HAWK organizes workshop on the research focus “Plasma for Life”

Publizierungsdatum: 14.10.2019

A workshop with a research focus on "Plasma for Life" was launched in an official ceremony at the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Technology in Göttingen. On this occasion, HAWK President Dr. Marc Hudy told attendees:  "As part of our plasma research, we develop commercially viable solutions that society readily embraces." Hudy emphasized the relevance of this research priority by noting that plasma researchers are always 'on the move' for the benefit of people – especially in the area of medicine –   and they have potential to contribute to important societal challenges. 

He thanked Prof. Wolfgang Viöl, who has been advancing plasma research at the university since his appointment in 1994. Engineering Prof. Dr.-Ing. Karl-Josef Schalz, the acting dean, also expressed his appreciation prior to starting the lectures series on the application of plasma.

 

Viöl remarked that he "would like the use of plasma to become a part of everyday life. In normal life and in medicine." The areas of application are versatile: Plasma can be used as an alternative to antibiotic therapies in the battle against multi-resistant germs or for disinfecting hospital rooms. But plasma is also suitable for pest control in the agricultural sector. Viöl recognized early on that plasma has endless potential that would not be possible with solid, liquid and gaseous states of matter. He is driven by the question of "What can be achieved with matter in this particular state?"

"The number of regional company foundations that evolved from laboratory research here is astonishing," according to Prof.Mark Vehse, a Mechanical Engineering faculty member of Stralsund University of Applied Sciences. He studied physical engineering to diploma level and completed an MSc in Optical Engineering/Photonics at the HAWK. "We have to disinfect implants, which can’t be done with UV light or chemicals due to the sensitivity of our material. We are thus putting our hope in cold plasma as a solution to this problem," he says. But he is confident that plasma will have a wide variety of applications in the future. Professor Vehse gave his lecture on "additive manufacturing in medical technology".

One of the start-up that emerged from research at HAWK is the Duderstadt-based company "Cinogy". Founded in 2005, it produces PlasmaDerm, which was presented to the plenum by physicist and managing director Dr. Dirk Wandke. This medical technology enterprise "tames" plasma for the purpose of wound healing and reducing germs in humans.

Dr. Michael von Borstel, Managing Director of Trumpf, presented EUV (extreme ultraviolet) light sources. This powerful laser system is being very successfully mass-produced by his family business in Ditzingen.
The lecture day was rounded off by the two HAWK professors, Dr. Stephan Wieneke, who focused on laser and plasma hybrid technology, and Prof. Christoph Gerhard, who spoke on the topic of "plasma surface interaction".  In reference to the children’s book author Wilhelm Busch, he presented it in rhyme form that took its cues from the pranks of Max and Moritz, the book’s characters.

Background information:

Through its "Plasma for Life" partnership, the HAWK University of Applied Sciences and Arts hopes to bundle the potentials of laser and plasma technology in the fields of surface technology, material machining, radiation sources, fluid processing, and plasma medicine for process and product innovations.  The goal is to make all this potential available for the life sciences – especially in the region of Southern Lower Saxony/North Hesse – by means of application and transfer-oriented research. To this end, the outstanding potentials found in leading companies, selected SMEs, universities and research institutes in the above-mentioned region is to be pooled.

The HAWK University of Applied Sciences has the strongest research profile in all of Germany in the field of plasma technologies and in RDI projects in the following competence fields:

•    Medical technology and drug research
•    Diagnostic imaging
•    Hygiene
•    Therapy
•    Intelligent plasmas

Its aim is to bring all the above expertise to the partnership.

By creating new value-added chains, the research results can be incorporated into the procedures and processes of our industrial partners. As part of auxiliary SME projects, the research results can also be developed into prototypes. Or they can be directly exploited by filing patent applications, granting licenses or through publications. This can pave the way to important contributions in advancing "health and nursing care" in line with the new high-tech strategy espoused by The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).

 

(FLTR) Prof. Stephan Wieneke, Prof. Wolfgang Viöl, HAWK President Dr. Marc Hudy, Prof. Christoph Gerhard. (front left top) Dr. Dirk Wandke, Prof. Mark Vehse, HAWK Vice President Martin Böhnke, Prof. Karl-Josef Schalz, Dr. Michael von Borstel.
Prof. Wolfgang Viöl has been pursuing plasma research since his appointment to the HAWK.
HAWK President Dr. Marc Hudy emphasizes the importance of the research focus "plasma" for the HAWK and the region.
Since his appointment in 1994, Prof. Wolfgang Viöl (second from right) has put his focus on plasma research at the HAWK. He is seen seated next to Engineering Prof. Karl-Josef Schalz during the workshop. Second row: HAWK Prof. Stephan Wieneke and Prof.