Industry 4.0 and materials technology: TU and Beihang University plan cooperation

Professor Xu Huibin, President of Beihang University, led the group from the Far East. The materials scientist, who wrote his diploma thesis at Clausthal University of Technology in 1987 and later also attended the technical universities in Berlin and Munich, is also Chairman of the "Association of Chinese Alumni of Clausthal University of Technology" (VCAC). This association was founded last June in Beijing in the presence of Chinese Research Minister Professor Wan Gang and TU President Professor Thomas Hanschke.

At the meeting with the Clausthal university management and other scientists, Professor Andreas Rausch, Vice President for Research and Information Management, presented the TU's research activities. "Information and communication technologies are the number one driver of innovation today," emphasized Professor Rausch. The aim of the Harz scientists is to integrate the new information technologies into traditional industry and thus advance the region's small and medium-sized enterprises in particular. In addition to the focal points of Industry 4.0 and materials technology, the topics of energy, simulation science and smart cities would lend themselves to cooperation between the two universities, said Professor Hanschke. Professor Oliver Langefeld also presented the range of courses on offer at Clausthal. The Vice President for Studies and Teaching made it clear that there are also many points of contact for cooperation in education and student exchange.

The Chinese delegation had already visited the Clausthal Center for Materials Technology and the Institute of Materials Science and Engineering (IWW) with great interest. A scientific exchange in the form of a workshop took place at the IWW. Its director, Professor Lothar Wagner, had returned from his trip to China the day before. Accompanied by former fellow students and Professor Michael Z. Hou, TU Clausthal's China representative, Beihang President Professor Xu also visited places and facilities that he remembered from his student days 30 years ago, such as his former student hall of residence. During this campus tour, Professor Hou also showed him the more recent developments at the TU, such as the Lower Saxony Energy Research Center in Goslar and the Tannenhöhe university area.

Beihang University is one of the elite research universities in the People's Republic of China. Founded in 1952, today 28,000 young people study at this Beijing university. It was the first Chinese university to focus on aerospace. Today, Beihang University also focuses on materials and energy research as well as computer science. Its network comprises 185 partner institutions worldwide. "In Europe and especially in Germany," emphasized Professor Xu, "we want to expand our collaborations."

Contact:

Clausthal University of Technology
Press spokesperson
Christian Ernst
Phone: +49 5323 72-3904

E-Mail: christian.ernst@tu-clausthal.de