Marion Börnhorst

A coil-based sampling extension was implemented to enable the integration of a capillary-based sampling method with FTIR analysis.

NaWuReT (dt. “Nachwuchsreaktionstechnik”) is the early‐career network of the DECHEMA Section on Chemical Reaction Engineering. Since its founding in 2011, it has connected early‐career reaction engineers from academia and industry, created spaces for exchange across generations, and supported professional development through recurring formats such as the NaWuReT Colloquium, summer schools, and the NaWuReT‐Grant for international research stays. This article summarizes NaWuReT's origins, its role within DECHEMA, and the activities through which the network strengthens community building, international collaboration, and education in chemical reaction engineering.

The Nachwuchs Reaktionstechnik (NaWuReT) is an organization of early‐career chemical engineers in the DECHEMA/VDI subject division Reaction Engineering. In the spring of 2024, the annual colloquium was held as a series of online lectures featuring five distinguished late‐career academics and experts from industry. The speakers shared insights into how they transformed their efforts and ideas into successful careers in academia and industry. Additionally, they provided valuable recommendations for early‐career chemical engineers, offering a critical resource for professional development in the field.

Unsteady film flows play an important role in intensifying heat and mass transfer processes, with applications, e.g., in falling film absorbers or reactors. In this context, the influence of surface structure modification on the wave dynamics of falling film flows is experimentally investigated based on localized film thickness time series data. Arrays of rectangular ridges oriented perpendicular to the main flow direction are considered, and an optimum ridge distance is identified, at which particularly strong interfacial oscillations are induced in the falling film. These potentially result from the interaction of the flow with a statically deformed base film under resonance-like conditions. The transient destabilization is amplified in the case of narrow ridge sizes, where inertia-driven flow features are particularly pronounced. With regard to mass transfer applications, the structure-induced increase in gas–liquid interfacial area may be of secondary importance compared to changes in internal flow conditions.

The Nachwuchs Reaktionstechnik (NaWuReT) is an organization of early‐career chemical engineers of the DECHEMA/VDI subject division Reaction Engineering. In the spring of 2023, we organized a series of online lectures involving five invited speakers from industry to shed light on different career opportunities. The speakers gave insights into their individual career pathways and presented their current projects, both of which sparked active discussions among speakers and attendees.

Sustainability has become one of the greatest scientific challenges of our time. Redesigning the chemical value chain with sustainable reactions and non‐fossil feedstocks, closing cycles in energy storage and digitalization demand interdisciplinary scientific excellence. The summer school organized by the early career researchers groups of Germanys reaction engineering and catalysis community aimed to bring together young scientists from reaction engineering and catalysis with experts from industry and academia to work on sustainable chemistry, energy storage and digitalization. During three days of lectures, workshops and intensive group work, the hot topics of our time were discussed and seminal ideas to tackle current challenges were formed.