Iman Taha has been a professor at Aalen University of Applied Sciences since 2021. As Professor of "Sustainable Materials in Plastics Technology", she researches environmentally friendly plastics in particular, which can be recycled and reused. Not least due to the plastic waste problem, the development of sustainable plastics is more topical than ever and has been a matter close to Prof. Dr. Iman Taha's heart since her doctorate. She has now been awarded the Aalen University of Applied Sciences' Research Prize 2025 for her special commitment and outstanding assignment, credit, performance in research.
"Of course, I was delighted, but above all, I didn't expect to find myself on the roll of honor of the great researchers of the institution of higher education so quickly," smiles Prof. Dr. Iman Taha when asked how she reacted to the news of the awarding of the research prize. Since Iman Taha was appointed to the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science at the end of 2021, she has built up the Department, Institute for Sustainable Polymers and Composites (iSPC) and successfully acquired numerous externally-funded projects, among other things. But she has not exactly taken things slowly outside of research either: she is Vice Dean of the faculty, coordinator of the English-language masters/master's program in Polymer Technology and senate's representative for Sustainable Development.
However, Taha was by no means born with an enthusiasm for plastics. Born in Düsseldorf, she moved to the Egyptian capital Cairo at primary school age and completed her Abitur, university entrance qualification there, initially studying Mechanical Engineering with a special field of construction and production technology at the Ain Shams University in Cairo. During her Studies, Taha completed all of her internships abroad in Germany and thus also got to know Clausthal University of Technology. She then completed her doctoral thesis, doctoral dissertation on a plastics topic at the Department, Institute for Polymer Materials and Plastics Technology at Clausthal University of Technology, after "additive manufacturing" did not work out as the desired topic for her doctorate. Taha laughs: "That was actually a good thing, because I have remained true to my topic ever since and was able to develop a deeper understanding of fiber composites and natural fiber-reinforced plastics. It often feels like there is none other material in Mechanical Engineering apart from steel." After completing her doctorate in 2007, Taha took up a position as Associate Professor in Cairo before moving to the Fraunhofer Institute for Casting, Composite and Processing Technology IGCV in Augsburg as Director of XXX in 2014. In 2018, she worked on/towards a postdoctoral qualification (Habilitation) as Full Professor of Material Engineering at Ain Shams University.
Teaching as the spice in the soup
"The professorship for "Sustainable Materials in Plastics Engineering" advertised at Aalen University of Applied Sciences in Aalen was exactly what I wanted: On the one hand, the given topic of Sustainability in Plastics Technology was already quite specific, but at the same time I also saw a lot of freedom in it," explains Prof. Dr. Iman Taha. "As a Director of XXX at the Fraunhofer Institutes, I mainly carried out research and was involved in organizational matters, so I was still missing the teaching part," she continues. Contact with students in particular is both an inspiration and an incentive for Taha: "I don't just like sharing my knowledge - after a certain amount of time, it feels like you're always stirring the same soup, which is why I'm always open to external spices - I'm super curious," she explains with a wink.
As Senate's representative for Sustainability, she focuses on making not only students but also staff and colleagues aware of the topic of sustainability and opening up the whole range of topics to them. This includes, among other things, applying for projects with a sustainability aspect. Taha and her colleague Prof. Dr. Katharina Weber are also promoting education in the field (of) Sustainability through the future endowed professorship for Life Cycle Engineering, which is funded by the Carl Zeiss Foundation.
"The biggest and coolest project I'm currently working on is the RewitAl project with funding from the state of Baden-Württemberg and the European Union," says the professor, adding: "A lot of people, not just our students and staff, can identify with it. It's about recycling plastic from synthetic turf pitches. I really like training with the students, getting fresh thoughts and ideas and moving a project forward together!" The YouTube video for the project, in which "Coach Taha" quickly instructs her staff soccer team RewitAl for the artificial turf recycling mission and makes a confident appearance in front of the sports press, shows that things can also be quite relaxed.
More information about the RewitAl project can be found on YouTube: https: //www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQUPR-uI_2k
