Bertha Benz- Vorlesung

Prize for Excellence
The first winner of the Bertha Benz Prize
for young female engineers is Katharina Fischer.

The winner of the first Bertha Benz Prize is Eng. D. Katharina Fischer from the University of Hannover. She was awarded the prize, which is endowed with 10,000 Euros, on July 9th, following this year's Bertha Benz Lecture, for her research on prolonging the life span of oxide-ceramic fuel cells. For her dissertation, she was lent the title of Eng. D. "with distinction" in October 2008. The scientific excellence and the exceptional practical relevance of her work were, in the eyes of the jury, decisive for choosing her from among a total of 25 nominations from universities and institutes of technology.

In the statement of reasons for awarding the prize, the jury wrote: "With her research on the life span of oxide-ceramic fuel cells, Katharina Fischer has made an innovative contribution to solving a problem of immediate technical, economic, and social importance."

Excerpt of the laudation to the award
of the Bertha Benz Prize
to Eng. D. Katharina Fischer

" ... The response to this first offer of the prize was highly gratifying. To May 15th, 25 nominations had been sent to the foundation. All of them corresponded to the standards required. Decisive for awarding the prize to Eng. D. Fischer was, in the final analysis, besides its scientific excellence, its practical relevance. This consists, in this case, in the importance of fuel cells in the discussion on strongly reduced and low-emission energy consumption".

The dissertation is entitled "Unsteady Behaviour and Thermomechanical Stressing of Tubular Solid Oxide Fuel Cells", and was submitted in 2008 to the Faculty for Mchanical Engineering at the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz University, Hannover. Ms. Fischer recived her doctorate in October 2008 with the overall grade "passed with distinction". Her supervisor and first reviewer was Prof. Joerg Seume from the "Institute for Turbomachines and Fluid Dynamics" at the University of Hannover. The second reviewer was Prof. Stephan Kabelac, in the meantime Professor at the Helmut Schmidt University of the Federal Armed Forces in Hamburg.

Dr. Fischer was nominated by the president of the University of Hannover, Prof. Erich Barke. In the reason for his nomination, he emphasized as especially worth honouring: "Controlling the thermomechanical stress in the ceramic components of these very promising fuel cells is an essential prerequisite for their successful introduction onto the market. In her dissertation, Dr. Fischer identifies the primary causes of thermally-induced failure of the fuel cells studied, and demonstrates how, by means of appropriate control, the risk of failure in operation can be markedly reduced."

This view was also shared by the jury. To quote the statement of reasons: "With her research on the life span of oxide-ceramic fuel cells, Katharina Fischer has made an innovative contribution to solving a problem of immediate technical, economic, and social importance. Besides reducing manufacturing costs, prolonging the life of fuel cells is at present the most important concern of research in this field."

The life of solid oxide fuel cells is limited above all by thermomechanical crack formation in the brittle ceramic material. The purpose of Katharina Fischer's dissertation was to shed light on the causes of crack generation on the example of the tubular oxide-ceramic fuel cells developed by Siemens Westinghouse. The results of her studies are to form the basis for planning correctives.

Her dissertation therefore makes an extraordinarily significant contribution to solving a current social problem.

Katharina Fischer was born in Hannover on June 13th, 1979 as the first of five children, and grew up in the county of Lüchow-Dannenberg. The vicinity of the intermediate storage- and possibly final disposal site for nuclear wastes in Gorleben made, for her, - in her own words -, "the necessity of a reliable, sustainable solution for the energy supply clear, already in my youth, and woke my interest in these problems."

After her secondary shool final examinations in the year 1997 (majoring in Mathematics and Physics, further exam subjects being social studies and music) and after basic practical training in industry, she studied electrical engineering with specialisation in measuring and control engineering. In 1999, she was sponsored by the Foundation of the German Economy; the scholarship financed two stays abroad of five months each - for a study paper in Great Britain, and later for specialised practical training in Mexico. In November 2002, she concluded her studies after 10.5 semesters with distinction.

Her supervisor, Prof. Joerg Seume, emphasized in his review that Ms. Fischer had already during the work on her diploma thesis acquired knowledge about solid oxide fuel cells which extended far beyond the course contents of electrical engineering.

The second reviewer, Professor Stephan Kabelac, emphasizes Ms. Fischer's social commitment in the "public relations work on the subject of our future supply of useful energy". For it, she was awarded the "Zonta Prize" 2006. She has decisively shaped the successful working group "Regenerative Energies" at the University of Hannover for years. Due to her support by the Foundation of the German Economy, she was able to attend and cooperate in a number of seminars on this subject as well.

The background for her long years of involvement in the work group "Regenerative Energies" is her conviction that - in view of diminishing fossil fuel reserves, and in view of the global warming connected with their use - sustainable methods of energy production are very urgently needed. And here I quote Ms. Fischer: "I personally think that nuclear power is neither a sensible nor a responsible solution ... The urgency of the problematics of the energy supply was, above and beyond that consideration, a very important motivation for my dissertation, which was dedicated to the efficient conversion of energy with the help of fuel cells, and with which I could make a contribution to the further development of this promising technology".

I am very pleased when - by all controversies over the use of nuclear energy for generating electricity - personal convictions are combined with a sense of responsibility, clear intelligence, and creativity, as in the case of Ms. Fischer, which finally led to scientific results, the significance and benefits of which become comprehensible for everyone ... "

Photo Gallery of the
26th Bertha Benz Lecture
and of the award
of the Bertha Benz Prize

You can find a photo gallery of the evening of July 9th 2009
here ...

Photos: Jessen Oestergaard

The Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz Foundation awards the Bertha Benz Prize for the first time. Young female scientists from fields of engineering will be honoured annually. The prize, endowed with Euro 10,000.00, is named after Bertha Cecilia Benz, née Ringer.

At the age of 39, Bertha Benz undertook her renowned long-distance tour in the year 1888.

It was always more than just the usual wife's support which, by convention, she owed to her husband. Bertha Benz had been enthusiastic about technology her life long. Even at the age of 84, she spoke in a radio interview with detailed knowledge about the techniccal problems encountered in the invention of the automobile. This enthusiasm was the actual impetus for her commitment to the invention of the automobile, her husband's - Karl Benz's - lifework. Even before their marriage, she invested her dowry in his business enterprise. With him, she tested new motors. And finally, in the year 1888, she undertook, with her two sons, the first long-distance drive in an automobile.

Bertha and Karl Benz in Mannheim, 1894.

*In acknowledgement of this personality, and for the continual commemmoration of this type of unprejudiced outlook, the Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz Foundation annually honours a young German female engineer, who, with her doctoral thesis, has made an outstanding contribution to a field of engineering. The prize will be awarded each summer in the course of the "Bertha Benz Lecture" in the "Benz-city", Ladenburg, in North Baden.

The foundation calls upon the presidents and rectors of German universities with engineering/technical curricula and the right of conferring a doctorate, as well as the directors of research centres, to nominate qualified female candidates. Deadline is May 15th 2009.