Climate protection is one of the most important tasks of our time and presents our society with many challenges. Thus, it is indispensable that emissions are reduced, energy is used more efficiently and renewable energies are employed. The Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety and Energy Technology UMSICHT, Sulzbach-Rosenberg branch, and the OTH Amberg-Weiden have been working together for many years in the fields of environmental, process and energy technology as well as circular economy and recycling. The two partners are now expanding their close cooperation by making Fraunhofer UMSICHT an Innovative Learning Site (ILO) of the university.

Top research needs strong partners

»Energy research and technologies are extremely diverse and challenging. In order to conduct cutting-edge research in this field, strong partners from research and industry are necessary. I am pleased that Fraunhofer UMSICHT, as a long-standing cooperation partner, is now also an Innovative Learning Site of the university,« said Prof. Dr. Clemens Bulitta, President of OTH Amberg-Weiden, at the signing of the contract.

In the past, OTH Amberg-Weiden and the Fraunhofer Institute UMSICHT have collaborated on numerous research projects, for example on the optimisation of electrostatic filters for biomass furnaces, in the field of end-of-life vehicle recycling, in the development of new materials in additive manufacturing and in the recycling of high-tech metals. »My highlight of the last few years was the conception and coordination of the research network ForCYCLE II, carried out together with Fraunhofer, to increase resource efficiency in the Bavarian economy,« says Prof. Dr Mario Mocker, who is the contact person for Fraunhofer UMSICHT on the university side. Another major research project is, among others, the joint project »Reststoff2Kraftstoff«, which aims to process 50 tonnes of waste from the paper and pulp industry into CO2-neutral bio-fuel.

Innovative place of learning

As an innovative place of learning, Fraunhofer UMSICHT would like to intensify the cooperation. Professor Dr.-Ing. Matthias Franke, Head of Fraunhofer UMSICHT, Sulzbach-Rosenberg branch, says: »The ILO is the start of an even closer cooperation with the OTH. Cooperative projects on advanced biofuels, process heat supply for industry or in the area of combined heat and power are already planned. The continuation of our joint project for the recovery of high-tech metals from end-of-life products is also about to start. Above all, however, such cooperation thrives on personal exchange. OTH students from a wide range of disciplines are therefore always welcome to join us, whether as part of an internship, a thesis or as a research assistant.«

About the Innovative Learning Places

The Innovative Learning Places of the OTH Amberg-Weiden are a cooperation strategy that realises innovative, networked teaching with partners in the region, creating exceptional learning environments for students with partners in the university region. »The Innovative Learning Places strategy is a contribution to the networking of OTH Amberg-Weiden, focused on teaching and studying. In this way, we bring together students, lecturers and practice at companies, institutions, associations and even monasteries. In this way, the ILOs offer students many advantages: they learn at attractive locations in the region outside the university, acquire practical know-how and establish mutual contacts for their entry into the professional world,« explain Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Weber and M.A. Hanna Gallitzendörfer from the ILO project management.