WZL Takes Substitute Sites into Operation
Almost exactly one year after the destruction of its large machine hall through fire, the Laboratory of Machine Tools and Production Engineering WZL has put the new substitute halls into operation.
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The directors of the WZL, Professors Günther Schuh, Fritz Klocke, Robert Schmitt and Christian Brecher, expressed their gratitude to many the partners in industry and research whose generosity helped to secure the WZL's future viability. RWTH institutions and several industrial and research partners from all over the world have provided machines, measuring devices and lab equipment, partly on a loan basis, to re-establish the WZL’s research capacities.
In order to ensure the required close collaboration between the Laboratory’s various research groups, the directorate chose six substitute sites in close proximity to the other WZL sites.
Under the motto of “Now More Than Ever,” most research activities have continued at neighboring institutions, and WZL even succeeded in expanding some of the research collaborations with industrial partners. In the Production Technology cluster, WBA Toolmaking Academy, e.GO Mobile AG, and the Aachen Center for Integrative Lightweight Production AZL provided 1,200 square meters of lab and office space, which are now being rented by the University for use by WZL.
As early as May 2016, RWTH succeeded in replacing parts of the machine park by purchasing used machinery.
According to Professor Fritz Klocke, by May 2017, when the WZL is hosting the Aachen Machine Tool Colloquium, the Laboratory shall be able to demonstrate its full functionality. On sites visits and guided tours, participants have the chance to see for themselves that WZL is once again able to operate to full capacity.
WZL at RWTH Aachen University
Across the world and for many decades now, the Laboratory for Machine Tools and Production Engineering WZL at RWTH Aachen University has stood for successful and forward-thinking research and innovation in the area of production engineering. In four departments concerned with metrology and quality management; production engineering; manufacturing technology; and machine tools, It conducts research in all core areas of production technology.