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Faculty Profile
The faculty is distinguished by its integrated, interdisciplinary research topics, which include earth sciences and geography; raw materials and waste disposal technology; and materials engineering. The faculty can draw on a wealth of expertise that enables it to assess the availability and extraction of geo-resources and the materials that are derived from them – in particular, the analysis and development of low waste material flows, all the way from raw materials exploration and extraction to product design and recycling.
The work of the earth sciences and geography departments at RWTH Aachen University aims to gain a deeper understanding of the earth as an environment for all living creatures and to contribute to preserving our natural habitat by finding ways to use its resources efficiently and sustainably.
Teaching and research both focus on providing insight into the earth’s past and future development and on the utilisation of its georesources. The Department of Raw Materials and Waste Disposal Technology is dedicated to raw materials technology and raw materials management. Extracting and processing primary raw materials continues to be an important sector of the German economy, and the raw materials market is a global growth market. The demand for trained personnel in this area currently exceeds supply, ensuring excellent career prospects for new students in the field. A further focus of research and teaching at the department is the extraction and processing of essential raw materials worldwide for metal production, energy feedstock, minerals for industry and raw materials for construction, as well as the recycling of metal, glass and paper to produce secondary raw materials.
The Department of Metallurgy and Materials Technology works on developing, manufacturing and processing metal and non-metal materials into products for industry, technology and use in medicine. It includes materials ranging from steels and copper, aluminium and titanium alloys to glass, ceramics and cement. The department’s primary focus is on materials design – i.e. the optimisation of the mechanical and surface properties of materials and the extraction, processing and recycling of materials using cutting-edge production processes – including quality control – with environmental protection and energy management as primary considerations. Courses and joint research topics that involve students and instructors from all three departments help integrate the faculty. Moreover, the faculty maintains professional ties with major universities and research institutions in the field all over the world.