!”
Prospective students can easily apply online for the programmes at Furtwangen University, including “Mechanical Engineering and Mechatronics”, for a place in the coming winter semester: www.hs-furtwangen.de