(Interview from 2020)

Dagmar Möbius

Construction kits and tinkering with mopeds is part of the childhood and adolescent experience for many. Uwe Beier, however, knew from a very early age that he wanted a career related to mechanical engineering. At the age of 26, he started his own business, and he and his business ideas are now in demand around the world.

After school, Uwe Beier apprenticed as a mechanic (vocational training with Abitur high school diploma) at an agricultural engineering institute in Bautzen. The company no longer exists, but he still uses the practical skills he learned there – turning, milling, forging, welding – in other words, all the metalworking techniques. "A good basis for my degree," says Uwe Beier, who was born in Meissen, a town on the Elbe not far from Dresden. His vocational school had to support his university application.

Uwe Beier explored his options at an open day at TU Dresden. Automobile engineering also interested him, but he asked himself "what kind of cars are there east of the Berlin Wall?" So he stuck to mechanical engineering. "There was no alternative," says the 48-year-old. He chose the challenging specialization "machine tools" on the grounds that "it has to do with precision, requires meticulous work and absolute accuracy. I didn't want to do a bit of everything and nothing properly." And he wanted to study at a renowned university offering genuinely excellent training.

He started studying for his Diplom degree at TUD in 1991 and graduated in 1995. "There were only eleven of us doing that specialization, and we were in direct contact with our profs," he says. Adding with a smile: "Of course, that also meant a certain pressure to actually show up for all the classes, but we had a lot of freedom." Developing, inventing, and implementing solutions to tasks and problems was and still is Uwe Beier's passion. However, the mechanics fan struggled with all things electrical during his degree. Looking back, he believes "it's just as well that the professors forced us to engage with the topic; you have a problem if you are completely clueless about electrics. And that training gives you a feel for whether or not something makes sense."

Uwe Beier started working as a freelance design engineer while still a student. His final-year dissertation focused on profile rail technology. He examined retrofits and conversions for failure characteristics and their impact. The young graduate engineer was employed as a design engineer for a while and built up his professional experience. At the age of 26, he then went into business himself as a development engineer. He set up an engineering firm specializing in special-purpose designs, and a later special-purpose machine assembly facility. He was constantly working on his own products and today, he is the director of Adenso GmbH. His company develops robotics and roll-to-roll (R2R) equipment. The R2R systems have features that are not available from his competitors.

A roll of glass that is as thin as a human hair or thinner, such as that used for cellphone displays and microfilms, has to be manufactured and wound without breaking. There are three manufacturers in the world that can do this: one in America, one in Japan, and Uwe Beier's company. "We developed a system like that on our own," says Uwe Beier, explaining how he came up with it. "You have to be able to listen and identify customer needs, take risks, and invest." Customers often wonder how he comes up with his solutions. It is his years of practical experience coupled with what he learned at university – in particular from his dissertation project. "We are using that expertise right now. I still benefit from that excellent grounding."

Uwe Beier owes a lot to TU Dresden. He didn't think twice when he heard about the Coronavirus Aid Fund for Students. "I remember what it was like when money was tight at university. If you lose your part-time job on top of that, it's tough. Of course I would want to help." As well as donating, he also offered part-time jobs, internships, and places for research and final-year projects.

There are 25 permanent employees at his company. Most are engineers, and many also studied at TUD. Then there are project-specific service providers – usually local, he is keen to stress.

"Robotics is a complex field and requirements are rapidly increasing. That is why we're working with the TUD's Institute of Mechatronic Engineering (which replaced the Machine Tools Department), to keep pushing the boundaries of engineering." The next step is establishing a subsidiary, adSphere, which is to focus on sensor technology and specifically large and flexible sensor arrays on based on polymers and ultra-thin glass.

Contact:
Uwe Beier
CEO
Adenso GmbH
Am Weiher 3
OT Boxdorf/Dresden
01468 Moritzburg, Germany

Tel.: +49 351 79 59 79 79
E-Mail
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