Milestone achieved - completion of doctoral studies

Jan Back (Department of Environmental, Process & Energy Engineering), Manuel Berger (Department of Industrial Engineering & Management) and Bernhard Hollaus (Department of Medical & Health Technologies) have had eventful years. They have done intensive research, carried out tests, simulated, adapted and published in recent years. In the end, they were able to combine their research results in their dissertations and present them at what is probably the most important exam of their lives. Read more about the three interesting research areas.

Dr. Jan Back

Jan Back completed his doctoral studies at the University of Innsbruck. He was supervised by Priv.-Doz. Dr. Simon Penner (Institute of Physical Chemistry) and Univ.-Prof. Dr. Tung Pham (Institute of Textile Chemistry and Textile Physics). At MCI, he was supported in particular by Mag. Marco Rupprich, Ph.D., (2015-2019 Head of Department and FH-Professor at MCI-Department of Environmental, Process & Energy Engineering).

Pharmaceuticals, industrial chemicals and other hazardous substances - so-called “micropollutants” in the aquatic environment require rapid action. Jan Back developed advanced treatment processes for water purification plants and wastewater treatment plants as part of his dissertation (“Rethinking Water Treatment: Membranes, Adsorption, Advanced Oxidation and Natural Attenuation”). Different combination variants of membrane technology, adsorption, advanced oxidation processes and natural degradation allow remarkable degradation rates in different scenarios. Some of these variants are already applied on a larger scale, while others are pursued on a pilot scale and further enhanced by Jan Back, who will continue his work as a lecturer at MCI.

Manuel Berger, PhD

Manuel Berger wrote his dissertation "Simulation-based prediction of resection boundaries in rhinology" at the Medical University of Innsbruck. He was supervised by ao. Univ.-Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Freysinger. At the MCI he was supported by Dr.-Ing. Martin Pillei, BSc MSc, FH-Prof. Dr.-Ing. Michael Kraxner, as well as DI Dr. Andreas Mehrle.

The aim of his dissertation is to be able to plan operations in the nasal cavity. Experiments check the accuracy of the flow calculations in order to determine surgically relevant points and the resection volume. The optimization of the nasal cavity is compared with postoperative computed tomography data sets from patients who had a nasal septum misalignment and an airflow constriction on the nasal valve. The results are promising that the software tool can be used in everyday clinical practice for further investigations.

Bernhard Hollaus, PhD

Bernhard Hollaus completed his doctorate at the University of Innsbruck, Institute for Sports Science. His doctoral supervisor is ao. Univ.-Prof. Ing.Dr. Christian Raschner. At the MCI, DI Dr. Andreas Mehrle supported his research.

His dissertation "Optimal Catch Training in American Football - A Technical Approach" pursues the goal of automating and optimizing catch training in American football. On the one hand, the pass should be able to be thrown reproducibly and with a high repetition rate, and on the other hand, the pass recipient and his catching success should be logged automatically. Through this work, coaches can select the right athlete for their moves, scouting becomes more objective and the possibility of analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of each pass recipient is given.

The MCI team thanks the researchers for their perseverance and achievements and once again congratulates them warmly on their success!