For 10 years, TU Hamburg alumnus Dr. Steffen Petersen from CYLAD Consulting has been promoting student exchanges between TU Hamburg and renowned North American universities, the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Waterloo. TU President Prof. Andreas Timm-Giel and Prof. Robert Seifried, head of the exchange programs, honored Dr. Petersen for his many years of commitment at a ceremony held to mark the occasion. You can find more information here.

In his exciting inaugural lecture on July 17 in Audimax 2 on the TU Hamburg campus, Prof. Holger Kapels explains: “Conventional power electronic components are increasingly reaching their physical and technological limits, but the demand for electrical energy is constantly rising.” For example, in order to operate electric vehicles sensibly, cars need smaller, lighter, and more efficient drives for a longer range. Prof. Kapels' field of expertise is researching new materials that help meet these requirements. After a welcome address by TUHH President Andreas Timm-Giel and a tribute by State Secretary for Science Dr. Eva Gümbel, Ansgar Torns, Head of Development at Nexperia Germany, emphasized the social added value that this professorship can generate in the future. The newly established endowed professorship, sponsored by Hamburg-based semiconductor manufacturer Nexperia, is located in the Dean's Office of Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, and Mathematics at TU Hamburg. There, Prof. Kapels is establishing the Institute for Power Electronic Devices. More information here.

For the eleventh time, the Gisela and Erwin Sick Foundation is honoring the achievements of outstanding researchers at TU Hamburg. A bachelor's thesis, a master's thesis, and a doctoral thesis were awarded at the award ceremony on July 8, 2025. The young scientists focused on topics such as antenna research, the development of innovative measurement concepts for photovoltaic systems, and the condition monitoring of bridges, pipelines, and ship hulls to reduce maintenance costs. The prize money totaled €10,000.

The winners were:

Jeremy Strätling (bachelor's thesis), Niklas Frewer (master's thesis), and Dr. Peter Oppermann (doctoral thesis)

For more information about the 2025 award winners and their work, please refer to our press release.

On 1 July 2025, TU Hamburg students and a TU doctoral candidate were honoured for outstanding social, charitable and scientific achievements. A total of three scientific papers, a student initiative and the long-standing first chair of the AstA at TU Hamburg received these awards. The prize is worth a total of 6,000 euros. For 30 years, the interdisciplinary Karl H. Ditze Prize of the Technical University of Hamburg has been honouring students who have excelled in one of the two categories.

This year, the following winners were honoured:

Julie Köhler (bachelor's thesis), Lisa-Marie Ehlers (master's thesis), Marten Hollm (dissertation), Ann-Kathrin Jürgensen and Jonas Muth (student initiative) and Miora Gerull (social engagement).

For further information about the award winners and the award ceremony, please refer to our press release.

The TU Alumni and Supporters Association is delighted to welcome Dr Zita Lucius as the association's new Vice-Chair. She was unanimously elected to this position at the general meeting on 3 June. Furthermore, Dipl.-Ing. Henning Stahlke (20 years) and Prof. Jürgen Pietsch (10 years) were honoured for their long-standing membership of the association. Not yet a supporting member? Sign up for membership here.

In the University Strategy department (headed by Dr Ralf Grote), the new Relationship Management team headed by Vera Lindenlaub brings together the Alumni, Foundation and Events departments. Jana Franze-Feldmann, Alumni & Fundraising Officer, strengthens the alumni team. Jutta Peier, Laura-Luisa Schmietendorf and Petra Weiss are responsible for event management, Astrid-Holst-Meyhöfer for the Foundation's office and Nina Bastick as team assistant. Jutta Peier is also taking over the office of the Alumni Association from Bärbel Müller. The entire team would like to thank Mrs Müller most sincerely for her many years of service.

On 17 May 2025, TU Hamburg was represented with a strong running team at the Hamburg Hafen City Run and set an example for cohesion, health and social commitment. 29 TU Hamburg alumni also took part in the 4-kilometre charity run. The event was supported by the Alumni Association and the TUHH Foundation, among others. A total of around 20,000 runners from companies and institutions took part in the charity run through Hamburg's HafenCity.

Not being able to swim is life-threatening. Adult non-swimmers are exposed to an increased risk of drowning during leisure activities in and around water - often because they don't tell others. This is where the TU Hamburg's LearnING to swim@TUHH campaign comes in. Since May 2025, the TUHH has been offering a beginners' swimming course specifically for students for the first time. The TUHH Alumni Association supports this project and other charitable initiatives at the university for the benefit of its students.

A total of 144 TU Hamburg students were awarded the Deutschlandstipendium scholarship in February. Of these, 23 scholarship holders were supported by our alumni and sponsors. We would like to say a big thank you for this.

Bachelor's award ceremony in the degree programmes of the Dean's Office of Process Engineering

In January 2025, three students from Hamburg University of Technology were honoured for their outstanding achievements in the shortest period of study in their cohort on the Bachelor's degree programmes in Bioprocess Engineering, Process Engineering and Green Technologies. The Bachelor Award at the TU Hamburg is presented by Dow Deutschland Anlagengesellschaft, Hamburger Energiewerke and the yeast product manufacturer Ohly, and the prizes are endowed with a total of 3,000 euros. The prizes were awarded by TUHH process engineering alumni. The sponsors were represented by Ansgar Lieberei, Olaf Stüven and Christian Kirsch. The students were honoured in lecture hall K 0.506 at TU Hamburg together with Rebecca Burow, representative of the Process Engineering Student Council.

Olaf Stüven from DOW and TUHH alumnus says: "We firmly believe in the importance of promoting young talent. That is why we have been promoting and supporting TUHH students for 25 years. As an alumnus of this university, I feel a close connection to this institution, which gave me the opportunity to obtain my degree in process engineering 20 years ago. It is a pleasure for us to accompany and support young talents on their path."

Award presenter Ansgar Lieberei from Hamburger Energiewerke GmbH and TUHH alumnus takes a similar view: ‘We have been supporting this award ceremony for many years, as our company attaches great importance to promoting young talent’. With a twinkle in his eye, he adds: ‘Every year, I am delighted to be able to present an award for outstanding grades - especially because my grades in the same subjects were anything but award-worthy back then.’

About the Bachelor Award
The annual award ceremony is intended to promote young scientists at the TU Hamburg. The TU Hamburg would like to thank its partners for their long-standing commitment: Dow Deutschland has been supporting the award for 25 years and, in addition to the Bachelor Award, also awards a pre-degree prize to students at the TU Hamburg. Hamburger Energiewerke is supporting the award for the fourteenth time and Ohly GmbH for the sixth time.

The winners of the Bachelor Award 2025:
Jan Markgraf (Process Engineering, 6th semester)
Milena Menzel (Bioprocess Engineering, 7th semester)
Ben Hoppe (Green Technologies, 6th semester)