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.
With the Department Teaching Awards, the KIT Presidential Board honors individuals, working groups or organizational units of the KIT Departments responsible for teaching whose courses are characterized in particular by research- and application-oriented teaching modules as well as new forms of teaching and learning, interdisciplinarity or high topicality of the specialist knowledge imparted.
This year's Department Award for Mechanical Engineering goes to Dr.-Ing. Wilfried Liebig from the Institute for Applied Materials. Students particularly appreciate his innovative concepts, multimedia use and practical relevance in laboratories, workshops and excursions.
The KIT start-up incubator has named the start-up "Straight-up" as the start-up of the month. Back pain is one of the most common widespread diseases. This is where the KIT start-up StraightUp comes in: With an intelligent wearable, the founders want to create a new awareness of healthy posture - and go far beyond conventional posture belts. The smart posture trainer is worn directly on the body and uses a gentle vibration to remind the wearer to improve their posture - individually tailored to their state of health and activity level. The system is controlled via an app, which also offers evaluations, training aids and personalized recommendations. StraightUp is to be approved as a medical device in the long term and thus become an integral part of therapy and prevention. (dml)
Making process chains in additive manufacturing more resource-efficient - that is the aim of the new CZS Center for Circular Economy and Resource Efficiency using Additive Manufacturing Technologies (Center KRAFt). The Birkenfeld Environmental Campus of Trier University of Applied Sciences, Aalen University of Applied Sciences and KIT are involved in this project. The Carl Zeiss Foundation is funding the project with 12 million euros[...] "We can meet the challenges of scarce resources with sustainable production methods. In addition to innovative ideas, this requires open, interdisciplinary and trusting cooperation," emphasizes Professor Joachim Knebel, Head of Division III - Mechanical and Electrical Engineering at KIT. "We can achieve this by bringing together the innovative power of young people and entrusting them with responsibility as well as allowing them freedom of design." KIT press release
COSMOS-H stands for: Critical heat flux On Smooth and MOdified Surfaces - High pressure and is a thermohydraulic test facility for water-steam experiments under high pressure conditions of up to 160 bar. With an installed thermal output of 1.8 megawatts and temperatures of up to 360 degrees Celsius, it offers extensive possibilities. "With COSMOS-H, we can investigate heat transfer and transient boiling phenomena under realistic conditions like in a real power plant for the first time," said Professor Daniel Banuti, Head of the Institute for Thermal Energy Technology and Safety (ITES) at KIT. The knowledge gained could help to make industrial plants and power stations safer and more efficient in the future, including nuclear reactors as well as concentrating solar power stations.
In the latest ranking by the Center for Higher Education Development (CHE), students rated their study conditions. The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) received several top ratings in the eleven subject groups assessed. [...] The breadth and quality of the courses on offer are rated as very high, particularly in mechanical engineering and mechatronics. The aspect of "student mobility" in mechanical engineering achieved the highest rating within this category. For the evaluation of the facts on teaching and research with around ten categories each, the ranking divides the universities examined into three groups. KIT is in the top group in the category "Number of doctorates per professor".
In the 200th year of its existence, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) is opening its doors for a big day for visitors. On Saturday, May 17, 2025, KIT's South Campus on the edge of Karlsruhe's city center will be transformed into a festival of science from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. - for viewing, participating and engaging in conversation. The program, which includes more than three hundred individual offers, is aimed at the entire family. It will be completed by the KIT Campus Day, where prospective students can find out in many different ways what studying at KIT is all about.
Prospective students are cordially invited to our information events and to our advisory stand directly at the Ehrenhof in front of Building 10.91.
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