The Fourth Era of Lightweight Engineering: Neutral Lightweight Engineering – Routes to a World in Balance!

Dresden, July 19, 2022, Press Release

The Institute of Lightweight Engineering and Polymer Technology (ILK) of the TU Dresden and the Academic Club Lightweight Engineering (Akademischer Club Leichtbau an der TU Dresden e. V., ACL) organized the 25^th International Dresden Lightweight Engineering Symposium on June 30 and July 01. After two pandemic years now meeting in presence again, the ILK outlined and discussed together with the participants from research, industry and politics ways to a more livable future under this year’s motto "Neutral Lightweight Engineering – Routes to a World in Balance": How can lightweight engineering contribute to conservation of natural resources, environmental protection and development of a circular economy.

The jubilee symposium was dominated by forward-looking socio-eco-technological ideas and innovations that implement the triad of man-technology-environment in an exemplary manner. "Research on the pulse of time" was the consistent motto of the entire series of events, summarized Prof. Ursula M. Staudinger (Rector of the TU Dresden) by reviewing the last 25 years in her greetings: "In the 90s, by pushing for competitiveness and economic efficiency. Today, by calling the lightweight community to sustainability and finding practical ways out of the climate crisis." The around 200 visitors saw new approaches and concrete ideas for their own actions in the spirit of neutral lightweight engineering. "Neutral lightweight engineering is not only aimed at the classic reduction of the product weight and thus at saving material and energy during production as well as reducing energy consumption during operation. In addition, there is the new challenge of taking into account end-of-life aspects such as dismantling and recyclability of the lightweight structures, material composites and materials used at an early design stage," Prof. Gude (ILK board member) outlined the issue in his opening speech.

With the idea of neutral lightweight engineering, the ILK has committed itself to researching environmentally neutral and globally fair product and process design already in 2017. The derived research fields extend far beyond the current state of technologies and offer, in addition to the major challenges, broad development and application potential for the coming decades.

Vehicles, aircrafts, injection molding machines, but also medical prostheses or horse saddles – the product range of lightweight engineers is colorful and the application areas for neutral lightweight engineering therefore are diverse. In the plenary session and three parallel sessions for technical presentations, numerous engineers from renowned industrial partners such as Rolls-Royce, Volkswagen and Elbe-Flugzeugwerke, as well as reputable scientists from Germany and abroad, presented concrete examples of how economic driving forces can be used in the future as catalysts for environmental protection and resource conservation. The presentations addressed recycling-friendly multi-material design for lightweight structures, modern lightweight wood design, eddy current test procedures for carbon fibers, approaches for electric cars with a range of over 1000 kilometers, a hydrogen-powered streetcar, as well as improved technologies for recycling lithium iron phosphate batteries and for the production of synthetic fuels.

The research and industry meeting had several locations this year. For the opening and plenary session, the ILK and the ACL invited to the newly opened National Lightweight Validation Center (Nationales Leichtbau-Validierungszentrum, LEIV). On the second symposium day, the halls of the ILK on the Lightweight Engineering Campus Dresden-Johannstadt were opened for the guests.

The Lightweight Engineering Symposium stands for successful networking. It is an excellent stage for various projects and cooperation and, above all, for the transfer of science to SMEs and a broader audience. The network of companies and research partners built up around the ILK presented itself and its services at the project and competence show on July 01 in the Lightweight Innovation Center (LIZ). The latest research projects of the ILK and the expertise of the Saxon lightweight engineering industry were presented to the visitors with unique exhibits. "Don't be surprised if you (...) run into an elephant at our lightweight engineering fair," said Prof. Modler (ILK board member), introducing what was certainly the most striking and perhaps most surprising exhibit of the accompanying fair – the theater sculptures made of lightweight materials by the Dresden University of Fine Arts (HfBK).

Further Links

Event homepage "International Dresden Lightweight Symposium" and event linkedIN
Kupfer, R., Schilling, L., Spitzer, S. et al. Neutral lightweight engineering: a holistic approach towards sustainability driven engineering. Discov Sustain 3, 17 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43621-022-00084-9.
ILK expert group "Neutral lightweight engineering"

Impressions

The 25th International Dresden Lightweight Engineering Symposium on June 30, 2022

The 25th International Dresden Lightweight Engineering Symposium on July 01, 2022 and the project show

Press Review

"Leichtbau soll Welt wieder ins Gleichgewicht bringen", Heiko Weckbrodt by oiger.de

Press Contact

Radka Tomečková, Tel. +49 (0)351 463-39471,
 

Boilerplate

The Institute of Lightweight Engineering and Polymer Technology (ILK) is a research institution of the Faculty of Mechanical Science and Engineering and the "Friedrich List" Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences of TU Dresden. A staff of around 240 carries out extensive research and development work in the field of resource-saving lightweight engineering with a high level of material and energy efficiency. The work at the ILK is based on the Dresden model of function-integrative lightweight engineering in multi-material design and follows a cross-material and cross-product approach. When developing new concepts, processes or products, the scientists of ILK consider the entire development chain: material - design - simulation - production - prototype testing - quality assurance - costs. By orienting their work on the concept of neutral lightweight design, they integrate not only the classical, technical and economic aspects, but also the ecological parameters and issues of our globalized society at every stage of the development chain. The ILK is headed by Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Maik Gude (Chair of Lightweight Design and Structural Assessment, Board member) and Prof. Dr.-Ing Niels Modler (Chair of Function-integrative Lightweight Engineering, Board member/Board Spokesperson for the ILK).
www.tu-dresden.de/mw/ilk │ https://www.pressebox.de/newsroom/technische-universitaet-dresden-3  

The Academic Club Lightweight Engineering ("Akademischer Club Leichtbau an der TU Dresden e. V.", ACL) is an association of graduates, scientists and supporters of the Institute of Lightweight Engineering and Polymer Technology (ILK) at the TU Dresden. Highly complex lightweight system developments also require a sustainable network of science and industry. Against this background, the ACL sees itself as a discussion platform for the exchange of experience and knowledge transfer from young graduates to proven experts. The association promotes on the one hand, materially and immaterially, the teaching and research in the field of lightweight engineering and related areas, and on the other hand, the cooperation network of graduates of the lightweight engineering study program of the TU Dresden. The organization of lecture events and discussion meetings, including the International Dresden Lightweight Engineering Symposium, is an essential part of the activities of the ACL.
https://hightech-saxony.de/acl/