The network “VDI Frauen im Ingenieurberuf” (VDI women and an engineering career) initiated a competition for Germany’s young female engineers at the VDI (Association of German engineers) booth at the Hanover Industrial Fair. The objective was to present professional and creative patents, developments, dissertations, and projects with a particular relevance for society. The audience of experts at the Hanover Industrial Fair was going to have the last word and elected the three favoured proposals. Sophia Wagner (in the picture on the right) who is currently doing her Master in Medical Engineering at Ulm University of Applied Sciences received the first prize for her project. The winner will be participating at the congress “VDI Frauen im Ingenieurberuf 2014“ in Nuremberg.

Wagner’s Bachelor Thesis focused on the further development of a water disinfection system. The objective was to prevent the formation or to dissolve biofilms and residues, a hotbed for microbes, in the pipe system. She succeeded in incorporating a relatively small ultrasound generator into the water disinfection system and proved that it is possible to cleanse the water carrying components with the help of ultrasound. The tests were carried out successfully with artificially created biofilms containing Pseudomonas fluorescens, Escherichia coli, and lactobacilli. Wagner’s Bachelor Thesis had been supervised by professors Dr. Martin Heßling and Dr. Rainer Brucher.