Mar 19, 2024
1st National Exhibition of Expertise "Kreislauf.Leichtbau.Erleben" – Building a Bridge between Industry and Education
Under the motto "KREISLAUF.LEICHTBAU.ERLEBEN.", the ILK held a first-class event on 18th and 19th March 2024 that offered an insight into the future of lightweight engineering and its importance for a sustainable circular economy.
On 18th March, the first day of the 1st National Competence Show, around 150 students from Saxony had the opportunity to experience first-hand how crucial lightweight engineering is for a sustainable future. In Dresden's LEIV, the National Lightweight Validation Centre, experts from industry and science presented in four technology areas how lightweight engineering contributes to the design of a functioning circular economy. Through exciting experiments and interactive workshops, the students were not only able to apply theoretical knowledge in a practical way, but also developed a deeper understanding of the interrelationships in sustainable management.
The event aims to build a bridge between industry and education and was enthusiastically received by students, teachers and industry experts alike. The number of participants emphasises the interest of the younger generation in career prospects in mechanical engineering, particularly in the field of lightweight engineering. It is a great pleasure for the ILK to promote young talent in this special way and to offer the students an inspiring and educational experience.
The second day of the "KREISLAUF.LEICHTBAU.ERLEBEN." event was all about exchanging ideas and networking with representatives from industry, politics and society. In the unique atmosphere of the LEIV, over 250 participants had the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the latest technology trends in the fields of lightweight engineering and the circular economy in a new format and to experience innovative impulses for future developments at first hand. Both guided tours through the LEIV with numerous interactive live demonstrations and the direct dialogue between the participants ensured a special dynamic and a lively transfer of knowledge. The event was rounded off by the "Life Cycle Assessment" round table organised by the FOREL research platform.
The event focussed in particular on solutions for increasing resource efficiency in lightweight engineering process chains and methods for taking a holistic view of the product life cycle. Both approaches make a significant contribution to the transformation towards a functioning circular economy and thus a sustainable future. Numerous demonstrators and experts as well as live demonstrations of production systems for metal and plastics processing brought the contents of the LEIV to life. In addition, the Sächsische Agentur für Strukturentwicklung GmbH's Expo Circular poster exhibition provided an insight into current research topics and the future of the circular economy.
Alongside to these technological topics, the potential of digitalisation to reduce the workload of employees, which was developed in the KORESIL research project together with partners from TUBAF Freiberg, TU Dortmund University, TU Munich and Paderborn University, was also examined. Participants were able to try out Cobot-solutions, innovative digital formats for training and augmented reality applications for production and collaboration. Such digital solutions have enormous potential to address the shortage of skilled labour and will therefore be part of the lightweight engineering of the future.
The ILK is very positive about the event and sees it as an important milestone in the promotion of innovation and young talent in the field of lightweight engineering.
The ILK would like to thank all exhibitors and visitors for their contribution to the success of the event!
With the kind support of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Action, Mr. Loscheider (BMWK), Department: Construction Industry, Lightweight Construction/New Materials, Resource Efficiency, sends us a greeting to the KREISLAUF.LEICHTBAU.ERLEBEN. event.