IFA | Implementing Industry 4.0 into their production helps SMEs to improve their efficiency – when selecting those methods and technologies which suit their company’s needs best. This approach is supported by researchers of IFA and wbk.

IPH | Whether aircraft, ships or construction machines: The assembly of so-called XXL products requires a lot of space. Researchers at IPH are currently developing a method which enables companies to find an ideal layout. By this means, they can save space and increase their productivity.

A novel drive concept for belt conveyors is under development at ITA in cooperation with IAL. Linear direct drives shall facilitate longer conveying distances and higher mass flows – with decreasing belt stress and tension as well as energy demand.

IFW | A machine tool of manageable size, mobile and precise, capable of holding on to a component and advancing on it: This idea of engineers of the Hannover Centre of Production Technology (PZH) was honoured with the EXIST Business Start-up Grant. Completion of the prototype is scheduled for the beginning of 2017.

IPH | The IPH employee Benjamin Küster won the first prize of the Jungheinrich Excellence Awards for his master thesis. The aim of his work was to develop a gesture recognition system for gesture control of automated guided vehicles (AGV).

IPH | A research project of IPH is among the best in Germany: Three out of about 1,500 IGF projects have been nominated for the Otto von Guericke Award 2016 – one of which is the project “Roadmaps for Automated Guided Vehicle Systems“. The award ceremony will take place on 15 December 2016.

IPH | The Institut für Integrierte Produktion Hannover awarded the first IPH Future Award. The prize was given to Daniel Kampen for his bachelor thesis on evolutionary algorithms. His findings help forging industry to save material and time.

IMPT | Researchers of the Institute of Micro Production Technology (IMPT) of Leibniz Universität Hannover made a contribution to improve public security with the development of a micro-electron source for high-sensitive fire detectors.

match | In future, manufacturing of concrete structures will be possible in any shape – thanks to robot-assisted concrete spraying technology. Researchers from Hanover, Brunswick and Clausthal are jointly working on the new technology – with virtually no design limits.

IW | Coatings protect components against wear, heat and corrosion. However, coating of very small inner diameters has not been possible so far. Researchers at the Institute of Materials Science (IW) are working on a solution – the transplantation of thermally sprayed coatings.

LZH | From a research project to a start-up company: The project OptoKomp of the Laser Zentrum Hannover e.V. (LZH) receives funding from the EXIST research transfer. Therewith, the team plans to found a start-up company that manufactures compact, glass-fiber based components for cutting-edge laser systems.

PZH | Climate-neutral production? Life-cycle management of resources modelled on nature’s processes? Michael Hetzer, Managing Director of elobau sensor technology, and Professor Michael Braungart, initiator of the cradle-to-cradle principle, will present their trendsetting ideas to researchers at PZH.

LZH/PZH | What is it like to work in a laboratory? How is the daily life of physicists and engineers? A-level students can find answers to these questions during the Voluntary Scientific Year (FWJ) in research centers in Hannover.