Professor Underberg leads the new era of digital automation in Magdeburg!

Professor Underberg leads the new era of digital automation in Magdeburg!

Magdeburg, Deutschland - On March 19, 2025, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Lisa Underberg appointed the Chair for Digital Automation Systems at the Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg. At the same time, she takes over the management of the Institute for Automation and Communication (IFAK), which has been an institute of the university since it was founded in 1991. Prof. Ulrich Jumar, who previously held the management of IFAK, released his office for reasons of age. With her calling, Underberg would like to focus on research, applied research and practice. In this way, she sees a way to integrate fresh ideas and perspectives into the training of the next generation of engineers by conveying methodological competence and critical evaluation of sources.

Underberg's research focuses on the application and integration of radio communication in industrial automation systems. In the current industrial production, management -bound communication systems dominate that offer advantages such as physical demarcation and independence from environmental influences. Nevertheless, radio communication enables greater flexibility, mobility and innovative applications, such as in autonomous vehicles and augmented reality. The challenges such as reliability, security and efficient resource management are not to be neglected.

digital twins as key technology

A central aspect of Underberg's research are the so -called digital twins. These represent virtual images of physical systems and enable precise monitoring and controlling interventions. According to information from Fraunhofer, a digital twin is more than just a model; It includes infrastructure, tools and processes for creating, management and using these digital images and collects real -time data from physical assets. The systems are designed to continuously update models and carry out various analyzes and simulations. This leads to valuable insights and enables optimization of production processes.

The use of digital twins does not only link technical aspects, but also the human factors of communication. Underberg relies on promoting users' acceptance for interactive cooperation with machines. In Industry 4.0, which is characterized by complete digitization and intelligent networking, communication between man and machine is becoming increasingly important.

challenges of Industry 4.0 and IT infrastructure

The successful implementation of digital twins and thus also the Industry 4.0 requires a sophisticated IT infrastructure that supports the requirements for automation. Fraunhofer research emphasizes that it is necessary to aggregate data from the physical reality and to standardize access to this information. For the implementation, a hybrid approach to data storage is favorable, which combines static data in the cloud and frequently updated data on the EDGE.

Another aspect are the standardized interfaces that are crucial for the interoperability between the digital twins. Under the direction of Fraunhofer Iese, research is being carried out for the development of such administrative shells that enable uniform management of the assets. Such systems are central to be able to successfully act in an increasingly networked world of production.

With her double role as a professor and institute manager, Lisa Underberg has the opportunity to actively address these challenges and to set new standards for the future of industrial automation and communication.