"No limits apply to our ideas"
The IKAM is soon moving into additional rooms on the campus. Does that mean the Institute will then be complete?
It's an ongoing process. There are a few more steps to complete. The rooms, the technology, the machinery and the systems are all new and we still have a lot of preparation work to do. We also have to be able to prove that we can work with these machines and systems and continue our research and development work. In the near future, we also intend to complete a technical centre in Barleben, where additional interesting technologies will go into use. I think we will have made great progress in six months' time. The important thing is, however, that we've made a start. The commissioning of the individual technologies in our buildings on the campus is already yielding high levels of interest from partners and customers alike. In this context, for instance, we have recently received our first major customer order for our drive train test bench, with which it is possible to test entire vehicles and/or drive trains of vehicles.
Could this trigger off a chain reaction and really get IKAM up and running, so to speak?
IKAM is a newcomer in the research and development sector. We firstly have to position ourselves in the market and demonstrate that we are fit to realise specific industrial projects and give new impulses. With our first order it goes without saying that we can prove both how effectively we can handle the new technologies and that we are available for further orders.
What are the advantages of the location on the campus?
Firstly, it means we aren't starting at zero and we can use the excellent know-how and experience of the scientists and academic staff at the Otto-von-Guericke University, who have long standing links with the professional world, the scientific world and the business world. We want to use the opportunities that arise with the development of the IKAM together in order to achieve a new quality and quantitative level with our work. We will not only be working together with the university, however. The other schools and colleges in Saxony-Anhalt also have know-how which is of interest to the auto sector. In this context we are actively participating in the Competence Network for Applied and Transfer Oriented Research (Kompetenznetzwerk für Angewandte und Transferorientierte Forschung, KAT). Our scientific background is immensely important to us so that we can achieve our goals of developing new products and processing techniques and transferring these technologies and the knowledge that is gained to the world of industry. Please let me highlight a further aspect. Our task is also to bring the expected future requirements of industry into the universities, and to facilitate the realisation of these requirements. Being at the interface between science and business, we always have to complete a balancing act between long term research and the short term requirements of entrepreneurs. The transfer goes in both directions: the know-how of the scientific world has to be made available to industry as quickly as possible. And companies also have to be made more aware of the world of science and knowledge. Bringing down the barriers in order to enable shared innovations is another one of our key tasks.
Are you excited?
With challenges like these ones? We positively are! We are bringing highly complex technologies and sophisticated test benches into operation. We will be excited to see whether the technology works in the way we expected it to; whether it corresponds with the requirements which are needed; whether we can implement the tasks that we want to realise; and whether we can become the focus of interest in the marketplace.
How can the layperson visualize the new research buildings and the work that goes on inside them?
There are devices and test benches there, some of which have performance parameters that you will not currently find anywhere else. They have genuinely unique features. Together with those supplying this technology, we are working at the very limits of technology. That's why the whole project is so exciting. We view the machines and systems to be equipment that helps us to implement our ideas. Of paramount importance are also our excellently trained and educated employees, who develop things which it is not only possible for the researcher to visualize. We take the requirements of the market and the specialist knowledge and ideas that exist in the companies and develop them together with them. This means that in the end we not only have a research result, we have also created the basis for a realistic market realisation.
What do you see when you open the door to the new building?
You see big and small devices which certainly look high tech, although at first glance, the layperson would find it hard to work out their purpose or the specific development-related goals that they serve. For excellent research and development you have to create the necessary conditions and these not only incorporate the machines and systems, but also the rooms and their technical requirements. Setting up a drive train test bench and being able to test engines isn't enough; all of the peripheral systems also have to be available.
Who will work there and what will be done?
The aforementioned highly qualified engineers and technicians. We want to develop a core team of permanent employees. We will be working together with all of the engineering departments at the university, and cooperating with regional and national companies. These are primarily small and medium sized companies in the supplier industry as well as the auto manufacturers themselves. Our work will be focusing on the business areas of drive train technology, electro-mobility, lightweight constructions as well as measuring and testing technology. This means we are focusing on ensuring the optimisation and efficiency of internal combustion engines as well as the development of wheel hub engines for electrically operated vehicles. Performance electronics and software development are also important themes in the business area of electro-mobility. We will be focusing on measurement and testing techniques which among others concern vibration testing and vibro-acoustics; meaning testing the mechanical loads on components as well as noise emissions. The optimisations gained in this context will lead to an improved lifespan and to better road performance. We are also focusing on the area of lightweight constructions. In this context the manufacturing techniques take centre stage. In this context it is necessary to answer these questions: How can we bring together the positive attributes of the different individual material components, such as the low weight and high bending rigidity, to create improved shared component attributes for a structural component? What will a prototype production and a subsequent production under bulk conditions look like?
Drive train test bench and complex test bench are your magic words. What can you do with all of these core technologies?
First of all, they are the basis for our research and development on the optimisation of conventional internal combustion engines and their drive train systems. Important themes in this context include efficiency optimisations through the reduction of friction losses, the reduction of pollutant emissions, the use of alternative fuels and securing product lifespan and function. The further development of new drive systems, electrical and hybrid drive trains is also important. We won't be focusing so much on the routine examinations of drive trains and engines that accompany the production work. That isn't our field. We are interested in research and development work in which we will take vehicle tests from the road to the test bench, and where we can use the test results gained for new and further developments of the drive train systems. This means we will be in the position of being able to record actual trips made on the road in terms of acceleration and overall driving behaviour. We will be able to simulate the cycles on the test bench and in so doing make them repeatable. This is something others will also be able to do, but in combination with the technology and the available know-how we will have interesting starting points for new developments.
You say that want to develop auto technologies that have a promising future. What do you mean by that?
Our mobility is set to change drastically over the decades to come. A major change has occurred in the auto industry: we are getting new drive train technologies. Over the years to come we will be dealing with very different technologies. Firstly there is the classic internal combustion engine, the fuel consumption and efficiency of which requires optimisation. There will be hybrid drive trains and completely electrical drive trains. In largest cities in particular, it will be possible to make battery powered trips over shorter distances. The area of lightweight auto constructions is currently a top theme, where there is considerable scope for development. Mobility is important. It is also necessary to maintain the factor of driving enjoyment: we expect a certain level of comfort in and around our vehicle which we don't want to have to go without. This includes modern communication technologies which we are used to using both at home and at work, and which are also developing extremely quickly. To be able to integrate all of this in new products we need new technologies and production procedures. These represent very extensive development tasks. It goes without saying that IKAM can't do everything. We will be concentrating on the projects for which we have the specific know-how and which we can successfully complete in this region, creating added value. We will be working on the big changes facing the sector and want to make our own contribution with our innovations - new developments realised in products and processes.
How will the role of the suppliers change?
Their responsibility will increase. The complexity of what they will have to supply will also increase. In the context of the perspective under consideration it isn't just about supplying components, but functional components, modules and complex systems. The responsibilities of the suppliers and their value added in the entire supplier chain are set to increase. This chain will also change and we will have to work in flexible networks to a far greater degree. All of this means that suppliers will have to work very hard on developing innovations all the time.
Fill us in on your vision: what will the car of the future look like?
This is an area in which I have an almost unlimited amount of ideas and ideals. Compared with the here and now, our children and grandchildren will develop completely different behavioural patterns surrounding the use of vehicles and their relevance. The car of the future will have to be oriented far more to the requirements of the users. It will be efficient, environmentally sound and emissions-free - and to a degree that far exceeds what is currently considered the norm. It will have to comply with the individual mobility requirements irrespective of whether we drive a little, a lot, or make long or short journeys. In this context I am also thinking about far reaching assistance and comfort systems. Energy storage will also play a central role in the visionary ideas about the mobility of the future. Why should a car battery solely serve a driving-related purpose? We are currently researching how we can also use the battery as an energy storage unit as a mobile or stationary, decentralised source of energy outside the car. There are no limits to the powers of your imagination.
Author: Manuela Bock
Photographer: Dirk Mahler; picture rights, IKAM
Contact:
IKAM Institut für Kompetenz in AutoMobilität – IKAM GmbH
Director: Dr.-Ing. Stefan Schünemann
Universitätsplatz 2
39106 Magdeburg
ph: +49 391 597993100
Fax: +49 391 597993101
E-Mail: info@ikam-md.de
Web: www.ikam-md.de