International Collaboration on Hybrid Lightweight Structures between Open Hybrid LabFactory and SIMTech
OHLF AND SIMTECH SIGNING MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Open Hybrid LabFactory (OHLF) Germany, and the Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology (SIMTech), was signed at the Precision Engineering Centre of Innovation (PE COI) Annual Conference on April 19, 2018 in the presence of the President of the Technical University of Braunschweig, Prof. Anke Kaysser-Pyzalla and Ted Tan, Deputy CEO Enterprise Singapore. The collaboration aims to establish a globally recognised competence for Lightweight Structure technologies across the entire value chain of the automotive and aerospace industries in Germany and Singapore.
In January 2018, a delegation of research and industry members of the Open Hybrid LabFactory visited the Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology (SIMTech). The delegates met with potential future research partners in Singapore to coordinate future cooperation and develop initial project ideas. The synergies discovered there and the expressed commitment to cooperate with each other in the future resulted in the signing of the memorandum of understanding for future cooperation.
“We are very pleased that the Memorandum of Understanding has been signed today. With SIMTech, Open Hybrid LabFactory has found a research partner that operates on an eye-to-eye level and carries out similarly strong industry-related research. The first joint project ideas are already in agreement and will now be elaborated in the coming months,” said Prof. Dr. nke Kaysser-Pyzalla, President of the Technical University of Braunschweig and Deputy Chairwoman of the Advisory Board of Open Hybrid Lab Factory e.V., underlining the importance of the signing in order to establish the lightweight construction campus in the Asia-Pacific economic and research landscape and to win further project partners.
The MoU signing was witnessed by Professor Anke Kaysser-Pyzalla, President of Technische Universität Braunschweig and vice chairman of the OHLF advisory board, H.E. Dr Ulrich Sante, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Singapore, and Mr Ted Tan, Deputy CEO of Enterprise Singapore, as well as Professor Tan Sze Wee, Executive Director, Science and Engineering Research Council, A*STAR.
In addition to signing the memorandum of understanding for future cooperation, the research topics of the Open Hybrid LabFactory have been presented to an international expert audience at PE COI Annual Conference 2018 in Singapore. Prof. Klaus Dilger, head of the Institute for Joining and Welding Technology and first chairman of the Open Hybrid LabFactory e.V., gave insights into the latest research results of simultaneous material and production technology development in multi-material systems for hybrid lightweight construction. Prof. Christoph Herrmann spoke on the megatrend “Industry 4.0”.
Asia Pacific” excellence cluster
As one of ten German clusters and networks, Open Hybrid LabFactory, supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), has been looking for strategic partners for international research cooperation since 2018. The development of complementary competencies in the value chain for hybrid and function-integrated lightweight construction in the Asia-Pacific economic and research landscape is supported by the BMBF’s “Internationalisation of Excellence Clusters, Future Projects and Comparable Networks” measure. The project will receive up to four million euros in funding until 2021.
LightweightCampus Open Hybrid LabFactory
The public-private partnership Open Hybrid LabFactory was initiated in 2012 under the leadership of the Lower Saxony Research Centre for Automotive Engineering (NFF) of the TU Braunschweig together with the industrial partners.
The emphasis of the technological activities focuses on the simultaneous development of materials and production technology in multi-material systems for hybrid lightweight construction. The LightweightCampus offers optimal possibilities and resources for research, development, production and testing of hybrid components for the central future topics of the automotive industry, digitization and resource efficiency.
In addition to the institutes of the Technische Universität Braunschweig, the Leibniz Universität Hannover and the Technische Universität Clausthal, this institution is supplemented and strengthened by the Fraunhofer Project Center.
The Open Hybrid LabFactory is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) as part of the “Research Campus – Public-Private Partnership for Innovations” funding initiative. Other industrial partners, the State of Lower Saxony and the City of Wolfsburg support and promote the lightweight construction campus.
Further information at: open-hybrid-labfactory.de
About the MOU between OHLF and SIMTech
OHLF and SIMTech intend to promote and develop opportunities for collaboration in the areas of Hybrid Lightweight Structures, namely:
- The design and operation of production equipment;
- Equipment, processes, materials and design of hybrid composite-metallic structures and components;
- Eco-efficient manufacturing and repair technologies for functional integrated, individualised composite structures suitable for mass production;
- Understanding and optimising the performance of lightweight structures, taking the entire life cycle into account (life cycle engineering);
- The potential involvement of students, PhD students and the development of staff exchange and training programs where appropriate; and
- Any other collaborative efforts the parties consider to be appropriate from time to time.