RWTH Aachen and Immofinanz Group Celebrate Construction Progress of the Production Technology Cluster Building
RWTH Aachen and Immofinanz Group, investor of the Production Technology cluster on RWTH Aachen’s research campus, celebrated construction progress of the first building complex on Campus Boulevard. More than 140 representatives from business, academia and politics attended the event, including the NRW Minister of Finance, Norbert Walter-Borjans.
Representative from RWTH Aachen and the City of Aachen welcomed Dr. Oliver Schumy, CEO of Immofinanz Group, to jointly celebrate construction progress of the Production Technology building complex.
The NRW Minister of Finance said to be delighted with the progress currently made at the building site: “Here, in the midst of North Rhine-Westphalia, one of the largest research landscapes in Europe is being built. RWTH Aachen is a shining example of the successful collaboration between business and academia. The research campus provides space not only for researchers, but also for companies in the production technology sector.”
The CEO of Immofinanz Group, Dr. Schumy explained the significance of the project as a further pillar of the corporation’s German portfolio: “Not only are we expanding our presence in North Rhine-Westphalia, complementing our activities in Cologne and Düsseldorf. We also consider the research campus a beacon project for the close, fruitful collaboration of industry and research the development of innovative production technologies. We are proud to be involved in the development of one of the largest research landscapes in Europe.”
Digitally Integrated Production
As Professor Günther Schuh, the director of the Production Technology cluster, explains: “The cluster seeks to be one of the central research and experimental platforms in the field of digitally integrated production technology and Industry 4.0 applications. Up to 800 researchers and experts from industry will jointly conduct research on these topics in the near future.”
The cluster’s key research area is digitally integrated production. Over 100 “enrolled” companies have the opportunity to experimentally probe into the possibilities offered by Industry 4.0, the Internet of Things (IoT), and cyber-physical production.
Central topics include the close-to-realtime simulation of complex production chains using the “digital shadow”, learning factories using big data technology, and utilization concepts for cloud technologies for the control of production.
These research topics are investigated in collaboration with RWTH departments and institutes, including the Laboratory for Machine Tools and Production Engineering WZL, the Institute of Plastics Processing IKV, the Chair of Production Engineering of E-Mobility Components PEM, and the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology IPT.
The involved companies include manufacturers of production machines, road and rail vehicles, aircraft, and complex machine tools.