CES Award 2026 for an outstanding Master’s thesis presented

The VDI Düsseldorf has awarded the 2026 CES Sponsorship Prize to Felix Niggemeyer M.Sc., a graduate of TU Dortmund University. The prize recognises his Master’s thesis entitled ‘Investigation of process-stabilising contact effects and potential applications of peripherally modified milling tools with conventional and functionally structured clearance chamfers’.

The award ceremony took place on 20 May 2026 in Düsseldorf. The award was presented jointly by Prof. Dr Hans-Georg Schnürch, Chairman of the CES Advisory Board, Dr Frank Völker, Managing Director of CES in Velbert, and Jean Haeffs, Managing Director of VDI-GPL.

The award-winning work focuses on process stability during the milling of aluminium alloys. The research investigated how specially modified milling tools can help to reduce unstable process conditions and self-sustaining vibrations. Such effects can significantly influence productivity and workpiece quality in manufacturing.

The results show that conventional free-face chamfers can induce elastic stiffening effects. Functionally microstructured chamfers, on the other hand, primarily generate damping mechanisms. As a result, the study demonstrated significant improvements in stability.

Through his work, Felix Niggemeyer highlights new potential for tool development. These findings can help to make milling processes more stable – without the need for complex active systems or fundamental structural changes to the machine system.