The EURADH Jury agreed that the impact of Arikan’s paper on the mechanism for good adhesion on a polymer surface is highly relevant for a multitude of applications and industries, and that her innovative and fundamental understanding of adhesion was particularly commendable.

Arikan is a Research Associate and PhD student at the Universität der Bundeswehr München (University of the Federal Armed Forces) in cooperation with the Bundeswehr Research Institute for Materials, Fuels and Lubricants (WIWeB) in Germany. Her field of research is structural adhesive bonding of high-performance thermoplastics, and she submitted her dissertation this year. As a Research Associate, her field of research is technological, economic and ecological evaluation and optimization of manufacturing process chains as well as the development of innovative manufacturing strategies for the production of fiber-reinforced composite structures.

Kristel Ons, FEICA’s Secretary General, said, “FEICA continues to support the adhesives and sealants industry by encouraging further innovations in our exciting sector. Many of this year’s entries demonstrate how important innovations are to our increasingly circular economy. Ms. Arikan’s paper demonstrates that the use of structural adhesive bonding offers large weight-saving potential compared to conventional joining methods.”

FEICA funds the prize. Arikan will present her work at the FEICA 2021 Conference & EXPO, taking place Sept. 15-17, 2021, and the EURADH 2021 Conference taking place Oct. 10-14, 2021. More information is available via www.adhesionaward.org  and www.feica.eu.