As market and technology leader in cylindrical grinding, STUDER decided to endow the fourth research prize, the «Fritz Studer Award». In the fall of 2014 applications were submitted from many European countries.
The research award targeted graduates from European universities and higher education technical colleges. All graduates, who have dealt with scientific topics or have had an applied research focus during their studies or as a subject in a dissertation and who are able to proffer substantiated results or partial results from their work can participate in the competition. The aim of the work is to strengthen the innovative power of the machine industry with technically feasible approaches. The submitted topics were to be dedicated to one of the following fields: − Innovative machine concepts or components for machine tools in precision machining − Alternative materials in mechanical engineering − Simulation models of dynamic and thermal behavior of machine tools − Control and sensor concepts for machine tools − New or further developed manufacturing technologies, especially in hard-fine machining, such as grinding, hard turning, etc. The submitted projects were assessed by an expert jury. The jury was composed of Prof. Dr. Konrad Wegener, Institute of Machine Tools and Manufacturing at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, Dr. Heinrich Mushardt, United Grinding Group AG and Dr. Frank Fiebelkorn, Head of Product Development, Research and Technology at Fritz Studer AG. The decision criteria for assessment included, for example, the ease of implementing the findings in the machine industry, novelty and idea of the research work, scientific content, form and correctness of statements and results. With the topic of «On-Machine Wire Electrical Discharge Dressing of Metal Bonded Grinding Wheels», Dr. Eduardo Weingärtner from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, Institute of Machine Tools and Manufacturing (Switzerland) had the honor to receive the Fritz Studer Award 2014. The focal points of Dr. Weingärtner’s research are the examination of wire erosion as an alternative process for dressing metal bonded diamond grinding wheels. Dr. Weingärtner is involved not only in the development of a wire erosion dressing unit and its integration into a grinding machine but also in the modeling, simulation and optimization of the wire erosion dressing process. In his dissertation he developed a special wire guide, which is key to the feasibility of a reliable dressing process, as the precision and efficiency of the process were thus able to be increased considerably. With the thermo-electric model developed by Dr. Weingärtner, the performance of material removal by erosion can be predicted; the influence of relative speed on the erosion process is more easily comprehended and graphitization of the diamonds can be analyzed.
