RWTH: RWTH researchers honored

RWTH researchers Professor Sandra Korte-Kerzel, Professor Guillermo Requena and Dr. Patrick Köhnen were honored for their work in the field of materials science by the German Society for Material Science (DGM). The awards are intended to make excellent achievements in the field of materials science and technology visible, recognize individuals and promote young talent.

Professor Sandra Korte-Kerzel from the Chair of Materials Physics received the DGM Prize 2021 for her research in the field of nanomechanics of complex alloys. This is awarded for outstanding scientific and technical achievements that represent a breakthrough in materials science and engineering or have opened a new field of research. Korte-Kerzel studied physics and mechanical engineering at RWTH and received his doctorate from the University of Cambridge. She then became a junior professor at the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg. In 2012, at the age of 32, she took over the professorship for materials physics at the Institute for Metallurgy and Materials Physics at RWTH Aachen University.

For his achievements in the application of the latest tomographic and diffractometric methods for metallography, Professor Guillermo Requena, Teaching and Research Area Metallic Structures and Material Systems for Aerospace, was awarded the Tammann commemorative coin 2021. It honors DGM members who have made outstanding contributions to materials science and technology as heads of a research group. Requena studied electrical engineering at the Universidad Nacional del Comahue in Argentina. He did his doctorate and habilitation at the Vienna University of Technology. Since 2015 he has been head of department at the German Aerospace Center and professor in the Faculty of Georesources and Materials Technology at RWTH.

One of the DGM Young Talent Awards 2020 went to Dr.-Ing. Patrick Köhnen from the Chair of Digital Additive Production for his work on alloy development for additive manufacturing. The price is aimed at doctoral candidates with above-average study and work results. Köhnen studied industrial engineering, specializing in materials and process technology, at RWTH and the Polytechnic University of Valencia. He then studied superconducting, ultra-hard materials as a fellow at the University of California in Los Angeles in 2016. In 2020, Köhnen completed his doctoral thesis entitled “Alloy and process design of additively manufactured bulk and lattice structures of austenitic advanced high-strength steels” at the Institute for Metallurgy at RWTH.