Research Highlights

Members of ZLV enjoy a high visibility and recognition as a result of their publications and work at conferences and on research platforms.

With Prof. Alf Kimms, the position of ZLV Director is occupied by an economist whose research activities are focused on Operations Research (OR). This research has applications in the fields of Production Logistics, Freight Transport Logistics and Passenger Transport Logistics. Furthermore, Prof. Kimms has defined Game Theory in Supply Chain Management, Revenue Management (e. g. DFG-funded project on “Revenue Management for Companies in Strategic Alliances”) and Disaster Management (e. g. evacuation scenarios in densely populated metropolitan areas, planning of safety and rescue management for mega events, etc.) as his key research areas.

ZLV members collaborate successfully with leading companies in various industries. They profit from and contribute to the high level of research and innovation found at the major companies (e. g. companies in the automobile, process, chemistry and healthcare industries) as well as in intralogistics and at logistics service providers. Cutting-edge research projects covering a wide range of topics (e. g. questions arising during the planning of distribution networks and manufacturing execution systems (MES)) in the field of Technical Logistics (Prof. Bernd Noche) have made ZLV a recognized partner of national and international industry. An extensive list of patents attests to the vital role played by engineers, in particular, in business and industry.
The project “Sustainable Development of Megacities – Energy-efficient Structures for the Shanghai Region” produced internationally acclaimed results relevant to the structural framework conditions of urban planning and the urban planning possibilities for future-oriented energy-efficient mobility in urban systems within the megacity funding line of the BMBF (Prof. J. Alexander Schmidt and Prof. Jörg Schönharting in cooperation with Tongji University Shanghai, national partners, international corporations and government authorities in China).

Leading research with a focus on the determinants of urban agglomerations is represented by one of the youngest internationally renowned professors within the ZLV. Prof. Jens Südekum belongs to the upcoming generation of scientists in the area of “regional and urban economics” (Handelsblatt Ranking Economists 2007).
Questions related to the mobility of human beings in technical environments are being explored by teams headed by professors in various faculties. The Chair for Physics of Transport and Traffic (Prof. Michael Schreckenberg), which is unique in Germany, is concerned with Traffic Flow Modeling integrating the factor of human behaviour. A group in this department developed the Nagel-Schreckenberg Model, one of the basic theoretical models used in this field worldwide (e.g. to explore the dynamics of “cellular automats”). Outstanding projects carried out in this field include the OLSIM Project (Traffic Situation and Forecast for Major Highways in NRW) and Ruhrpilot (Traffic Management in the Ruhr Area) sponsored by the NRW Ministry for Construction and Traffic, and the PESOS Project (Analysis of Passenger Flows and Onboard Training – Client BMBF).

Two international conference series are being organized in this connection: Traffic and Granular Flow (next conference: 2009 in Shanghai, six conference volumes published to date, a seventh scheduled for publication, Springer Publishers) and Pedestrian and Evacuation Dynamics (next conference: 2008 in Wuppertal, Germany, two conference volumes published to date, Springer Publishers).

The area of mobility education (Prof. Maria Limbourg) focuses on the human being as a participant in traffic. With its excellent scientific work (e. g. in the BMVBS Project “Quality Assurance for Programmes of Traffic Information and Basic and Continuing Traffic Education”), this chair has made significant contributions with a high application potential for the improvement of traffic safety.

Rail and air traffic – with the focus on infrastructure nodes and their importance for socioeconomic development – is a research topic of great interest to the general public (Prof. Rudolf Juchelka: Traffic Nodes as Economic Centres: Railway Stations, Airports and Airport Cities; BMBF Project: Traffic Prevention and Linking at “End-of-runway” Logistic Sites).

Besides passenger transport, the predicted increased demand for freight transport has to be mastered in the interest of preventing bottlenecks threatening economic growth and high employment. At the same time negative environmental impacts have to be minimized. An intensified use of ecologically sound transport systems (i. e. rail transport and Inland Waterway Shipping) is called for. The research conducted by ZVL members (e. g. Institute for Ship Technology and Transport Systems (IST), Development Centre for Ship Technology and Transport Systems (DST)) is aimed at strengthening the competitiveness of inland waterway shipping for goods transport (Current project: DST: Effects of Climate Change on Waterways and Options for Action for the Economy and Inland Waterway Shipping, conducted for the BMVBS together with the MPI for Meteorology).

Logistic “Reverse Loops” and the modeling of material flows are rapidly gaining in importance against the background of the call for sustained development – particularly in densely populated metropolitan areas and areas of high economic activity. Prof. Jan-Dirk Herbell is concerned with the efficient design of logistic systems for waste management. Examples of cutting-edge research here are the waste management concept developed for the Olympic Games in Beijing 2008 (sponsored by the German states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Bavaria) and the environmental management concepts for tourism in the Lake Baikal region in Russia (in cooperation with the Technical University Irkutsk and the German Federal Environment Agency and sponsored by the German Ministry of the Environment (BMU)).

Structure, management and new uses of energy grids is one of the task areas of fundamental importance for the dependent design of economic activities and the energy supply. One area on which the research conducted by Prof. Holger Hirsch and Prof. Peter Jung together with Prof. István Erlich is focused is the integration of information technology and electric power systems in urban areas. The group is currently taking a leading position in two priority BMWiT projects (E-Energy – ICT based energy systems of the future). Moreover, classic energy grids still harbour an enormous development potential. Autonomous temperature-measuring systems are being developed at the chair, for example, which permit strong and safe utilization of the grids. As a result, the reserves slumbering in the energy routes can now be utilized – a prospect which holds out the promise of increased efficiency in connection with the use of regenerative energy sources such as wind energy for energy transport (Prof. Heinrich Brakelmann).