Page 15 - Research Report 2021 - Institut für Leichtbau und Kunststofftechnik

Scientist exchange and international partnerships

Due to travel restrictions, only limited mobility took place it one of the best technical universities in the world. A
within the framework of the ERASMUS and IASTE ex- Joint PhD programme with the School of Mechani-
change programmes. Nevertheless, thanks to IASTE, we cal and Aerospace Engineering (MAE) is currently be-
were able to host six interns from Brazil, Ghana, Greece ing established. The deepened networking with NTU Sin-
and Iran at the ILK. Furthermore, we sent an ERASMUS sci- gapore in the field of lightweight engineering that is being
entist to the University of Inha in South Korea for a three- pursued in this way fits perfectly into the ILK's already
month research stay. Other researcher exchange with the robust internationalisation strategy. The further goal is to
Chinese Tongji University and the Chinese-German Uni- strengthen the international education of students and
versity College (CDHK) had to be postponed until 2022. doctoral candidates, the implementation of research
projects, the increase of the ILK's international recogni-
The excellent results of internationalisation in 2021 in- tion. With its stronger focus on the technical and natu-
cluded the successful completion of Dr. Valverde's doc- ral sciences, the NTU can significantly complement the
torate in the Joint PhD-Programme with the University teaching and research at the TU Dresden. In return, the
of Bristol. The results of his PhD thesis are reported on TU Dresden can bring the partnership its competence
page 81. of high interdisciplinarity in the processing of research
questions and expertise in the transfer of scientific solu-
In July 2021, the kick-off meeting of the DAAD-project tions into practice. A partnership of both universities
“Development of the innovative technology for the combines these diverse competences and allows the in-
production of hybrid structures” took place. In ad- stitutions to appear internationally as thought leaders of
dition, further visits were realised within the framework a sustainable and inclusive scientific society. The MAE at
of the ILK's cooperation project with the AGH Krakow NTU is one of the largest mechanical engineering schools
(Poland): On the one hand, the ILK was welcoming Pro- in the world, with more than 90 members. Faculty mem-
fessors Selboda and Wojtaszek as well as the junior re- bers are recruited from reputable universities worldwide
searcher Mr. Zygula in Dresden, on the other hand, Mr. and offer a lot of collective expertise in the traditional and
Stanik and Dr. Langkamp from ILK visited the Polish part- upcoming disciplines of mechanical and aerospace engi-
ner in October. neering, as well as in the specialised fields of manufac-
turing, mechatronics, innovative design, nanotechnology
2021, the country network with the Republic of Korea, or biomedical and computer-based applications. In the
awarded by the Lighthouse of TU Dresden, was extended context of the industry and in the pursuit of sustainable
to Inha University (IU), Incheon. Although the ILK's habitats, MAE is also consistently developing other key
partnership with the Inha Institute of Technology (IIT) skills to support the growth and competitiveness of the
from the Inha University is still very new, the first experi- mechanical engineering sector in the global landscape.
ences have been extremely positive and both sides are The collaborative research topics of the ILK and MAE are
strongly motivated. The focus of the cooperation is par- "Smart Structures", "Digital Twins", "Artificial Intelligence",
ticularly on the expansion of interdisciplinary PhD super- "VTOL Systems", "Electrical Machines" and "Manufactur-
vision: Joint PhD Programme TU Dresden/IU. Despite ing Technologies". In addition, UTC Dresden contributes
the pandemic we organised a stay of ILK students at its outstanding qualifications in the areas of lightweight
the IU. In addition to networking between the members engineering systems, multi-material design and robust
of both institutes, the focus was on research in the field design. The prepared Joint PhD Programme will provide
of hydrogen storage. The results will be published and optimal conditions for the exchange of doctoral students.
the paper presented at the 20th European Conference In this programme, doctoral students from Singapore
on Composite Materials (ECCM20), in Lausanne (Switzer- and Dresden will be supervised and evaluated in their
land) in June 2022. A return visit by ILK representatives to projects by a Supervision Management Committee (SMC)
South Korea and the continuation of research work are with equal number of representatives from both univer-
planned for 2022. sities. The dual doctorate will also include a research stay
of at least 6 months at the respective partner university.
Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore At the end of 2021, the conceptual work was completed
is currently ranked eighth in the QS World Ranking for and the agreement for the Joint PhD Programme was
Engineering with an overall score of 91.8. This is making submitted for final approval.

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