18 / 84
LatestNews
A German–Taiwanese research
cooperation project was launched
at the MEET battery research
centre of the University of
Münster (WWU) on Thursday, 23
November. Until November 2020,
eight Taiwanese and ten German
research institutions, including
Forschungszentrum Jülich, will
jointly investigate new materials
and combinations of materials
that – together with novel cell design concepts – are
set to lead to lithium-ion batteries with considerably
increased performance and operational safety.
“In battery research, the materials used play a decisive role.
They have to be tailored to the application purpose and have
a great influence on the battery’s performance,” says Professor
Hsisheng Teng from the National Cheng Kung University in
Taiwan. Both he and Professor Martin Winter, scientific head of
MEET and founding director of the Helmholtz Institute Münster
(HI MS, Institute of Energy and Climate Research, IEK-12), are
responsible for the overall coordination of the cooperation.
A research initiative concerning new materials for battery
systems (“Batterie DE-TWN”) was launched by the German
Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) together
with the Taiwanese Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST).
Under its umbrella, three project consortia are being funded,
two of which are coordinated by Jülich Professors Oliver Guillon
(Institute of Energy and Climate Research, IEK-1) and Martin
Launched in October 2017, the L4MS (Logistics for Manufacturing
SMEs) initiative supported by the European Commission will
accelerate the automation of intra-factory logistics of SMEs. L4MS
will completely digitalize logistics automation in factories. This
will allow automation suppliers to develop and deploy logistics
solutions 10 times faster and cheaper than the current price. L4MS
opens the door for SMEs to utilize robotics and other advance
technologies such as artificial intelligence and virtualization.
In a typical factory, the transport of parts and components
Winter.
The official launch ceremony of the
initiative, which took place in Münster,
was attended by scientists of the
universities and research institutes
involved as well as representatives
of BMBF and MOST. “I am convinced
that cooperation between peers, such
as this one with Taiwan, benefits the
scientists on both sides. Excellent
battery research is of fundamental
importance for both our nations. This is why I am delighted we
today had the opportunity to launch three cooperation projects
concerning this very promising topic,” says Dr. Herbert Zeisel,
who heads a BMBF subdivision addressing key technologies
for growth. Together, BMBF and MOST are providing funding
totalling approximately €6 million.
In addition to Martin Winter, Prof. Monika Stoll also addressed
the guests in her role as Vice-Rector for Research at WWU:
“After having already successfully initiated a cooperation with
Israel and Japan, we are proud to now expand our international
collaboration over battery research to Taiwan,” she said.
Picture: From the left: Dr. Christian Prinzisky (Project
Management Jülich), Prof. Yong-Chie Heng (National Taiwan
University of Science and Technology), Prof. Martin Winter
(MEET WWU, HI MS), Prof. Hsisheng Teng (National Cheng
Kung University), Prof. Monika Stoll (WWU), Prof. Dong-Yih
Lin (MOST), Dr. Herbert Zeisel (BMBF) and Dr. Peter Schroth
(BMBF). Copyright: MEET / Pia Niehues
Battery Research: German -Taiwanese Research
Project Launched
Automation of factory logistics for European SMEs
takes a digital leap
accounts for 25% of employees, 55% of factory space, and 87%
of the production time. While large manufacturers are quickly
adopting mobile robots to increase productivity and flexibility on
the factory floor, less than 2% of European SMEs use advanced
manufacturing technologies. With SMEs representing 98% of
the manufacturers, European industry is in danger of being left
behind.
L4MS (Logistics for Manufacturing SMEs) is an acceleration
program led by the VTT Technical Research Centre of
18 l New-Tech Magazine Europe