User:Tilman SOPAT/Sebastian Maaß en

Dr. Sebastian Maaß, born on 30 May 1979 in Neustrelitz, Mecklenburg, Germany, is a German process engineer and entrepreneur. He is the founder and CEO of the company SOPAT GmbH and is known for his work in particle measurement technology and his various publications and presentations in process engineering. He was awarded the Young Research Award from the European Federation for Chemical Engineers in the field of mixing for his work on his doctoral degree.

Life
Dr. Maaß performed both his undergraduate and doctoral studies at the Technical University of Berlin in Energy and Process Engineering. In 2011, Dr. Maaß graduated summa cum laude with his doctorate.

Dr. Maaß’s dissertation entitled “Experimental analysis, modeling and simulation of drop breakage in agitated turbulent liquid/liquid-dispersions” dealt with the importance of drop size distribution in technical applications. With his knowledge, in 2012 he founded SOPAT GmbH where he serves as the company’s CEO and been developing systems for intelligent particle measurement technology. The in-situ technology that he developed has enabled automatic process monitoring which has increased transparency and efficiency, especially in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. Based on his expertise, Dr. Sebastian Maas serves on the board of the working party for the Characterization of Particulate Systems (ChoPS) from the EFCE and the board of the working party on particle sizing instruments.

Awards
Based on special research achievements conducted as a doctoral student, Dr. Maaß  was awarded with the Young Research Award from the European Federation of Chemical Engineers in Mixing in 2012, which is given once every three years to one Ph.D. in Europe for exceptional research in the field of mixing. Dr. Maaß also had publication receive international acclaim, receiving the 2011 Best Paper Award at the 18th International Conference on Process Engineering and Chemical Plant Design. With more than 40 publications and 100 lectures, Dr. Maaß is one of the leading authorities in the field of particle measurement.

The innovation Dr. Maaß in his research is now used to advance his company, SOPAT GmbH. SOPAT develops measuring systems that are used for process monitoring in industrial production and are also currently used by numerous research institutions. SOPAT has already won several awards for its innovative technology, most recently taking 3rd place in the "IKT - Gründung des Jahres 2015" (Foundation of the Year) award announced by the Federal Ministry of Economics. In 2015 SOPAT was named one of the “Ausgezeichneten Orte im Land der Ideen" (Excellent Places in the Land of Ideas).

List of Awards

2011: EFCE Young Research Award in Mixing

2012: Business Plan Wettbewerb Berlin-Brandenburg, Science4Life , EFCE Young European Research Award , EXIST-Stipendium

2013: Step Award der FAZ und InfraServ

2015: IKT-Gründung des Jahres, Ausgezeichneter Ort im Land der Ideen , state winners Berlin of the KfW GründerChampions

2017: Anniversary award of the Berliner Volksbank

SOPAT
SOPAT (Smart Particle Analysis Technology) is a manufacturer of particle measurement probes. The company was founded in 2012 as a spin-off of a project from the Technical University of Berlin and is headquartered in Berlin.

SOPAT produces and sells probes for computer-aided, real-time monitoring of particulate systems, especially in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. The measuring systems visualize and analyze the shape, size, and distribution of solid or fluid particles in both gaseous and liquid media. The technology uses in-situ analysis, meaning that it is directly in the process, allowing process control based on particle size for the first time.

The first product of SOPAT GmbH, the SOPAT-VR probe, is used in experimental laboratory work for monitoring and process control. Within the growing process industry market, the importance of process automation systems (PAS) is increasing. SOPAT is the technologic leader in the process analysis technologies (PAT) submarket.

Product Portfolio and Technology

SOPAT focuses on development of complete systems for automated particle measurement. In addition to strong research relevance, industrial applications of particle measurement technology are becoming increasingly important. The photo-optical approach solves the problem of laser-backscatter, which occurs in conventional laser-based methods. SOPAT is the only manufacturer to analyze photo-optical images in real time. These measurement systems have a wide range of applications including petrochemical, pharmaceutical, and biotechnology industries, among others.

Selected Publications, a complete list can be found here
[1] Cocke, J. and Maaß, S., 2017. Cross Linking Between the Baffling Effect and Phase Inversion During Liquid–Liquid Monomer Mixing, Macromolecular Reaction Engineering, 11(4): 1700015-n/a.

[2] Panckow, R.P., Reinecke, L., Cuellar, M.C. and Maaß, S., 2017. Photo-Optical In-Situ Measurement of Drop Size Distributions: Applications in Research and Indus-try, Oil Gas Sci. Technol. – Rev. IFP Energies nouvelles, 72(3): 14.

[3] Maaß, S., Rojahn, J., Hänsch, R. and Kraume, M., 2012. Automated drop detection using image analysis for online particle size monitoring in multiphase systems. Computers and Chemical Engineering, 45: 27-37.

[4] Maaß, S., Paul, N. and Kraume, M., 2012. Influence of the dispersed phase fraction on experimental and predicted drop size distributions in breakage dominated stirred liquid-liquid systems. Chemical Engineering Science, 76: 140-153.

[5] Maaß, S. and Kraume, M., 2012. Determination of breakage rates using single drop experiments, Chemical Engineering Science, 70: 146-164.

[6] Maaß, S., Wollny, S., Voigt, A. and Kraume, M., 2011. Experimental comparison of measurement techniques for drop size distributions in liquid/liquid dispersions, Experiments in Fluids, 50(2): 259-269.

[7] Maaß, S., Metz, F., Rehm, T. and Kraume, M., 2010. Prediction of drop sizes for liquid-liquid systems in stirred slim reactors - Part I: Single stage impellers, Chemical Engineering Journal, 162(2): 792-801.