Sustainable Materials

The energy transition is a material transition. It is one of the grand challenges to evolve quickly towards a carbon neutral society, material science is playing a key role in this transition. This course is designed for students who are interested in understanding the role of modern functional materials in creating a sustainable future by making e.g. electromobility, wind energy, energy conversion devices more efficient. Prof. Dr. Oliver Gutfleisch and visiting professor Dr. Julia Lyubina from Evonik will address both fundamental and industry perspectives, including aspects related to new product development incl. the process of designing, creating, and introducing a new sustainable product to the market. Recycling and circular economy concepts will be introduced. Certain topics will be initiated by guest speakers. The course will also focus on various case studies, it will be highly interactive with students developing various concepts and project works in small groups and report back and discuss their findings in the plenum. Nachhaltigkeitsbezug der Veranstaltungsinhalte: 1. Insight into various functional materials needed for the energy transition 2. Analysis of the property profiles of materials with regard to socio-economic, environmental and further sustainability aspects. 3. Understand the value chain of a material/product: up-stream vs down-stream 4. Evaluate the potential energy and carbon benefits of using innovative materials and technologies. 5. Critically reflect the viability of a substitutional strategy. 6. Insight into industrial perspective involving all aspects of new products, from idea to development to commercialization. 7. Understand industrially relevant aspects of sustainability during all stages of new product development. 8. Reflect your professional activities in shaping innovation processes with a sense of responsibility and public spirit, beyond the narrowly specialized area of responsibility.