In 2026, IKAT will host the KT Kolloquium, the established early-career conference in the field of design engineering and machine elements. The event will take place in Chemnitz, Germany, from October 1 to October 2, 2026. An optional pre-event program will be offered on September 30, 2026, providing participants with the opportunity to explore the city of Chemnitz.

The KT Kolloquium offers early-career researchers a recognized platform to present their individual research strategies and current scientific results. The conference aims to foster professional exchange and stimulate future developments in design engineering.

Submitted abstracts will undergo a peer-review process. Following a successful presentation at the conference, authors will have the opportunity to publish their contributions in the renowned journal “Konstruktion.”

The IKAT team, led by Professor Hasse, looks forward to welcoming researchers to Chemnitz and facilitating in-depth discussions on current topics and emerging trends in design engineering.

Submission of contributions:
http://www.kt-kolloquium.de/de/submission

It is particularly noteworthy when committed students align their academically rigorous research with their own entrepreneurial questions and real-world challenges—and deliberately choose IKAT researchers as their academic supervisors.

This decision extends beyond individual commitment. It reflects confidence in an approach to teaching and research that systematically combines scientific excellence with practical relevance. Our practice-oriented teaching is not conceived as abstract knowledge production, but as a structured process of inquiry with clear practical applicability. Real organizational contexts are analysed in depth, theoretically embedded, and translated into viable, implementable solutions.

This demanding transfer of knowledge into practice constitutes a central element of our institutional identity. By integrating methodological rigour, reflective analysis, and a strategic focus on implementation, we prepare individuals who not only understand complex challenges, but are capable of addressing them responsibly.

At the Information Conference of Forschungsvereinigung Antriebstechnik e.V. (FVA), held on December 9–10, 2025, IKAT was represented with a wide range of technical presentations, once again demonstrating its strong presence within the drive technology research community.

A particular highlight was the presentation by Mr. Muhammedi on the topic “Reconceptualization of DIN 6892.” His talk addressed the torque transmission capacity of parallel key connections, taking into account plastic deformation of the shaft keyway. The approach combined scientific rigor with clear practical relevance and contributes significantly to the further development of standardized design methods for keyed joints. The presented results attracted considerable interest from both industry and academic participants.

The quality and impact of the contribution were also reflected in the participants’ evaluation: Mr. Muhammedi achieved an excellent third place in the conference’s best presentation award. This distinction not only recognizes his personal achievement but also highlights the high scientific standard of the research conducted at IKAT.

The strong response at the conference once again demonstrates that IKAT’s research activities meet broad interest within both industry and academia. The targeted transfer of research results into industrial practice represents a central pillar of IKAT’s research strategy. Insights from fundamental and methodological research are systematically translated into application-oriented solutions and actively shared with the professional community.

We would like to thank the FVA for the excellent organization of the conference and warmly congratulate Mr. Muhammedi on receiving the third-place.

The cross-industry Saxon Simulation Users’ Meeting SAXSIM (Saxon Simulation Meeting) invites scientists and practitioners to the Central Lecture and Seminar Building of Chemnitz University of Technology on March 17, 2026. Now in its 15th edition, this well-established technical conference once again provides a platform for exchange on current simulation technologies, modeling methods, and innovative applications from research and industry.

SAXSIM has established itself as an important forum for experts along the entire value chain—from fundamental academic research and product development to industrial practice. Numerous technical presentations will showcase current research approaches, best-practice examples, and concrete applications. Thematic focal points include, among others:

• Model-Based Systems Engineering
• CAE as well as multibody, FEM, and CFD simulations
• Digital twins and AI-supported simulation methods
• Human–machine interaction and digital human models

The conference is organized by the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at Chemnitz University of Technology and is technically supported by ICM – Institut Chemnitzer Maschinen- und Anlagenbau e.V.

On the previous day, March 16, 2026, starting at 2:30 p.m., an accompanying program featuring workshops, an institute tour, and a meet & greet will take place. In parallel with the technical presentations on March 17, a COMSOL Multiphysics workshop on the creation of digital twins and simulation apps will also be offered.

Registration is open until February 27, 2026, via the following link: mytuc.org/jrmv.

Growing ecological and economic pressure leads to ever higher and more complex stresses in the development of plain bearings. The research at the institute is therefore primarily concerned with the investigation and development of alternative sliding materials and the influence of geometric deviations. The main focus of the investigations is the wear behavior under the most varied operating conditions (particles, mixed friction, hydrodynamics).

The permissible loads of selected WNV (tapered and cylindrical interference fit as well as feather key, knurled, polygonal joints, etc.) have been investigated primarily at IKAT for decades in the area of fatigue, fatigue and fatigue strength. The behavior under individual loads (bending, torsion) as well as combined dynamic loads is analysed.

In contact with various components, deformations in connection with the prevailing joint pressure initiate the damage process of fretting fatigue. Current research activities at the institute focus on basic research on the damage phenomenon of fretting fatigue and pursue the objective of developing an impact-compliant calculation method.

While conventional mechanisms owe their deformability to the sliding or rolling interfaces in the joints, flexible mechanisms fulfill their function through elastic stretches in places that are deliberately designed to be flexible during design. This functional principle enables novel, shape-adaptive structures, which can be used, for example, in softrobotics or in variable-shape wings. The professorship focuses its research on optimization-based synthesis methods.

The strength tests focus on the tooth root load-bearing capacity of worm gear units. The challenge to numerical imaging lies in the complex geometry and the special material bronze.

The coefficient of static friction (also: coefficient of friction or coefficient of friction) is to be understood as a system variable with a multitude of influencing parameters. In order to use existing potentials in friction-locking connections (e.g. screw, flange, press-fit connections), an experimental investigation is indispensable. With the help of standardized test methods on model samples, a wide variety of tribological configurations are examined at the research centre with regard to their transmission behavior. A major field of research is the synthesis of new design/selection tools for friction-enhancing measures (e.g. micro/laser structures, hard particles, coatings) for static and dynamic load cases.