Accasi

Aschaffenburg UAS receives funding from the Bavarian Ministry of Science for three research projects:

The Technical University was highly successful in the 6th round of funding in the “Program for the Promotion of Applied Research and Development at Universities of Applied Sciences – Universities of Applied Sciences” awarded by the Bavarian State Ministry of Science and Art.

For the Projects “ACCASSI” (Aschaffenburg Competence Center for Astronomical and Space Instrumentation) and “EpiLABKI” (“AI-based modelling epidemiological dynamics as well as the effects of health policy interventions, taking into account local social interactions patterns in the city and region of Aschaffenburg”), Aschaffenburg UAS will receive 250,000 Euros for each project. In this first funding pillar, which is aimed at professors appointed for the first time, a total of 119 applications were received from Bavarian universities. Only 25 of those projects have been awarded with funding including ACCASSI and EpiLABKI.

The project “Accasi” (Aschaffenburg Competence Center for Astronomical and Space Instrumentation) is funded by the Bavarian Ministry of Science in the 6^th funding period. The project began on January 21^st of 2021.

The goal of the ACCASI project is to establish Competence Center for Astronomical and Space Instrumentation at Aschaffenburg UAS. Several Professors specialized in this field of work are combining their research fields together to Lead this project. Encompassing the fields of electrical power quality in observatories, innovative surfacing for space applications and optical filters for ground-based astronomy. At the forefront of this project is the cooperation and coordination of the various competence fields within the ACCASI framework. Thus, allowing for an optimal comprehensive understanding of the overall system and the development of innovation and practical solutions.

The project involves research in the Aschaffenburg UAS. In the surfacing laboratory, Prof. Dr. Thorsten Döhring’s working group develops innovative mirrors for wide-angle X-ray telescopes under state-of-the-art conditions. Coatings for catalyst pellets, which are used in new types engines for satellites, are being implemented in Prof. Dr. Manfred Stollenwerk’s Coating Technology Laboratory. In Prof. Dr. Engr. Michael Mann’s Laboratory for regenerative electrical energy systems, the electrical energy- and signal networks in astronomical observation are being investigated.

In the project “Jet Engine 2.0” the researchers at Aschaffenburg UAS develop an interdisciplinary consortium with the DLR-Institute for space propulsion systems new technologies for satellite engines.

These new technologies will be environmentally friendly, inexpensive and easy to handle. Conventional space propulsion systems for satellites or space probes mainly use toxic and harmful fuels such as hydrazine.

Through a catalytic reaction with the precious metal iridium, Hydrogen peroxide is to be converted into gaseous oxygen and water vapor to be used as a fuel substitute. In the coating laboratory at Aschaffenburg UAS, the ultra-thin iridium layers are applied to ceramic pellets using sputtering technology.

In initial examinations, the catalyst pellets coated in this way showed significantly higher catalytic activity than commercially available platinum catalysts.