The Technische Hochschule Mittelhessen (THM) has been successful twice in a row in the German Research Foundation's (DFG) new "Major Research Equipment" programme – the only university of applied sciences in Germany to achieve this. With the two grants awarded in the 2021 and 2022 calls for proposals, THM will receive more than two million euros for complex research projects at its Centres of Competence AutoM and BioTecMed.

Since January 2022, funding has been provided for a "Servohydraulic high-speed testing machine for dynamic investigations of materials and component parts." At the Competence Center for Automotive, Mobility, and Materials Research Prof. Dr. Stephan Marzi and Prof. Dr. Stefan Kolling, both from the Department of Mechanical and Energy Engineering , aim to investigate the behavior of materials under high-speed loading. Their research focuses on materials used in rail, automotive, and shipbuilding, as well as dentistry and construction. Since the beginning of the energy transition, sustainable natural materials, as well as new energy storage media such as solid-state batteries for electromobility and weight-saving joining technologies, have increasingly come into focus. However, their "highly dynamic behavior"—for example, in an accident—has so far been scarcely researched, and according to the German Research Foundation (DFG), the need for data in both industry and academia is significant. The new machine will enable tensile, compression, and bending tests at constant speeds of up to 20 meters per second, and will also allow for the testing of larger samples.

Since this year, a "multiport high-frequency workstation for the development of receive and transmit system architectures in magnetic resonance imaging" has been funded, which Prof. Dr. Boris Keil uses at the Department of Life Science Engineering. Keil's research focuses on optimizing the results of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans by improving the so-called excitation coils. Especially in MRI hardware development, the complex interplay of physics, electronics, high-frequency technology, and computer science, as well as medical aspects, must be integrated into new and applicable concepts. For this purpose, a complex measurement system is being orchestrated, "which significantly advances our entire work," says Keil. In its structure, this system resembles a highly sophisticated workbench connected to a high-performance computer: "The device will generate new insights for MR methodology, enabling MRI to further realize its full potential for providing important clinical information," writes the German Research Foundation (DFG). Specifically: "We want to make MRIs faster and more sensitive," says Keil – meaning shorter patient exposure times while still delivering better results. Research partners in the application of the coils manufactured in Giessen include major US medical institutions.

“This double funding demonstrates the quality and breadth of research at THM,” commented President Prof. Dr. Matthias Willems on the funding commitments. With a funding rate of 20 percent of applications, a double success is unusual and therefore speaks to the quality of THM's proposals. He was also pleased that the application areas were so fundamentally different: Marzi and Kolling's research will make everyday mobile life safer in the future. Keil's work, on the other hand, can help where even highly specialized medicine currently reaches its limits.