Page 10 - ILK Research Report 2020

New board elected – Leichtbau-
Allianz Sachsen e. V. bundles the
scientific expertise of Saxony's
lightweight engineering sector

After the three-year founding phase, the general meeting field of lightweight engineering technologies, because this
of the Leichtbau-Allianz Sachsen e. V. (LAS) on Decem- networking strengthens science and increases Saxony's
ber 3, 2020, the board of directors was newly elected. visibility as a leading international lightweight engineering
The future board of directors will consist of Hubert Jäger research region. As the scientific contact for the Saxon
(Institute of Lightweight Engineering and Polymer Technol- economy, we cooperate closely with companies in the rel-
ogy at TU Dresden), Lothar Kroll (Institute of Lightweight evant sectors and existing associations and networks. The
Structures at TU Chemnitz), Rudolf Kawalla (Institute of Leichtbau-Allianz Sachsen e. V. invites all scientific institu-
Metal Forming at TU Bergakademie Freiberg), Jens Ridze- tions, centers and clusters active in lightweight engineer-
wski (IMA Material Research and Application Technology ing research to benefit from this Saxon networking and to
GmbH) and Robert Böhm (HTWK Leipzig). In the immedi- help shape Saxony's position in lightweight engineering.
ately following constituent meeting of the board of direc-
tors Hubert Jäger and Lothar Kroll were jointly elected as The Leichtbau-Allianz Sachsen e. V. was initiated in the sum-
chairmen. Gerhard Rödel (TU Dresden) did a very good mer of 2016 as a network of the three technical universities
job in the founding phase of the LAS and did not rerun in Chemnitz, Dresden and Freiberg. This was followed at
for the board elections due to his age. The new board of the end of 2017 by the founding of the association of the
directors appreciated his merits in the structuring phase same name, which now has over 50 institutional and per-
of the association and wishes him for his further life way sonal members. The members of the association are com-
all property and much health. prehensively supported both in establishing contacts and
transfers as well as in the representation of interests, public
To the Leichtbau-Allianz Sachsen e. V. relations work, research and advice on public financing
possibilities and numerous events. About the association,
The aim of the Leichtbau-Allianz Sachsen e. V. is to further its goals as well as current projects, members and events
bundle the experts based in Saxony and researching in the the website www.leichtbauallianz-sachsen.de informs.

Key technology lightweight engineering:
Leichtbau-Allianz Sachsen provides recommendations
for action for business, science and skilled workers

Saxony is Germany's formative state in the field of light- of knowledge and technology to Saxony's economy are
weight engineering. Already today, around 75,000 jobs to be strengthened and additional training opportunities
in Saxony are directly related to lightweight engineer- created in order to increase Saxony's expertise and visi-
ing. This is one of the impressive results of the study bility in this key technology.
"Masterplan Excellence in Lightweight Engineering"
commissioned by the Saxon State Ministries of Eco- Compared with the rest of Germany, research institutions
nomics, Labour and Transport and of Science, Culture in Saxony are very successful in attracting third-party
and Tourism, which the Leichtbau-Allianz Sachsen 2020 funding for lightweight engineering research. There are
was able to hand over as part of the LightSax project. currently more than 500 current or planned research
projects involving lightweight engineering. However, about
"Particularly in the aerospace, automotive and transpor- two-thirds of the respondents stated that the lightweight
tation sectors, lightweight engineering offers many op- engineering competencies are not sufficiently perceived
portunities to open up new markets. The dependence outside of Saxony. It is therefore also important to further
of Saxony's economy on the automotive sector, which increase the visibility of lightweight engineering in Sax-
is currently undergoing major changes, could thus be ony, e. g. by bundling initiatives and facilitating transfer
countered and sustainable value-added and growth po- to industry: "Lightweight engineering means research-
tential could be created," says Prof. Rudolf Kawalla, Pro- ing and developing at the limits of physics. This requires
rector for Research at TU Bergakademie Freiberg and a profound understanding in many fields of knowledge,
Chairman of the Leichtbau-Allianz Sachsen, summariz- such as materials mechanics, design methodology and
ing the conclusions of the master plan. According to the process design and life cycle analysis. A technological
study, lightweight engineering research and the transfer lead can only be achieved with an interdisciplinary team

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