Science Magazine of the Max Planck Society

Issue 2017

MaxPlanckResearch 3/2017  Zika Viruses Produced in the Lab
Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics of Complex Technical Systems in Magdeburg, in collaboration with a research team in Brazil, have now propagated large quantities of Zika viruses in the lab. more

Issue 2015

MaxPlanckResearch 1/2015 Vaccines from a Reactor
In the event of an impending global flu pandemic, vaccine production could quickly reach its limits, as flu vaccines are still largely produced in embryonated chicken eggs. Udo Reichl, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics of Complex Technical Systems, and his colleagues have therefore been working on a fully automated method for production in cell cultures that could yield vaccines in large quantities in a crisis. more

Issue 2014

MaxPlanckResearch 1/2014Mathematics in the Borderlands
Normally, Peter Benner and his colleagues at the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics of Complex Technical Systems in Magdeburg work on complicated numerical methods to optimize the automatic control of technical systems and equipment. Recently, however, their research was applied to resolve a political conflict centering around drug cultivation, herbicide spraying and border violations in South America. more

Issue 2012

MaxPlanckResearch 2/2012 Hunting for Treasure among the Wood Chips
Wood waste and straw contain valuable substances for the chemical industry, and these substances are what chemists from the Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung in Mülheim an der Ruhr and the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics of Complex Technical Systems in Magdeburg want to get their hands on. The researchers are looking for ways to convert biomass into useful chemical compounds and use them as energy sources or raw materials. more

Issue 2011

MaxPlanckResearch 2/2011 Electricity Flexes Muscles
Now even paraplegics can ride a bike – thanks to functional electrical stimulation, a method that takes the place of the nerve signals of the brain. At the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics of Complex Technical Systems in Magdeburg, Thomas Schauer is working on a sophisticated control system for this technology, which also helps get stroke patients quickly back on their feet. more

Issue 2010

MaxPlanckResearch 3/2010 Electricity from Bits of Wood
Clean, efficient and reliable – that’s how the power of the future should be. An example of this
is the electric current generated by fuel cells fed with biomass. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics of Complex Technical Systems, the Fraunhofer Institute for Factory Operation and Automation IFF, and the Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems IKTS are smoothing the way from the farm to the electrical outlet. more

Issue 2009

MaxPlanckResearch Special/2009Computers at the Helm
Sailing the Rhine in the dead of night challenges even an experienced helmsman.
Ernst Dieter Gilles and his team at the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics of Complex Technical Systems in Magdeburg have developed a navigation system to give boatmen a better view in situations like this. more

Issue 2008

MaxPlanckResearch 4/2008 Personal Portrait: Ulrike Krewer
The title “Frau Dr.-Ing.,” which is used to address female engineers in German,is not as rare today as it was two decades ago. Today, it is even possible to find women engineers whose careers take a more unusual path than those of their male  colleagues – like the career of Ulrike Krewer, for example. The 32-year-old process engineer researches fuel cells at the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics of Complex Technical Systems in Magdeburg.

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Issue 2007

MaxPlanckResearch 3/2007A Short Process in a Chemical Reactor
Some chemical processes behave like good-natured monsters: they can be controlled, but they remain fairly unpredictable – and that’s why they cost the chemical industry millions. Kau Sundmacher and his team at the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics of Complex Technical Systems are radically simplifying just such unruly processes. Sometimes they are able to do this in a single step where the industry previously needed two. more
MaxPlanckResearch 1/2007Computer at the Helm
Navigating the Rhine on a dark and foggy night requires an experienced hand at the helm. If there is any visibility at all, distinguishing the navigation lights from the barrage of other ship and shore lights can be a formidable task. Ernst Dieter Gilles and his colleagues at the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics of Complex Technical Systems in Magdeburg have developed an integrated navigation system that gives barge skippers a much clearer perspective in such situations. In fact, in the future, the system is intended to steer the vessel automatically more
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