Partner meeting of the Polish-German Centre for Hybrid Lightweight Structures in Dresden and Freiberg

At the end of November, a Polish delegation from the Polish-German Centre for Hybrid Lightweight Structures visited TU Dresden and TU Freiberg. The rector of the Silesian Technical University in Gliwice and high-ranking representatives of the Katowice Special Economic Zone also participated.

After signing the cooperation agreement for the establishment of the centre in May and the election of the management board and council in Gliwice in July, the German partners (the TU Bergakademie Freiberg and the Institute of Lightweight Engineering and Polymer Technology (ILK) of the TU Dresden) invited the Polish partners to Germany for the first time on 29 and 30 November. The Silesian Technical University was represented by the Rector, the Deanof the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and the Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics. The Katowice Special Economic Zone (KSSE) was represented by the vice-president, the manager of the automotive cluster and the local key manager. In addition, a representative of the 'Bielsko' Silesian Federation of Aviation Companies participated in the meeting.

After detailed discussions with the rectors of TU Dresden and TU Bergakademie Freiberg, the hosts Prof. Dr.-Ing. Rudolf Kawalla (Vice-Rector of Research and Institute Director for Metal Forming of the TU Bergakademie Freiberg, chairman of the management board of the Cooperation) and Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Hubert Jäger (spokesman of the board of the Institute of Lightweight Engineering and Polymer Technology of the TU Dresden and member of the counsil) showed their institutes. In Freiberg, the delegation was also able to visit the experimental facilities of the Institute for Machine Elements, Engineering Design and Manufacturing. All the dialogs discussed the possibilities of enhanced cooperation in the areas of research, skills training and industry. The offers should now be specified, in the future, e.g. also planned workshops for the Silesian automotive cluster as well as a joint degree program in the field of lightweight construction. A pre-Christmas cultural program in Dresden and Freiberg rounded off the visit.