Interview with Rebekka
What’s your name?
Rebekka Drafz
What are your hobbies?
I play golf since two years ago. Besides the sport itself and the side-effect of being in nature, the mental straight, which is needed, is very fascinating. I also like photography and fireworks, which is why I successfully finished my training as a state-approved pyrotechnician five years ago.
What did you study and what is your highest educational attainment?
I studied Chemistry at Technical University of Clausthal, where I started to work in the field of tribology during my studies. I tried to mime the gecko effect and adapt this fantastic mechanism to foils to achieve a reversible glue mechanism. In 2012, after my diploma thesis, I started my PhD at the institute of physical chemistry in the field of tribology. During this time, I focused on the friction behavior/mechanism between rough surfaces of differing materials. I furthermore developed a new measuring instruments to analyze wear mechanism of polymer coating as well as metal surfaces. To gain a deeper insight into the field of tribology and see things from another perspective, I started my PostDoc at the Leibniz University Hannover in 2015. I lead a subproject of the Collaborative Research Centre 1153-Tailored Forming called “High strength hybrid material zones for complex dynamic stress states with superimposed torsion, rotating bending, and rolling contact loads”. After that, I got a job offer from the industry in 2016. Since then I’m working in the field of tribology.
Where do you work and what’s your position?
I am working at FUCHS Schmierstoffe GmbH as Head of Product Management Automotive OEM.
Since when are you part of working group “Young Tribologists“?
Since September 2015 I’m a member of the working group. What inspired me was the idea to have an exchange with other young tribologists about current topics and to bring them together. This is why I am leading the working group together with Christian Scholz since 2018.
In which part of the group are you currently participating?
Beside the position of the working group leader, I am also leading of the subgroup “Symposium”.
Why are you a member of working group “Young Tribologists”?
During my PhD I missed the contact with young researchers of the same field. I realised that tribology is a highly interdisciplinary field which involves contributions from any natural science or engineering. Thus it is important to have a platform where people with different scientific backgrounds from the field of tribology can interact with each other. This was one of many reasons why I became a member of the group. In addition, I think it is very important to exchange the knowledge between university and the industrial sector as well as to give young students a platform to present themselves.
How did you end up in the field of tribology?
During my PhD I missed the contact with young researchers of the same field. I realised that tribology is a highly interdisciplinary field which involves contributions from any natural science or engineering. Thus it is important to have a platform where people with different scientific backgrounds from the field of tribology can interact with each other. This was one of many reasons why I became a member of the group. In addition, I think it is very important to exchange the knowledge between university and the industrial sector as well as to give young students a platform to present themselves.
What topics are you working on and are there any connections to the field of tribology?
At FUCHS Schmierstoffe GmbH I am responsible for the product management of automotive OEM. The field includes engines oils, shock absorber fluids and transmission fluids as well as in the field of e-mobility. During my work I deal with all different kinds of tribological questions which we are trying to solve together with our customers and suppliers.
Do you have any favorite anecdote about the broad field of tribology?
I only know that this field is excessively big and so complex that we can learn more about it every day. One of my professors said as a joke that if you cannot explain it, it has to be tribology.