About us
The Institute of Sensor and Actuator Technology (ISAT) is an in-institute of Coburg University of Applied Sciences and Arts, founded in 2007 and headed by Prof. Dr. Klaus Stefan Drese und Prof. Dr. Thorsten Uphues. ISAT sees itself as an application-oriented research institute and a driving force for technological innovation. The focus is on the direct demand for innovative products and processes from cooperation partners from a wide variety of industrial sectors (automotive industry, medical technology, process engineering, mechanical engineering, aerospace, etc.).
Particularly in the North Bavarian border region, where ISAT is located, the institute serves as an established expert for answering metrological questions and customer-specific sensor development. ISAT also cooperates with a large number of company partners of various sizes in Germany and other European countries. At present, the institute maintains research and development cooperations with about 50 companies and raised third-party funds amounting to about 1.6 million euros from public funding programmes and cooperations with industrial partners in 2018.
Around 25 employees from various scientific and engineering disciplines (biology, medical technology, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, technical physics, simulation & testing, computer science, product design) in the form of agile development teams ensure efficient processing of customer-specific inquiries.
Scientific profile
ISAT’s portfolio ranges from technology research for industrial applications with high specific requirements through sensor selection, optimization and integration to the development of individual sensor/actuator solutions adapted to the respective industrial requirements.
The institute focuses on three main topics:
ISAT – Institute of Sensor- and Actuator Technology
Coburg University of Applied Sciences and Arts
Am Hofbräuhaus 1b, 96450 Coburg, Germany
Klaus Stefan Drese
klaus.drese@hs-coburg.de
ISAT has particular expertise in the field of microacoustic sensors and actuators. For many years, the Institute has been conducting its own research and development in this field and holds a patent portfolio, some of which is protected worldwide. These competencies are incorporated into a large number of research projects carried out at ISAT.
The technology developed in the Institute is based on the targeted excitation of guided waves – a special form of ultrasound – on technical materials. By using piezoelectric transducers, it is possible to excite specific vibration modes on the outside of components, while the actual interaction of the waves takes place with the inside of the component . Application examples of this non-invasive technology are the detection of biofilms, limescale or other deposits in liquid-filled tubes or hoses or the realization of touch functions on differently shaped technical surfaces and materials. In the field of acoustic actuators, ISAT is researching, among other things, the acceleration of electrochemical reactions by acoustically induced vortex streaming in the vicinity of electrodes in order, for example, to be able to charge accumulators more quickly in the future.
Another thematic focus is optics. Activities here include, for example, the monitoring of critical infrastructure such as bridges by fibre-optic sensors. Concepts and technologies are being developed for questions from optical metrology or the automotive industry, for example, in order to use optical systems and AI-based evaluation algorithms to design image acquisition and evaluation, which can be used, for example, in autonomous driving.
The third and most recent research focus of ISAT is microfluidics. In particular, analytical questions for monitoring chemical or biological industrial processes as well as medical on-site and laboratory diagnostics are in the foreground. Microfluidic systems developed at ISAT can also be used in the future for screening questions and the synthesis of chemicals.
In addition to experimental validation, ISAT is also involved in the simulation of acoustic, optical and fluidic processes.
Equipment
The institute has a laboratory building with 1100 m² usable floor space and high-tech workshops, measuring rooms and special laboratories (e.g. microbiology laboratory; chemistry laboratory, prototype laboratory, laser laboratory, electronics development) at its disposal for carrying out research activities. For two years ISAT has had a further 170 m² of laboratory space in a branch office with a clean room, photolithography and sputtering facility for microstructuring. Further equipment of the institute includes a laser Doppler vibrometer, a confocal laser scanning microscope, a high-speed camera, climate and temperature chambers, a CNC milling machine, data acquisition systems and various CAD and software packages.
