Lucerne young researchers receive Siemens Excellence Award

Zürich/Luzern , May 2022

Patrick Heller and Lorenz Rüegsegger have received the Excellence Award from Siemens Switzerland. The two young researchers from the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts have developed a system for the decentralized treatment of domestic hot water that has a high energy-saving potential.

This year, the national Siemens Excellences Award, worth CHF 10,000, went to two graduates of the building technology course at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts . Patrick Heller and Lorenz Rüegsegger were honored for their bachelor thesis “Optimal control for a new type of decentralized latent storage module in an apartment building”. The two young researchers from Lucerne had developed a system for decentralized domestic hot water treatment in cooperation with BMS Energietechnik AG in Bern. Here, a fresh water station is operated by a decentralized heat pump, which draws its evaporation energy from the heating circuit in winter and from the room heating in summer.

“The system has a high potential for energy savings and should be used in the long term in new buildings in the residential sector,” explains Siemens Switzerland in the press release. According to her, the development of the young researchers is “not only nationally, but also internationally scalable and therefore also a promising approach from an economic point of view”. It was also important for the jury that the project be continued together with the industrial partner.

“With the Excellence Award, we want to motivate young people to deal with scientific topics that can be implemented in practice,” Gerd Scheller, Country CEO of Siemens Switzerland, is quoted in the statement. The award is part of Siemens’ Generation 21 educational program, which promotes young talent in the natural sciences and technology.

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