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The “Institute for Chemistry and Environmental Engineering” at the Faculty for Mechanical Engineering of the Universität der Bundeswehr München (UniBW M) specializes in the chemical analysis of environmental samples.

Research activities focus on aerosol research, in particular, the chemical and physical characterization of air pollutants and climate-relevant compounds, as well as on the measurement of exhaust gases in combustion processes. One focal point of current and future research lies in examining the exhaust gases of ships, aircraft engines, and road traffic together with testing modern exhaust gas after-treatment systems. For this purpose, the faculty’s facilities, e.g., a vehicle chassis dynamometer incl. CVS tunnel, various light-duty engine test benches, an aircraft combustion chamber simulator, and a helicopter gas turbine test bench can be used. Another main emphasis is the research on transport-related emissions from non-combustion processes. These include the abrasion of brakes, tires, drive components, and road surfaces. Research in this field is carried out by using the institute’s brake and tire test benches.

Another field of activity lies in investigating aging processes in the atmosphere and their influence on the composition of urban, rural, and Alpine ambient air. The chemical/physical tests carried out by the institute are supported by biological analyses (e.g. in­vitro cell studies) conducted at JMSC. The goal here is to provide an indication of potential health hazards for humans. For this purpose, the institute has a modern mobile measurement laboratory for immission and emission analyses. One of the institute's specialties is the real-time measurement of gaseous organic pollutants in combustion processes. This is a method that makes it possible to simultaneously detect a large number of hydrocarbons that are harmful to health in the trace range. The procedure enables online process controls on combustion engines, residential heating, power plants, and industrial plants. The institute uses the technique of time-of-flight mass spectrometry coupled with soft photoionization processes, i.e. single-photon ionization (SPI) and resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization (REMPI) to achieve this. The use cases for the work of the "Institute for Chemistry and Environmental Technology" are numerous. But to stay ahead of the curve, strategic cross-discipline collaboration will be critical. As a result, in summer 2018, the institute signed a cooperation agreement with Helmholtz Munich. Through this cooperation, approximately 50 scientists and engineers at the Universität der Bundeswehr München, Helmholtz Munich, and the University of Rostock spanning mechanical and environmental engineering, chemistry, physics, and biology are currently working on the research of gaseous pollutants and particulate matter in emissions and in the atmosphere as well as their impact on human health and the environment.