Composite materials have accompanied Prof. Dickhut in his professional career from the very beginning. Following his diploma studies in plastics engineering at Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences, he studied in the master course Mechanical and Process Engineering at the Technical University of Darmstadt with a specialization in lightweight construction with fibre-reinforced plastics. In his subsequent doctoral studies at the Technical University of Darmstadt and in his post-doc work in the field of lightweight construction and structures, he was involved in scientific design research into fibre-reinforced plastics and the specially required design solutions for highly stressed force transmission into structural components. Parallel to his studies and doctorate, he was able to gain insights into aircraft construction with a scholarship from Airbus Deutschland GmbH.

In his industrial activities at MT Aerospace as chief engineer and deputy head of the production development department, Prof. Dickhut was co-responsible for the development of the CFRP boosters and the cryogenic CFRP upper-stage tanks of the new Ariane 6 launcher. At the same time, he led research projects in cooperation with German Aerospace Center DLR on structural health monitoring and vibration dampening of composite materials for use in space structures.

In his research and teaching at the University of the Bundeswehr Munich, Prof. Dickhut will focus on scientific design research and design with composites, in particular on the issues of lightweight suitable (hybrid) force transmission into highly stressed structural components made of composite materials. The professorship has a new laboratory with the latest manufacturing facilities for aerospace structures at its disposal, which Prof. Dickhut intends to actively use and expand over the upcoming years.

Department of Mechanical Engineering (in German) Composite Materials and Technical Mechanics (in German) Back to overview