The Institute for Particle Technology was denominated Institute of Mechanical Engineering before Professor Arno Kwade took office as head of the institute in 2005. Initially, however, the institute was founded under the name Institut für Mühlenwesen (Institute of Milling Technology) in 1929 by Professor Stöckmann. In 1976, Professor Jörg Schwedes was appointed head of the institute, and at that time the institute was integrated in TU Braunschweig, making mechanical process engineering an integral part in the education of chemical engineers in Braunschweig.
The initial Institut für Mühlenwesen mainly concentrated its activities on the comminution of agricultural products. Under Professor Schwedes, research on grinding was continued (specifically using impact mills and stirred media mills), and bulk solids technology was established as second field at the institute. The dimensioning and operation of silos, characterization of bulk solids and theoretical works on the mechanical properties of bulk solids were treated in this area. After the Biozentrum (Biocenter) was established at TU Braunschweig in 1987, providing an interdisciplinary center for research on biological systems and also involving the Institute of Mechanical Engineering, combined mechanical-biological processes were started to be studied as third research focus. Here, knowledge of grinding technology and bulk solids was applied to biological processes.
After Professor Kwade was appointed head of the institute, the Institute for Particle Technology was created. The research fields established under Professor Schwedes were continued with a somewhat different focus, leading to the current research groups Grinding, Dispersing and Coating, Bulk Solids and Granular Matters and Bio- and Pharmatechnology. After Juniorprofessor (Assistant Professor) Georg Garnweitner was appointed in 2007, the more chemically oriented research group Nanoparticles and Nanocomposites was installed. Additionally, in the recent years the research group Battery Process Engineering was established.
In 2013, the Junior Professorship was upgraded to a Full Professorship of Nanomaterials, and Prof. Garnweitner’s research group reshaped into the Branch Nanomaterials.
Furthermore, the Working Groups Pharmaceutical Process Engineering and Simulation and Modelling were installed.