summaery2026 at the Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering: prompt‽ – When Questions Become Solutions
The theme of this year’s summaery is »prompt‽« – a term that naturally brings to mind digital systems and artificial intelligence. But engineering also often begins with a »prompt« – a question, challenge, or problem for which a solution is required.
At the Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, these kinds of answers emerge at the intersection of research, technology, and societal transformation. Students explore natural hazards, resilient structural systems, digital planning and simulation methods, as well as the transformation of existing infrastructure. The exhibited projects show how engineering contributes to making cities, structures, and living spaces sustainable for the future.
Earlier this year during Tag der Ingenieurwissenschaften (Engineering Day), the Faculty focussed on increasing the profile of its research and teaching work. The projects at summaery reinforce this perspective and provide insights into current student work and research questions.
Understanding Natural Hazards, Evaluating Risks, Increasing Resilience
How can we better understand and assess the impact of earthquakes, floods, and other natural hazards? Projects at the Faculty are addressing these questions.
Students from the Natural Hazards and Risks in Structural Engineering (NHRE) international Master's degree programme will be presenting their research on risk and vulnerability analyses in various regions around the world. The projects explore, among other things, building typologies in Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic), and overlapping flood and earthquake risks in Myanmar. Modern risk analysis methods are used to improve hazard assessment and develop appropriate protective measures.
These projects are supplemented by student research work from the Professorship of Advanced Structures. The focal point is the impact of extreme loads on structures, ranging from cascading earthquakes to the seismic evaluation of masonry structures and the analysis of damage and failure mechanisms. Numerical simulations, experimental studies, and shake table tests provide new insights into the behaviour of structural systems under extreme loads.
The interdisciplinary »Structural Soundscapes« project takes an unusual approach: the vibrations of structures are not only measured and analysed, they are also made audible. Project participants developed model structures, investigated their dynamic behaviour, and used sonification to convert the signals into sound. The result? A unique interplay between civil engineering, structural dynamics, and acoustics.