Design and CAD: Stephan Tremmel succeeds Frank Rieg

On September 1, 2020, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Stephan Tremmel was appointed as the new chair of Design and CAD at the Faculty of Engineering Science. Until Prof. Dr.-Ing. Frank Rieg, who has been chair since 1998, takes his well-deserved retirement in March 2021, both professors will jointly manage the research group. This guarantees the continuity of the research group's activities for students and doctoral candidates, for employees, and for its partners in science and industry.

After studying mechanical engineering with a focus on computer-aided methods of product development, Tremmel received his doctorate in the field of design at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg in 2009. Afterwards he worked at the design engineering research group there as deputy chair. Together with 15 employees, he taught and researched in the field of machine elements. He was project leader in a German Research Foundation, DFG Collaborative Research Centre for 12 years, and acquired several further DFG projects, in which he developed surface engineering measures and simulation methods for energy-efficient machines. At the same time, Tremmel succeeded in transforming scientific findings into applications in many collective and contract industrial research projects.

In the future, the new chair hopes to turn his attention to advanced simulation processes, methods of machine learning, and 'smart' components with additional sensory functions, for example, and, based on this, develop new machine elements and systems that will drive digital transformation in machine and plant construction. "Design has always had an integrative character. It builds a bridge from the basics to applications in mechanical engineering. That is why I am enthusiastic about the short distances at the University of Bayreuth, both literally and figuratively. The University of Bayreuth offers excellent conditions for interdisciplinary and creative teaching and research. I consider the broadly based bachelor's degree programme in 'Engineering Science', combined with the specialised master's degree courses, to be very future-oriented. I am happy to be involved in the development of teaching and look forward to working with my colleagues, who have given me such a warm welcome".