High technology from Lego bricks: Fiber drawing tower built as model

More than 3,600 bricks in about 40 hours, then the 1.40 meter high fiber drawing tower made of Lego stood. It was designed and built by the physicist Adrian Lorenz from the Department of Fiber Research and Technology, together with specially designed and custom-made individual parts. “The many visitors to our fiber drawing tower are always fascinated by how a rigid preform is turned into a highly complex, high-precision fiber. How this process works can be illustrated in a Lego model that you can touch and try out in a playful way.”

Adults and children alike were inspired by science and technology, as Adrian Lorenz experienced during the Long Night of Science, when the tower celebrated its baptism of fire. On the model, the drawing plant, which originally extends over four floors, can be seen at a glance with its most important functional units. Visitors will be able to visit the Lego Tower on their way to the real fiber drawing tower.

The Fiber Technology Center at Leibniz IPHT covers the entire fiber technology process: from glass research to preform production and fiber drawing to characterization. Scientists at the institute and industrial and research partners from all over the world work with glass fibers from Leibniz IPHT. They are used as light sources, as fibre-optic sensors or in probes and endoscopes.