The Lausitz - Life & Technology (L&T) alliance successfully raises investment funds from the BMBF.
The Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences and the Fraunhofer Institute for Machine Tools and Forming Technology (IWU) in Zittau have successfully raised a total of 3 million euros in investment funds for Upper Lausitz from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) as part of the Lausitz - Life & Technology (L&T ) alliance.
Research institutions were able to apply for the investment funds as part of the WiR! - Wandel durch Innovation in der Region (Change through Innovation in the Region ) programme to improve innovative capacity in the areas of additive manufacturing and networked energy systems and storage technologies, as well as to strengthen communication within the alliance (digitalization). Of the EUR 3 million approved, the HSZG acquired around EUR 1.4 million for technological investments for the analysis and modification of surfaces, for systems for the investigation of high-temperature storage systems and a high-energy pulse laser for researching the space charge zones in elastomers. The Fraunhofer IWU in Zittau was able to raise around 1.6 million euros for a powder-based high-performance 3D printer with a large build space and multi-laser technology for the fast and efficient additive manufacturing of large, complex metal components on an industrial scale.
The following video provides a good insight into what will happen with this printer and what impact it will have on the local industry:
This federal funding will be used to make long-term investments in Upper Lusatia and strengthen the development of unique regional features. The cooperative approach of the alliance is a particular advantage here. More than 70 regional companies, Lusatian stakeholders and research institutions are now active in the L&T network, providing important impetus for upcoming research projects and development processes as well as market opportunities for users in Lausitz. The investments form the technical basis for specific R&D projects of the L&T Alliance and lead directly to a technological advantage for the project consortia.
In the "Networked energy systems and storage systems" innovation field, the strategic goal is to drive forward the expansion of Lausitz as a business and research location in the field of energy economics with a focus on modern storage technologies and a decentralized energy supply. The "Additive manufacturing" innovation field focuses on more cost- and resource-efficient production through the use of new 3D printing technologies.
Prof. Sebastian Scholz, Head of the Fraunhofer Plastics Center Oberlausitz, explains: "In close cooperation with regional companies, we want to research and further develop new additive manufacturing technologies and successfully bring them into industrial application. To this end, we are procuring a powerful and versatile metal 3D printer that can be used both for basic research and for the efficient production of high-quality structural components on an industrial scale."
”Prof. Raj Kollmorgen, Vice-Rector for Research at the HSZG, emphasizes: "In the field of additive manufacturing, the individual investment applications from the HSZG and Fraunhofer IWU form a further element towards a technological innovation cluster within the alliance. The task of the innovation cluster is to bundle research and development resources, implement them in concrete projects and create and sustainably anchor value chains in Lausitz from Fraunhofer IWU and the HSZG to companies in the region."
”The HSZG's investment application also takes into account the fact that networking and alliance work was and still is a particular challenge in times of the coronavirus pandemic. The aim here is to strengthen digital communication within the alliance, but above all in the region. On the one hand, this involves supporting the transfer of knowledge within the alliance and, on the other, establishing new digital communication technologies for the region. This package within the overall investment application includes, for example, state-of-the-art VR (virtual reality) and AR (augmented reality) end devices, but also investments in the digital creation, processing and use of scientific content or topics. These in turn serve STEM education on the one hand, but can also be used by companies for the purpose of further training on the other.
Further information on the individual projects can be found in our project overview. Information on the project Wir! - Change through innovation in the region can be found on the website of the Federal Ministry at innovation-strukturwandel.de/wir
