University of Stuttgart winner of the competition Research Campus

September 25, 2012, Nr. 66

Exemplary cooperation between science and business

The University of Stuttgart is one of the winners of the competition “Research Campus – public-private partnership for innovations“ organised by Bundesministeriums für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF) (Federal Ministry of Education and Research). This information was provided by the Federal Minster Annette Schavan on 25th September 2012 at a press conference of BMBF in Berlin. The application ARENA2036 (Active Research Environment for the Next Generation of Automobiles) was able to assert itself against numerous applications. It made a convincing impression due to its exemplary innovation potential for a versatile production of the future for function-integrated lightweight constructions as well as due to its experimental concept of cooperation between various players under one research factory roof.

The research campus ARENA2036 provides a synergy of research for researchers from institutes and companies on the topic of production and lightweight constructions. They research the basics and develop competitive production models for a flexible factory of the car of the future in the year 2036, the 150th anniversary of the automobile. Lightweight construction materials, such as fibre composites will then be comparatively easy to manage in the serial production as steel and aluminium are today. In addition, the flexible production will replace the rigid production line and use new possibilities of cooperation between man and robot in the factory.

University rector Prof. Wolfram Ressel acknowledged in an initial statement the joint success of the University of Stuttgart and the ARENA partners: “The future project ARENA2036 marks a new epoch in the research partnership. Basic researchers and application-oriented researchers from the University of Stuttgart, from extramural research institutions and industry are putting their heads together at one place on the university campus and taking a joint strategic path from research to the innovative product.“

Prof. Dr. Ing. Herbert Kohler, Head of Research, said for the ARENA partner Daimler AG: “With this cooperation, which is exemplary for the region, we will master the challenges of the serial production of the future, such as sustainability and preservation of resources, variance in drive technologies and reaction speed to radical market changes. We will rethink the setup and the production of the automobile from scratch and in so doing also keep the leadership in the field of innovation here in Germany in future.“
 

The research programme by ARENA2036 is divided into three more technical research fields of materials and construction, simulation and digital prototype, production and research factory as well as in the cross-section area of creativity-cooperation model – transfer of competence. The project is set up for at least 15 years. The positive decision by the jury guaranteed the funding of several startup projects throughout the initial project phase of five years.
Each selected research campus will receive funds of up to two million Euros a year in a period of maximum 15 years.
Along with the University of Stuttgart as responsible applicant in the BMBF competition, the other partners of ARENA2036 are: Deutsche Institute für Textil- und Faserforschung Denkendorf (DITF) (German Institute for Textile and Fibre Research Denkendorf), Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR) (German Centre for Aviation and Space Travel), Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft (FhG), BASF SE, Daimler AG, Robert Bosch GmbH as well as partners in the startup projects, KMU Artur Bär Maschinenbau GmbH and DYNAmore GmbH.

Over 90 consortia from science and business participated in the competition “Research Campus“, which is part of the high-tech strategy 2020 for Germany. An independent jury chose the winners, who were announced in Berlin by the Federal Minister for Education and Research together with the chairman of the jury, Henning Kagermann, President of Deutsche Akademie der Technikwissenschaften (German Academy of Engineering Sciences) and Prof. Ernst Theodor Rietschel, retired President of Leibniz-Gemeinschaft.


Your contact persons:
Dr. Michael Waldbauer, University of Stuttgart, Rector’s Office
Tel. 0711/685-81000, Email: michael.waldbauer (at) rektorat.uni-stuttgart.de

Dr. Hans-Herwig Geyer, University of Stuttgart, University Communication
Tel.:0711/685-82555, Email: hans-herwig.geyer (at) hkom.uni-stuttgart.de
 

Core element of ARENA2036: The research factory for versatile production and lightweight construction Photo: Werner Sobek
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