General assembly of TRR 402 DediGrad in Aachen

The general assembly focused on current developments within TRR 402 DediGrad, project-related discussions and further coordination between the participating subprojects. In addition, the meeting offered numerous opportunities for professional and personal exchange. Direct dialogue remains a key driver for new ideas and successful collaboration – both in research and in knowledge and technology transfer.

The International Summer School “Sustainability in FRP Production Processes”, hosted by Prof. Kathrin Greiff, showed how academic exchange and team spirit can go hand in hand.

In addition to presentations by experts from research and industry, the programme offered many opportunities for networking. These included a guided tour of the Klein Printen bakery in Aachen with tasting, a city tour focusing on RWTH Aachen University and a joint bowling evening.

A special format was the speed dating session for doctoral researchers: each project was presented in just two minutes and repeated several times. This gave participants a compact and effective way to learn more about the topics, projects and people within TRR 402 DediGrad.

The thematic focus of the summer school was shaped by contributions from academia and industry. Speakers included Prof. Dr Kathrin Greiff (RWTH Aachen), Dr Thomas Becker (BMW AG), Jule Klein (Discover Airlines), Prof. Tomasz Klepka (University of Lublin), Prof. Henning Wilts (Wuppertal Institute), Dr Bartłomiej Ambrożkiewicz (University of Lublin), Prof. Stefan Böschen (RWTH Aachen), Dr Monika Stącel (Mercator Fellow DediGrad / University of Sanok) and Prof. Waldemar Pichór (AGH University of Science and Technology, Kraków).

A thematic group work session on different aspects of sustainability in fibre-reinforced composites rounded off the technical part of the event.

The annual meeting of the Industrial Advisory Board also took place during the event week. The meeting clearly showed that the ideas and concepts being researched and developed within TRR 402 DediGrad are attracting considerable interest from industry. In particular, the rib foot as a weak point in ribbed structures is highly relevant for many industrial applications. Research aimed at reducing or eliminating this weak point therefore has significant economic potential. Against this background, transfer projects within the DFG Collaborative Research Centre programme provide an important opportunity to further develop research results towards industrial application.