The Chair offers both theoretical and analytical or experimental Bachelor’s and Master’s theses for students of Industrial Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering, Materials Chemistry, Environmental Ethics, and Geography. We also supervise external theses conducted at non-university research institutions or companies, provided the topic aligns with our research areas. For a thesis at our Chair, prior attendance of relevant courses is recommended: Technical Chemistry and Environmental Process Engineering at the Bachelor’s level, and Circular Economy and Waste Management, Recycling of Composite Materials, and Raw Material and Waste Mineralogy at the Master’s level. Participation in the seminar for Bachelor’s and Master’s students is mandatory, regardless of the specific study program or examination regulations. A template for theses can be found in your personal network folder, which is created for you at the beginning of your project and where all work and related data must be stored. The publication of theses on the University of Augsburg’s website via  https://opus.bibliothek.uni-augsburg.de/opus4/publish is explicitly encouraged.

Bachelor theses:

• Substitute raw materials and additives of secondary origin for the cement industry
• Engineered Artificial Minerals (EnAM) - A Review
• Recovery of copper from waste incineration grate ash by means of flotation
• Recovery of Li from battery recycling slags by means of flotation
• Use of NIR measurement for the optimization of processes for protein enrichment from legumes

Master theses:

• Raw material potential of industrial waste water with regard to critical metals
• Sustitution of PTFE and FKM in membranes and hoses in exhaust systems
• Overall evaluation of a TPE recycling system
• Development of an Excel tool for the ecological and economic evaluation and optimization of disposal and recycling routes for foundry dust

1. Fill in the first paragraph (I.) of the corresponding registration form
2. Forward the form to the examiner
3. Examiner fills in the second section (II.) and forwards the form to the chair of the examination board
4. Chairman of the examination board signs and sends the form to the examination office

Bachelor theses:

• State of the art survey and market analysis for the recycling of plastic packaging - From bale to regranulate
• Degradation of poly- and perfluorinated alkaline substances (PFAS) by in-situ chemical oxidation (ISCO) and in-situ chemical reduction (ISCR)
• Hydrogeochemical modeling of the leachability of MSWI bottom ash
• Hydrogeochemical modeling of the leachability of construction waste
• Immobilization of heavy metals in foundry residues by mixing with additives
• Immobilization of heavy metals in waste incineration plant bottom ash by mixing with additives
• Waste management evaluation of recycling and recyclate utilization rates 
• Recovery of metals and metal compounds as well as graphite from fine-grained waste streams using flotation
• Influence of mineral additives on coating reactions and ash quality 
• Use of alternative carbon carriers in the electric arc process to reduce the “Product Carbon Footprint PCF”
• Characterization of alkali-activated binders for the agglomeration of foundry dusts 
• Characterization of active material from lithium-ion batteries by XRD and SEM
• Use of waste incineration bottom ash in the cement industry I: Characterization and processing of waste incineration bottom ash
• Comparison of quality labels for sustainable laboratories at universities in the field of materials science

Master theses:

• Waste law analysis of the country-specific implementation of the Single-Use Plastics Directive in the EU
• Removal of silanes as hydrophobing agents from gypsum waste to enable gypsum recycling
• Mineralogy and leachability of inorganic environmental pollutants from mineral fractions of bottom ash from waste incineration plants
• Comparative study of life cycle analyses on CO2 capture, storage and utilization
• Removal of silanes as hydrophobing agents from gypsum waste to enable gypsum recycling
• Researching and securing a suitable process for characterizing bottom ash with SEM/EDX
• Quantification of waste prevention
• Inventory and substitution of PFAS in industrial robots using KUKA as a case study
• Optimization of silicon carbide moldings for the foundry process
• Synthesis and solubility product determination of fluorine-containing Cr-spinels

• AI Meets Waste Mineralogy

The AI Production Network is entering its next phase and is restructuring at the University of Augsburg as the Center for Production of the Future — and the ResEngChair is part of it and looking for support! As part of the subproject “KIA – AI-based identification of the relationship between chemistry and leachability,” the aim is to investigate the connections between chemistry, mineralogy, and the leachability of electric arc furnace slags, construction and demolition waste, and soils using advanced artificial intelligence (AI) methods.

 

The application deadline is December 7. Here’s the link to the job posting.