en.Wedoany.com Reported - The Chemical Industry Fund (FCI) has provided a grant to Mannheim University of Applied Sciences to support the teaching project titled "Autonomous Process Optimization, Ontology, and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance." Christian Hartz, site manager of Evonik Operations, a member company of the Chemical Industry Association of Baden-Württemberg (VCI BW), together with Carola Maute-Stephan, Managing Director of VCI BW, symbolically presented the funds to the project applicant, Prof. Thorsten Röder from the Institute of Process and Chemical Engineering.
At the donation ceremony, Christian Hartz stated that the chemical and pharmaceutical industries are undergoing profound technological change, making it crucial for students to be exposed to modern methods such as process development, automation, and data analysis during their studies. As industry practitioners, the sector aims to continuously drive the modernization of university teaching, preparing young talent for the demands of industrial practice. Carola Maute-Stephan emphasized that the future competitiveness of the industry largely depends on highly educated specialists, which is why the chemical and pharmaceutical sectors precisely support projects that integrate the latest technological developments into university teaching.
The funded project aims to teach students modern methods of chemical process development with a strong practical focus. Core elements include process analysis using bench-top nuclear magnetic resonance (Bench-Top-NMR) systems and the concept of autonomous process optimization. In the project, chemical reactions will be continuously analyzed and autonomously optimized using digital tools, making development processes in both research and industry faster and more efficient. Evonik Operations has already collaborated with Mannheim University of Applied Sciences on chemical process optimization through the VIVET project, and Dr. Michael Nonnenmacher, the project leader, also attended the event.
To celebrate its 75th anniversary, the Chemical Industry Fund (FCI), established by the Chemical Industry Association (VCI), launched a nationwide special funding program to strengthen data science in chemical education, allocating nearly 1.6 million euros to support innovative teaching concepts at universities and colleges. Baden-Württemberg particularly benefits from this funding, with six institutions in the state receiving support, including the University of Freiburg, Heidelberg University, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, the University of Konstanz, Ulm University, and Mannheim University of Applied Sciences. An above-average share of the national funding flows to the southwest region. The goal of the funding is to prepare students for the requirements of an increasingly digitalized chemical and pharmaceutical industry and to more deeply integrate topics such as data management, digital laboratory work, and modern data analysis into teaching. Since 1950, the Chemical Industry Fund has supported research and teaching at universities and research institutions, in addition to funding scientific conferences and collaborative projects between universities and secondary schools, such as chemistry didactics and mentoring programs.
