Plastics technicians among themselves

Anyone walking past the new technical center of the Fraunhofer Institute in Zittau on the afternoon of 8 December 2016 could get the impression that a brigade of industrious brownies was preparing for the coming Christmas. They weren't brownies, of course, but the plastics engineering students from Liberec and Zittau were hard at work. As part of the joint project "GreK" (Grenzüberschreitender Lehrverbund Kunststofftechnik Zittau-Liberec), the first German-Czech plastics technology internship has now taken place in Zittau, in which students from the universities of Zittau/Görlitz and Liberec take part in a joint demonstration internship.

The aim of such an internship is to give students a practical demonstration of what is taught and thought through in theory in the lectures and seminars. Experience has shown that students' motivation and learning success are significantly higher if they can experience the practical relevance of the course content at first hand. During the internship in Zittau, for example, various reinforcing textiles were processed with epoxy resins to gain an insight into how lightweight and extremely stable fiber composite components can be produced, which are used in rotor blades in wind turbines or in aircraft construction, for example.

The students learned that the hot pressing of fiber-reinforced plastic parts is an art in itself in the test hall at the Rucks press system, where so-called organic sheets are formed at pressures of over 2000 kN and lightweight components suitable for large-scale production, e.g. for the automotive industry, are manufactured. Only the well-balanced coordination of temperature, pressure and time leads to components that meet customer requirements in terms of functionality and appearance. These and other insights, such as the production of complex components in a 3D printer, were gained during the half-day practical course.

Two weeks earlier, the Zittau students had already gained a practical insight into how blow molding and injection molding processes work, in which everyday objects as well as resilient components such as bumpers for cars are produced automatically and in short cycle times from plastics. The special feature of the cooperation with the TU Liberec in the Department of Plastics Technology is that the Czech colleagues also have a state-of-the-art technical center, in which they have different testing facilities than in Zittau. By combining the technical equipment and expertise in Zittau and Liberec, students on both sides of the border are offered a large field in which they can gain extensive practical insights into the world of modern plastics and lightweight construction technologies. Companies and research institutions are increasingly emphasizing the importance of good training in this industrial sector and are looking for young engineers and managers in this growing segment.

Following this successful start, the internship exchange will be continued intensively. The next step will be an excursion to the company MAGNA in Liberec, which has become the market leader in the production of injection molded components for the automotive industry. In return, an excursion to the company RCS in Königsbrück will take place at the beginning of the new year. Among other things, RCS manufactures the front masks for ICE trains from fiber-reinforced plastics and also wants to offer students the opportunity to lend a hand in the production of lightweight fiber composite components. With this in mind, we wish all those involved in the project continued successful cooperation.

Further information in Czech can be found here.