From 1 February, Prof. Dr Raphael Pfaff, formerly of FH Aachen, took over the chair and management of the RWTH Aachen University Railway Institute (IFS). Over the next six months, the institute will be run as a parallel professorship together with Prof Dr Christian Schindler.
Prof Pfaff will continue the focus of research at the IFS in the areas of vehicle and chassis concepts, wheel-rail interaction and the automation of driving and expand it to include other topics such as prognostics and health management and the circular economy. His activities will thus serve the Institute’s mission of further improving the competitiveness of rail transport, including its interfaces with other transport systems.
At RWTH Aachen University, the IFS is part of the Research Centre Railways (RCR) and the RWTH profile area Mobility and Transport Engineering (MTE). As a result, and thanks to its extensive national and international network, the institute is very well positioned to contribute solutions to the many challenges in the field of modal shift and sustainability.
During InnoTrans 2024 in Berlin, the IFS recently presented the RailShuttle, which was developed in collaboration for emission-free operation on rural regional rail transport lines.
Railway research at the IFS
The aim of our research is to help make the rail transport system more attractive and competitive. This requires safe, reliable, environmentally friendly, comfortable and affordable vehicles. In addition, it must be made easier for customers to use the railway. This applies to both local and long-distance passenger transport, as well as freight transport and, last but not least, inner-city urban, underground, light rail and tram transport.
The IFS uses state-of-the-art scientific methods to develop concepts for innovative vehicles and their subsystems and components. We are also researching ways to increase the reliability and more efficient maintainability of trains. To this end, the institute has expertise in the fields of system dynamics and track guidance technology, lightweight construction and structural mechanics as well as mechatronics and data processing.
The research topics are:
- Innovative product concepts and lightweight construction
- Assisted, automated and autonomous driving (3A)
- Condition monitoring and digital twin
- Driving dynamics and ride comfort
- Wheel-rail interaction
