The “Saxony5 – Intelligently Connecting Knowledge Flows” project was launched right on schedule on January 1, 2018. The Universities of Applied Sciences (HAW) in Dresden, Leipzig, Mittweida, Zittau/Görlitz, and Zwickau will work closely together to facilitate the transfer of specialized knowledge to the regions even more intensively than before.
To ensure that as many research activities as possible lead to innovative products and technologies and to strengthen the economic vitality of the regions, collaboration with regional partners from business, civil society, and the public sector will be enhanced.
Expertise is imparted at the university by specialists and expanded through research projects—but how can we ensure that everyone in the region benefits from it?
Research results are produced and available—but how can tangible benefits be derived from them?
How can citizens be involved in expert discussions, thereby helping to challenge and overcome preconceptions—some of which are ideologically driven?
And last but not least: How can we foster a greater understanding of and interest in technology so that, in the future, the business community can continue to find good-quality specialists for production facilities, service, and design departments, as well as for marketing and finance?
Project team members will address these questions and, together with staff in teaching, research, and administrative services, seek answers and break new ground.
In subject-specific co-creation labs—that is, in real-world meeting spaces—practical scientific discussions, such as those on concrete energy savings in the business sector, will be held, and training sessions and workshops will be organized.
Civil society will be invited to participate in discussion forums on current, high-profile topics.
Explanatory videos and other (multi)media outreach tools will be created to address complex technical issues.
Each of Saxony’s five universities of applied sciences—still commonly known as “Fachhochschulen” in many places—will take the lead in organizing one of the co-creation labs for all partners, based on its core expertise. The topics are:
- Factory of the Future
Led by: Dresden University of Applied Sciences (HTW) - Connected Mobility
Led by: Leipzig University of Applied Sciences - Additive Manufacturing
Led by: Mittweida University of Applied Sciences - Supply Infrastructure:
Led by: Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences - Agriculture and Biodiversity
Led by: Dresden University of Applied Sciences (HTW) - Surface Technology
Director: West Saxon University of Applied Sciences, Zwickau
The HSZG will focus its academic efforts on the topic “Utility Infrastructure—Technologies and Infrastructure for the Environmentally and Climate-Friendly Supply of Electricity, Heat, and Water to the Population and Industry.” Reducing the environmental impact of wastewater and waste and their smart use as resources play just as important a role as the associated challenges regarding the information security of critical infrastructure.
Information sessions, as well as scientific workshops and small discussion groups, will be designed and conducted, and learning and virtual information resources will be developed. Through the “Saxony⁵” project consortium, the participants will also be able to draw on the expertise of the other four Saxon universities of applied sciences and will form a close-knit network for knowledge exchange and transfer with them.
The working group is currently being established at the HSZG. In the future, it will function as an interdisciplinary team composed of engineers, computer scientists, social scientists, as well as media technicians and designers, in order to tackle the complexity of the tasks at hand.
The project is funded as part of the “Innovative University” grant program with funds from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the Saxon State Ministry of Science and the Arts (SMWK). The first phase of the project is scheduled to run through the end of 2022. If the evaluation is positive, an extension through 2027 is possible.
