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.
A research team from KIT and the University of Freiburg is developing a new simulation method for friction processes at the level of individual molecules. This allows friction processes at the molecular level to be transferred to large systems. "This allows us to better understand and calculate complex friction systems in which the resulting lubricating film is millions of times thinner than the contact width of the friction surfaces," says Prof. Gumbsch from the IAM. KIT News
reFuels are indispensable for climate-neutral transportation in the aviation and shipping sectors. The reFuels Action Plan of the Ministry of Transport is intended to stimulate investment in large-scale industrial plants. With the reFuels Action Plan, the state and partners from industry and research are presenting reform proposals for European Union regulations.
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Rania Rayyes, Junior Professor at the Institute of Materials Handling and Logistics Systems (IFL), received the IEEE WiRA Award IEEE Outstanding Women in Robotics and Automation (WiRA) for her paper entitled "AI-based Framework for Robust Model-Based Connector Mating in Robotic Wire Harness Installation".
We congratulate Prof. Rayyes on the award.
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
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