Since 2003 a Next Generation Award is given for innovative works within the context of the International Railway Vehicle Conference Dresden.
This year the team leader of the group structural integrity of the IFS, Dr.-Ing. Florian Dörner, was awarded the prize for his outstanding doctoral thesis entitled “Method for the Verification and Validation of Finite Element Calculations in the Wheel-Rail Normal Contact”.
According to the tradition that the doctoral supervisor gives a laudatory speech, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Christian Schindler reported first on the professional career of Dr. Dörner and then presented the studies performed within the work in order to inform the audience about the importance of the awarded doctoral thesis regarding the understanding of the wheel-rail contact.