IFUM | Welding and deep drawing in a single step: Thanks to this key technology, three researchers of IFUM received the Otto von Guericke Award 2017. With this research award, the German Federation of Industrial Research Associations (AiF) honours the best research project of the year.

match | Passivity pays off – also in robotics. Researchers of the Institute of Assembly Technology (match) are currently developing systems with passive joints: Compared to conventional parallel robots, the advantages are higher flexibility, lower weight, reduced costs and easy reconfigurability.

IFA | With the Hanoverian Supply Chain Model, the Institute of Production Systems and Logistics (IFA) has developed a model which links the tasks of production planning and control with logistic actuating variables, control variables and objectives. The model is freely available on a web page for everybody.

IPH | Eric Pieper received the IPH Future Award 2017 for his Master thesis on wind turbine repowering. Once a year, the prize is awarded by the Institut für Integrierte Produktion (IPH) gGmbH to honour the best student thesis of the year.

LZH/PZH | Research without a university degree: The Voluntary Scientifc Year (FWJ) makes a direct entry into research possible for A-level students. At the Laser Zentrum Hannover e.V. (LZH) and at the Produktionstechnisches Zentrum (PZH), the seventh FWJ generation started in September.

IPH/IFA | Awkward bending, lifting heavy items, working overhead: Such movements may cause permanent health problems. As a preventive measure, researchers of IPH and IFA developed an ergonomics assessment tool for assembly workplaces: 3D cameras capture unhealthy movements automatically.

ITA | Researchers from Hanover have developed a communication module which is able to store and process component-relevant data and communicate it to its environment. The autonomous system is supplied by a tiny solar cell. Its overall size is only a quarter the size of a sugar cube.

IPH/GREAN | A clever energy management saves companies a lot of money. The practice-oriented workshop on “Energy management in production”, taking place on 20 February 2018 in Hannover, gives you the right tools. Registration deadline is 22 January 2018.

LZH/IPH | Manufacturing individual products at almost the prices of mass products – using 3D printers. The Lower Saxony Center for Additive Manufacturing offers small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) free-of-charge support for the introduction of the new technology.

match | Paradigm shift in robotics: Instead of classical robot structures using stiff materials, soft material robotics employs soft and compliant components such as silicones. A new DFG Priority Programme seeks to promote research in this particular research area.