New-Tech Europe Magazine | Dec 2017

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Battery Research: German -Taiwanese Research Project Launched

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

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

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

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

Automation of factory logistics for European SMEs takes a digital leap

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

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

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