Mechanical engineering students from the Giessen -Friedberg University of Applied Sciences and the Karl Mayer textile machinery factory tackled the demands of industrial practice in a collaborative project. Their task was to design a system for the lace and curtain production area that would enable the transport of machines along the assembly line.
To solve the task, for which they had one semester, the aspiring mechanical engineers formed eleven teams. They were supervised by Prof. Dr. Martin Sting from the Friedberg Department of Mechanical Engineering, Mechatronics, and Materials Technology. As an introduction to the project work, Christian Botschek, assembly manager of the lace and curtain division, presented the company and its production facilities to them during a factory tour in Obertshausen.
Subsequently, the teams developed their solution concepts. They were expected to design a device capable of lifting, transporting, and repositioning machines weighing up to 9,000 kilograms on level surfaces by a maximum of 150 millimeters. This required utilizing existing rail systems, allowing the machine to be tilted for oil drainage, and ensuring safety and resistance to contamination. To achieve this, the third-semester students had to familiarize themselves with hydraulic components, such as those used in truck construction, as well as with various joint and bearing designs, industrial safety equipment, frame construction, drive technology, and sensor technology.
At the results presentation at the beginning of the current summer semester, all teams presented results that – according to Christian Botschek – impressed with both their high technical quality and their entrepreneurial thinking. In his summary Prof. Dr. Sting emphasized the strong motivation of the approximately 50 project participants and their practical approach, comparable to the daily work in an engineering office. He summarized his positive assessment of the presented solutions with the statement: "You are the next generation on whom industry can rely."
The assembly manager recognized the students Dennis Bechthold, Kevin Heeg, Matthias Roth, and Alexander Seibel as the team whose work—a lifting device with handlebar stiffening to absorb lateral forces—impressed him the most. The design proposals they developed, combined with the innovative approaches of other teams, are to be implemented internally by the company. The university and the company intend to continue their collaboration on such projects.
