Announcement of current Bachelor/Master theses, Advanced Design Projects (ADPs) and Advanced Research Projects (ARPs).
Masterthesis
Understanding the collisions of droplets is of interest in many fields of application. They play an essential role, for example, in raindrop formation and the modeling of fuel combustion. The dynamics and mixing of two droplets consisting of identical or different fluids are still an active
field of research. Multiple transport phenomena, such as Marangoni flows caused by surface tension gradients, diffusion in the liquid phase, evaporation into the surrounding atmosphere, and instabilities of the interface influence the dynamics.
Supervisor: Marwin Schüpfer, M.Sc.
Establishing quality criteria for transparent erythrocytes (“ghost cells”)
Etablieren von Qualitätskriterien für durchsichtige Erythrozyten („Ghost Cells“)
2026/02/10
Advanced Design Project (ADP), Advanced Research Project (ARP)
For the optical measurements of particle dynamics in blood flow, a method for producing hemoglobin-reduced, nearly transparent erythrocytes (“ghost cells”) was established at the SLA. In this process, the cell membrane is first deliberately damaged by a concentration difference so that the hemoglobin can be washed out in several centrifugation steps. The cell membrane is then closed again in a further step. Some of the cells are then labeled with a fluorescent dye.
Supervisor: Till Werner, M.Sc.
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Experimental investigation of the cellfree layer under varying particle Reynolds numbers
Experimentelle Untersuchung der zellfreien Schicht unter variierender Partikel Reynolds-Zahl
2026/02/10
Masterthesis
In cardiac assist devices, blood flows as a suspension through a pump. This can cause gap flows between the rotor and stator. Due to the small gap heights, the shear forces occurring in these areas are particularly high, which can damage the erythrocytes. The cells are not evenly distributed in the gap, but are forced onto equilibrium paths by wall and shear forces. This heterogeneous cell distribution leads to locally varying viscosities, which must be taken into account when estimating the shear stresses that occur.
Supervisor: Till Werner, M.Sc.
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Optimization of a manufacturing process for transparent erythrocytes (“ghost cells”)
Optimieren eines Herstellungsprozesses für durchsichtige Erythrozyten („Ghost cells“)
2026/02/10
Advanced Design Project (ADP)
For the optical measurements of particle dynamics in blood flow, a method for producing hemoglobin-reduced, nearly transparent erythrocytes (“ghost cells”) was established at the SLA. In this process, the cell membrane is first deliberately damaged by a concentration difference so that the hemoglobin can be washed out in several centrifugation steps. The cell membrane is then closed again in a further step. Some of the cells are then labeled with a fluorescent dye.
Supervisor: Till Werner, M.Sc.
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Reconstruction of flow fields in porous media from concentration measurements using adjoint state optimization
Rekonstruktion von Strömungsfeldern in porösen Medien aus Konzentrationsmessungen mittels Adjoint-State-Optimierung
2026/02/10
Masterthesis
The FlowForLife research project is developing a microfluidic supply network for artificial cell clusters. A key aspect of the network design is oxygen transport in the surrounding porous matrix. To experimentally characterize this transport, oxygen-quenching luminescent particles are added to the matrix. The local oxygen concentration can be determined using each individual particle.
Supervisor: Till Werner, M.Sc.
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Masterthesis
Due to the escalating extreme weather conditions, the aircraft icing events are increasingly growing. The analysis of this phenomenon has gained increased attention, particularly in the field of aviation safety. A significant contributor to icing is the occurrence of Supercooled Large Droplets (SLD), water droplets suspended in air at temperatures below freezing one. Previous experiments in the scientific community have predominantly focused on the normal impact of these droplets on solid surfaces with low velocities.
Our research aims to expand this understanding by considering rotating surfaces and high relative impact velocities. This approach will closely simulate real-world conditions that an aircraft wing's experience.
The project consists of using an existing single-water-drop impact set-up with a rotating disk and measuring, by means of a chromatic line sensor (CLS), the thickness of the ice layer formed on the disk.
Supervisor: Reda Kamal, M.Sc.
Masterthesis
Extreme weather conditions are increasingly contributing to aircraft icing events, which pose significant safety risks. The analysis of this phenomenon has gained increased attention, particularly in the field of aviation safety.
Our research aims to better understand the involved phenomena by analyzing the single drop impact on moving surfaces at high relative impact velocities and the associated heat transfer. This approach will closely simulate the real-world conditions that aircraft wings experience.
The project involves simulating the conjugate heat-transfer of a single water drop impact onto a moving substrate to replicate existing infrared-imaging experimental data.
Supervisor: Reda Kamal, M.Sc.
2025/06/13
Advanced Design Project (ADP)
After flying in a freezing condition, the aircraft wings get to a temperature below 0°C. When these wings interact with a cloud, it develops ice structures. The unprotected area on the wing poses risk of runback icing. One such areas and our area of interest is the grooves near the flaps and spoilers. Any real-life groove must have a groove curvature, which is also important while studying liquid transport. In the literature, such a groove has already been studied under an isothermal condition. However, the effects of heat transfer and phase change, which is very prominent in aircraft icing applications, has never been discussed. To capture these effects, a known but highly wettable surface must be used. As ice is super-hydrophilic, which tend to increase the rivulet spread and hence also increases the ice effected zones inside the grooves
Supervisor: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jeanette Hussong
