Summer Fest of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering
The Department of Materials Science and Engineering
cordially invites you to its traditional summer party on
Thursday, July 11th 2024
This year’s keynote speech is part of a special event, which is to be honored adequately at the summer fest:
the award of an honorary doctorate to Professor Dr. Ken-ichi Kakimoto from the Nagoya Institute of Technology, Japan.
Prof. Kakimoto has a significant and long-term connection to the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, the Faculty of Engineering, and the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, in addition to an excellent internationally recognized scientific profile in the area of functional ceramics, ceramics processing, and lead-free ferroelectrics.
Together with colleagues from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Prof. Kakimoto developed a formal scientific collaboration at the departmental level in 2009, followed by a further advancement of this connection to the university level in 2011. Following this, he was instrumental in the establishment of and is since inception the director for the Nagoya Institute of Technology Europe Liaison Office, which serves as a catalyst to enhance international cooperation in education and research and improve the operational network between FAU and NITech. The office also promotes international academia-industry cooperation with European countries, holding seminars and symposia and public relations activities. These 15 years of continued partnership were further strengthened by the development of the International Research and Training Group IGK2495 Energy Conversion Systems: From Materials to Devices, for which he is the NITech spokesperson.
In addition to numerous outreach and partnership connections to the FAU, Prof. Kakimoto also has a strong scientific track record with a clear international visibility as well as numerous positions of leadership within the NITech administration. He was appointed associate professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at NITech in 2004 and promoted to full professor in 2012. From 2017 until 2020 he was the Vice President for Research Promotion at NITech and since 2020 the Vice President for Human Resource, Risk Management and Compliance Promotion. In total, he has authored or co-authors over 275 scientific publications in international journals with an h-index of 33 (ca. 7000 citations) in the area of functional ceramics and properties, sensors and transducers, and engineered ceramic structures. Importantly, he has over 40 joint publications with FAU researchers spanning over a decade of collaboration.
In addition to this special event, we are of course also delighted to once again be able to award a number of study prizes to students with outstanding academic achievements this year: six study prizes to the best Bachelor students, donated by Semikron, two Master study prizes, donated by Brose, and four study prizes for outstanding graduates from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering.
Following the lecture event, we will meet on the lawn in front of the building for live music, drinks and grilled food.
Program
15.00
Welcome by the spokesperson of the Department MSE
Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Mathias Göken
Greetings from the Dean of the Faculty of Engineering
Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Kai Willner
Award Ceremony
15.25
Awarding of the Semikron Study Prizes
Fa. Semikron Danfoss
Awarding of the Brose Study Prizes
Fa. Brose Fahrzeugteile
Awarding of the MSE Graduation Prizes
Department of Materials Science and Engineering
Ceremonial awarding of an honorary doctorate to Professor Dr. Ken-ichi Kakimoto
16.00
Welcome by the FAU President
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Joachim Hornegger
Laudatio
Prof. Dr. Kyle Grant Webber
Awarding of an honorary doctorate to Professor Dr. Ken-ichi Kakimoto
Keynote speech
“Lead-free Piezoelectrics — Challenges and Chances”
Prof. Dr. Ken-ichi Kakimoto
Afterwards
Reception with champagne and refreshments and subsequent summer fest of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering