Professor Berthold Scholtes and Dr.-Ing. Christian Lauhoff, two scientists from the Institute of Materials Engineering at the University of Kassel, were honored by the German Materials Society (DGM). The awards were given during the DGM Day 2023. Professor Scholtes was awarded the honorary membership of the DGM, Dr. Lauhoff received the DGM Young Talent Award for his outstanding research in the context of his dissertation.

Dr Christian Lauhoff (left) and Prof. Dr Berthold Scholtes (7th from left) among the DGM 2023 award winners. The awards were presented by the DGM Presidents (Prof. M. Heilmaier (3rd from right) and Prof. B. Skrotzki (right)) German Society for Materials Science (DGM)

The DGM prizes, which are highly recognised both nationally and internationally, are traditionally awarded as part of the DGM Day. This year, the Kassel scientists were able to convince the prize committee across generations.

Dr. Christian Lauhoff, a research associate in the Department of Metallic Materials, has been awarded the DGM Young Talent Award 2023. This prize is aimed at PhD students and recent graduates who have made outstanding achievements in research in the field of materials science and materials engineering. Dr. Lauhoff impressed the jury with his work in the field of research of the latest shape memory materials (https://dgm.de/dgmtag/2023/preise-und-ehrungen/dgm-nachwuchspreis-2023).

Dr. Lauhoff completed his doctorate with distinction at the University of Kassel in 2021 and then spent a year as a postdoctoral researcher, funded by a prestigious Feodor Lynen Research Fellowship from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, at the internationally renowned Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (Australia).

Professor Scholtes, who successfully led the Department of Metallic Materials to its current strength before the current head of the department, Professor Thomas Niendorf, was awarded DGM Honorary Membership 2023 for his life's work and his highly visible contributions to cutting-edge international research in materials engineering (https://dgm.de/dgmtag/2023/preise-und-ehrungen/dgm-ehrenmitgliedschaft-2023).

Professor Niendorf, who held the laudatory speech in the festive setting, found the right words: "With Professor Scholtes, the DGM now has a great personality in its ranks as an honorary member, who has shaped the research field of materials engineering  nationally and internationally for decades and has always enjoyed the highest reputation among all scientists in our discipline and beyond".

The awards are therefore an impressive testimony to the sustainable research at the Institute of Materials Engineering at the University of Kassel.