Dresden (dpa/sn) - In Dresden, a new institution is to help in the future to quickly incorporate findings from lightweight construction into new products. The National Lightweight Design Validation Center - as it is officially called - was opened on Tuesday. It is operated by the Institute for Lightweight Construction and Plastics Technology (ILK) at the Technical University of Dresden and is funded by the Federal Ministry of Economics. Small and medium-sized companies in particular should benefit from this. They should have a contact person at eye level in Dresden for all questions of lightweight construction, it said.
The companies can try out new ideas and technologies in a 1,500 square meter hall and get advice from experts. They don't have to pay for the know-how, only for the use of machines, materials and energy. Marco Zichner, head of technology transfer at the ILK with around 250 employees, explained that it is now more important than ever to transfer research results quickly into industrial practice. In principle, the topic of lightweight construction plays a role in all sectors.
According to Zichner, today the main thing is to create closed material cycles. They are a key to sustainable management and the industrial future. It is about developing components, structures and processes that are neutral towards the environment and are as waste-free as possible.
The start-up funding for the center comes from the "Lightweight Construction Technology Transfer Programme" of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection. For this purpose, systems technology worth around 12 million euros was installed in the hall. The transfer program provides a total of 73 million euros in funding every year.
