Young Professionals Award for Mohammad Ansari – an award from SPE Central Europe for young talent in plastics engineering

With his master's thesis “Methodological Development for the Disassembly of Vehicle Interior Parts with a Focus on Design for Recycling and Design for Disassembly,” Mohammad Ansari has developed the first method that enables a systematic assessment of the disassembly suitability of vehicle interior parts, with particular emphasis on the principles of design for disassembly and design for recycling. This creates a systematic basis for decision-making for the quantitative evaluation of the recyclability of both current components and future, ideally more sustainable design strategies. In the thesis, the innovative approach is clearly illustrated and verified using the example of a center armrest.

The master's thesis was written at the IKK in collaboration with Grammer AG.

Background

The automotive industry faces the challenge of making the service life and end of life of vehicles more sustainable through the application of various recycling strategies in order to meet future regulatory requirements that promote the circular economy. A major obstacle to implementing these requirements is currently the difficulty of dismantling complex components, especially vehicle interior parts, for repair, replacement, or recycling. The high number of connecting elements, the variety of plastics used, and the often complex design with welded and bonded components make efficient dismantling and downstream material separation difficult, thus contradicting the principles of recycling.

The Young Professionals Award is intended to serve as a springboard to a successful career for young scientists and engineers. It was presented for the third time this year by the International Society for Plastics Technology.