BMW meets UBT

It was an event at the University of Bayreuth in June this year at which Dr Markus Seidel, Head of Circular Economy at BMW, was a keynote speaker and which drew his attention to our expertise - which is also of interest to the BMW Group. He has now visited the UBT together with a group of BMW experts. He was accompanied by Martin Schuster (VP Battery Cell, Cell Module), Dr Jürgen Hildinger (Head of Department High-Voltage Storage, All Solid State Battery, Charging), Dr Kurt Vandeputte (Head of Department Battery Cell Technology), Dr Kamelia Detig-Karlou (Head of Life Cycle Analysis, Circular Economy High-Voltage Storage), Dr Wolfgang Pohl (Referent Materials, Process Engineering) and Dr Wolfgang Stadlbauer (Head of Business Team TC Drive).

University President Prof Dr Stefan Leible presented the UBT and selected key research areas. Prof Dr Christoph Helbig, holder of the Chair of Ecological Resource Technology, presented his department's projects that deal with material and energy flows and research their more sustainable design. His theses on the service life of materials and possible ways of improving them led to a lively discussion about the challenges facing OEMs (original equipment manufacturers, in this case car manufacturers) and future issues, including upcoming legal regulations and requirements. These topics also characterised the subsequent visit to Neue Materialien Bayreuth GmbH.

Prof Dr-Ing Holger Ruckdäschel, Chair of Polymer Materials & Managing Director of Neue Materialien Bayreuth GmbH, and his colleagues Robin Fachtan, Team Leader Injection Moulding & Composites Plastics Division, and Peter Schreier, Team Leader Particle Foams, presented the range of NMB services and competently answered every question from the guests.

Finally, the guests visited the BayBatt, the flagship research centre for battery technology in Bavaria. Prof Dr Michael Danzer, Chair of Electrical Energy Systems & Director of BayBatt, introduced BayBatt, while selected fields of research were presented by his colleagues Prof Dr Matteo Bianchini, Chair of Inorganic Active Materials for Electrochemical Storage, Prof Dr Ralf Moos, Chair of Functional Materials, Prof Dr Fridolin Röder, Junior Professor of Battery Management Methods and Prof Dr Jan-Philipp Schmidt, Chair of Systems Engineering for Electrical Energy Storage. Prof Bianchini gave the BMW representatives a tour of his laboratories at BayBatt so that they could get an idea of the conditions for battery research in a former cigarette factory.

The topics of sustainability, circular economy and recyclability and thus the feasibility in industry and the question of performance ran like a red thread through the visit of the BMW representatives to the University of Bayreuth. Intensive question and answer sessions and an exchange at a high scientific level were evidence of great mutual interest.