Henning studied Electrical Engineering (Automation and Control) at Technische Universität Dresden. In 2007 he started working as a Research Associate with the Fraunhofer Institute for Transportation and Infrastructure Systems IVI, Dresden, Germany. In this role his research activities were in the area of modelling and simulation of energy storage systems. Since 2017 he focused on system development and integration for battery electric drive systems in commercial vehicles and worked as a project manager in various European projects for the development and introduction of alternative drive concepts in long-distance freight transport.
What was your original motivation to become a researcher/project manager?
Research and development in the area of battery-electric drive systems and automated driving especially in applications of public transport and commercial vehicles gives me an opportunity to contribute to the social responsibility of mitigating the effects of climate change. Supporting the project management additionally helps to get an overall picture of the challenges and tasks to be solved by R&D, the industry and the affected stakeholders.
What is your (main) research area today?
I mostly engage in the development and implementation of technologies and algorithms for automated operation of vehicles in various applications and environments like logistics yards, depots and agriculture.
What is the main focus of your team in ZEFES?
The ZEFES project will demonstrate heavy-duty long-haul vehicle combinations with a distributed zero-emission battery-electric powertrain. To guarantee safe operation on public roads, the Fraunhofer IVI team specifies these distributed powertrain concepts and investigates their functional safety. Moreover, the e-dolly is adapted to form a part of the distributed powertrain in a fully electric vehicle combination. Finally, Fraunhofer IVI contributes to the vehicle simulation platform and the digital twins by providing battery models and state estimators (especially for SOH).
From all your activities within the project, what are you the most proud of/keen to share with the public?
I am particularly proud of our contribution to the e-trailer development. Electrified semitrailers and dollies are one element of realizing the transition of long-haul freight transport towards a zero-emission future. These vehicle units provide range extension and enable the applicability of battery-electric drive systems in EMS vehicle combinations. Additionally, the dolly can be used as stand-alone towing vehicle for automated manoeuvring of trailers on yards and terminals, making yard operations more efficient, safe and reliable.
How do you expect the ZEFES results will impact your organisation and the transport sector in Europe?
Involving diverse stakeholders of the European transport sector the ZEFES project will provide valuable information about the applicability of zero-emission heavy-duty vehicles in daily logistics mission and thus will speed up the adoption in the industry. The project allows us to further develop our methodologies in major research fields such as battery modeling, vehicle simulation, functional safety and system integration, increase visibility, and gain potential customers.
