About us
The Department of Mechanical Engineering is part of KIT's Area 3 "Mechanical and Electrical Engineering" together with the Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, four Helmholtz programs, and eight institutes of the large-scale research area. The department consists of more than 20 institutes with about 1,000 employees, including about 40 professors, 460 scientific employees, and 200 employees in administration and technology. In addition, there are several hundred tutors and scientific assistants.
Once again this year, our department's freshmen welcome event will take place in the first week of lectures on Monday 27.10.2025 at Europa-Park, where there will be lots of information about studying, insights into the technical requirements of building and operating amusement rides and plenty of fun. A construction competition and a backstage tour also await the first-year students. We wish all first-year students a good start to their studies.
On 18 September, L'Oréal, the German UNESCO Commission and the German Humboldt Network will once again be honoring four excellent female scientists for their research contributions with the "For Women in Science" sponsorship award. Four young female researchers will receive the EUR 25,000 award in Düsseldorf, among them Dr. Xu from the Institute of Microstructure Technology (IMT) who focuses her research on the development of environmentally friendly cooling technologies based on the use of shape memory alloys. Press release
Germany is one of the world's most popular places to study. This is shown by the current "BintHo" study by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), for which more than 115,000 students at over 130 universities were surveyed. Three quarters of the international students surveyed stated that Germany was their first choice as a place to study and were very satisfied with their studies. At the same time, they reported discrimination in everyday life. German students, on the other hand, showed great interest in studying abroad, but were often put off by the costs. Press release
The Ministry of Science's "BWGreenLabs" ideas competition shows how laboratories can become more sustainable. In order to reduce their ecological footprint, the Ministry of Science has launched the "BWGreenLabs" ideas competition. For an initial period of one year, 29 projects will be funded with up to 35,000 euros each. The funded projects include three KIT projects: GreenOrder@KIT - Sustainable ordering of chemicals, GreenReUse@KIT - Reduction of the ecological footprint when using frequently used consumables through reuse and GreenReForm@KIT - Closing the loop in additive manufacturing. Complete press release
From the perspective of mechanical and plant engineering companies, Germany remains by far the most important location for research and development (R&D). On average, companies carry out 84 percent of their R&D activities in Germany. Most companies with fewer than 500 employees even concentrate exclusively on R&D in Germany. However, large companies with at least 1,000 employees also continue to carry out the majority (around 75%) of their R&D expenditure in Germany. These are the key findings of the VDMA's new survey on research and innovation, in which more than 300 companies took part. Press release
The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) is part of the new NXTGN Startup Factory - a federally funded platform for technology-driven start-ups. Together with universities and companies from Baden-Württemberg, KIT wants to trigger a new wave of start-ups as the strongest partner in the initiative. The aim is to translate research results into marketable products more quickly and create over 10,000 new jobs by 2030. The federal government and industry are supporting the Startup Factory with up to 20 million euros.
more News