“Jugend forscht” project: Investigation of the Magnus effect as an alternative propulsion system for ships.

Success: 2nd place award in the Lower Franconia regional competition.

Career at Schaeffler: Via an integrated degree program after “Jugend forscht.”

It all begins … in an upper-level physics class with a seminar paper on the so-called ­Magnus effect. “My teacher at the time thought that could be elaborated for ‘Jugend forscht,’” Philipp Johannes relates. That suggestion led to a project that quickly grew beyond the scope of school work: the design of a model ship with a Flettner rotor. A brief look at the physical principle shows that the Flettner rotor is a rotating cylinder exposed to the air current and acting like a sail. The rotation results in an additional force – the so-called Magnus effect. “The wind hitting the cylinders creates a different flow – resulting in propulsion,” Johannes explains. What initially starts on a piece of paper soon turns into an experimental effort. Initial trials occur in the parental workshop – not always without complications. “My first setup with an empty deodorant spray can was extremely unstable – due to the imbalance, the trial almost left the table,” he relates in retrospect. Ultimately, the support by Schaeffler enabling him to fabricate and provide precision cylinders in the apprenticeship training shop in Schweinfurt gives him the crucial boost. “Only that made the trial setup stable and truly assessable. Without that help, the accuracy would not have been possible,” says Johannes. At the same time, other doors open for him – including, among others, the fluid mechanics laboratory of the Schweinfurt Technical University for Applied Sciences where the project receives additional scientific depth. “After the project, I was picked up by Schaeffler’s radar,” he says. Thus, the “Jugend forscht” experience evolves into a career path leading directly into the company. The main thing that remains is a mindset: “Research work means trial, failure, and learning from it,” according to Philipp Johannes. Exactly that principle has been accompanying him to this day – into daily professional life where understanding technology and creative problem solving are called for day in day out.

“Jugend forscht” project: Further development of rolling bearings due to a nested bearing concept.

Career at Schaeffler: Start in 2013 with an integrated degree program followed by entry into electric mobility as a product developer for e-axle gearboxes, since about a year with additional development of planetary gearboxes for humanoid robot systems.

It all begins … more or less incidentally – as part of his apprenticeship at Schaeffler. In 2013, he starts his integrated degree program there with the opportunity to build upon his own ideas and submit them as entries to “Jugend forscht.” “We were able to elaborate our own ideas and to simply try them out,” Rosenwald recalls. That freedom leads to a project that’s initially being developed from a basic technical question: How can stress in rolling bearings be reduced? ­Together with others in the apprenticeship team, Rosenwald intensively investigates various types of bearings – until the idea is born to nest two bearings within each other. The objective is to reduce the forces acting on individual rolling elements to clearly increase their service life. That approach not only remains a theoretical one, but is consistently being calculated, tested, and developed further. For Rosenwald, exactly that stage becomes a key moment where personal ideas evolve into realistic technical solutions. Following the completion of his degree program, he directly moves on to joining the electric mobility team at Schaeffler where he initially develops components for e-axle gearboxes and moves on to the system world of electric powertrains. In parallel, he’s been additionally working on the development of planetary gearboxes for humanoid robotic systems for about a year. Over the years, that has resulted in more than 30 inventions and patents. What started with an apprenticeship program consistently evolves into an engineering career with great development depth. Looking back, especially one learning remains: good ideas are rarely born in a perfect moment. The key is to pursue them even if they initially appear to be unusual. Or, as Rosenwald summarizes it today, “Don’t discard them too early but consider them in technical terms, continue to develop, and try them out – until an idea becomes a solution.”

“Jugend forscht” project: Development of a multifunctional control unit for modelmaking.

Success: 1st place award in the technology discipline in the Ilm County regional competition, state-level competition in Thuringia.

Career at Schaeffler: Integrated degree program with graduation as a Bachelor of Engineering in the subject of industrial production followed by a role as a customer service engineer, system technical project leader, and project manager.

It all begins … at a boarding school during his time of preparing for his high school (Abitur) diploma. Alongside classroom instruction, dedicated smaller technology projects are created there – initially without a grand stage but with ample personal drive. “The teachers subsequently noticed our private projects as well and offered to enter ours in the ‘Jugend forscht’ competition,” Hannes Zimmermann recalls. It’s centered on a quadrocopter – or more precisely – its control system. The objective is to overcome existing limits of classic wireless control systems, especially range limitations. The idea was to develop a proprietary repeater-mesh network that forwards signals enabling nearly unlimited control distance. “At some point, range was no longer the problem but the delay of the signal,” says Zimmermann to describe the technical development. The team worked under simple but intensive conditions at the boarding school. One of the rooms soon turns into a ‘project lab’ – equipped with a soldering station, tools, and programming places. “That’s where we experimented, sawed, soldered, and programmed,” he relates. Especially impressive is not only the technology but the competition itself: the presentation to a professional judging panel. “It was really the first time of having to defend a solution of our own in front of experts,” says Zimmermann. That experience fundamentally changes his view of technical work – away from mere tinkering to structured argumentation. “Not only developing technology but evaluating, explaining, and continuing to imagine it,” Hannes Zimmermann has come to realize since then. Today, he’s working as a project leader for innovation projects at Schaeffler – with the objective of making next-generation technologies a tangible experience for the first time in the real world: “Today, a problem is no longer the end of a development but the starting point for a solution.”

“Jugend forscht” project: From 2012 to 2014, developed a nano biogas system for decentralized energy supply.

Success: 2nd place in the 2014 Bavarian State Competition of “Jugend forscht,” Special Award for Renewable Energies, Innovation Award “School Encouragement” of the Schaeffler FAG Foundation in 2013, 2nd place award in the Business Plan Phase in the Federal “Jugend gründet” (Youth Startups) competition in 2014, Encouragement Award in the 2013/2014 Federal Environmental Competition.

Career at Schaeffler: Two-in-One-Program – practical training as an industrial mechanic and mechanical engineering degree program with internship abroad in China.

It all begins … with a large dose of ­curiosity. “Together with fellow school mates I’d experiment in tenth grade beyond chemical class in the afternoon,” recalls Fabian Schech with shining researcher eyes. A few afternoons turn into a working group and later into an elective subject – resulting in a project that becomes much greater than originally planned: the project that Fabian Schech works on together with two fellow students is called ORENTEC – Organic Energy Technology. The idea behind it is a nano biogas system for fitted kitchens or front yards, hardly larger than two refrigerators, that operates with household waste. “It functions with only 300 grams (10 ounces) of green waste, an amount that’s generated by nearly anyone every day,” says Schech. The system for home use works like the large-scale ones: the biowaste ferments in one container and the gas is stored in another one. “A household could save up to 50 euros per year in that way. A school cafeteria could save even as much as 3,000 euros, and all that with waste from your own kitchen,” the inventor says. The residues remaining after fermentation could additionally be used as plant fertilizer. What sounds like a school project soon develops a momentum of its own. The team soon looks for partners, gains sponsors, enters the planning, design, and production stage. “The non-industrial construction and optimization were very special for me,” reports Fabian Schech, who together with his teammates even temporarily toys with the idea of starting a company. That didn’t happen, though, but, Schech says, “I established a lot of contacts that still exist today.” Above all, however, an idea evolves into a plan for a professional career as an engineer – a technical problem solver.

“Jugend forscht” project: Improvement of the visibility of a beamer image by using polarizing filters and targeted light polarization to suppress daylight irradiation.

Success: 2nd place award. Central Franconia regional competition.

Career at Schaeffler: Both graduates of an integrated degree program, working in different development areas today – from component development in powertrains and project management in the field of engine/motor elements.

It all begins … with a very common problem in a conference room: a beamer projection that’s hardly visible in daylight. “There was nearly nothing to be recognized,” Fabian Otto recalls. In the team, this minor but persistent trouble leads to the idea for a “Jugend forscht” project. Instead of solving the problem by adding more light or new technology, the approach goes into a different direction: the existing light is supposed to be systematically influenced. The solution lies in physics – more precisely, in polarization. Using polarizing films, the daylight entering the room is changed in such a way that it no longer superimposes the projection. “We tried to make the light mutually extinguish itself,” Otto explains. The first trials soon show that this approach works. The contrast of the projection clearly improves and the beamer can suddenly be sensibly used in daylight. Impressive in this regard is not only the technical idea but the teamwork. “It was never a single idea that was decisive, but many minor contributions,” says Matthias Muß in retrospect. The project work evolves into a constant process of trials, discussions, and improvements. In the end, the setup is revised once more for the presentation at “Jugend forscht” and re-implemented as a stable test stand – with clearly better outcomes than in the original conference room. “In the end, the test stand in Erlangen worked a lot better than anything we had before,” says Otto. Documentation, a structured approach, and working on tangible technical problems accompany both of them later through university and their careers. “Not the idea alone is decisive but the ability to continue to jointly develop it further,” Matthias Muß puts it in a nutshell.