Over 60 top European researchers discuss Europe's digital future at the HSZG and enjoy Upper Lusatia.
Top European research at the HSZG
The entire consortium of one of the largest European research projects iDev40 (Integrated Development 4.0) met with over 60 scientists in the Peter-Dierich-Haus on the Zittau campus on November 29-30, 2018 for its first overall meeting since the kick-off meeting in June of this year. Under the leadership of Infineon Technologies Austria AG, the 39 partners from six European countries will be working together until April 2021 on digitalization topics relating to the intelligent networking of production and development processes for electronic components and systems (Industry 4.0).
In this project, Prof. Sophia Keil and her team at the Faculty of Business, Economics and Industrial Engineering are looking at the creativity and innovative power of humans in highly automated and artificially intelligent systems. The design of the workplaces of the future, the degree of human-machine interaction, the virtual collaboration of global teams and future training for working in complex systems play an important role here.
1st European conference on digitalization
Prior to the non-public project meeting of the research and industry partners of iDev40, the 1st European Advances in Digitization Conference (EADC) took place on Thursday morning at the initiative of Prof. Sophia Keil. As a platform for presenting initial research results from iDev40, it aims to promote exchange with the academic, industrial and SME public from all sectors and areas. The number of abstracts submitted to the first EADC exceeded all expectations of the organizers, so a second conference is already being planned in Milan. Instead of one conference volume, two conference volumes will be published by the Lausitzer Verlag für Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften (LVWS) at the beginning of next year.
After the guests were welcomed by the host and Dean of the Faculty of Business, Economics and Industrial Engineering, Prof. Sophia Keil, Patrick Moder from Infineon Technologies AG in Munich gave a vivid presentation on the use of semantic data mining methods to create a digital twin. Prof. Christoph Laroque from the West Saxon University of Applied Sciences in Zwickau then presented the innovative method of backward simulation for shortening production times. After the coffee break, Prof. Gerald Reiner from the Vienna University of Economics and Business took a closer look at modeling the return on quality in industries for electronic components and systems. Finally, Dr Germar Schneider from Infineon Dresden spoke about the opportunities and risks of digitalization in the semiconductor industry.
The EADC, founded by Prof. Sophia Keil and Infineon Austria, is now to be further established as the conference on digital transformation in Europe par excellence and offer an alternative to the existing conferences in this field - the great popularity during this first conference proves them right.
iDev40 working meeting
After the lunch break on Thursday, the Rector of Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences, Prof. Friedrich Albrecht, also addressed the international guests and welcomed them to the university and to Zittau. In the subsequent working meeting of the iDev40 consortium partners, the focus until Friday afternoon was on the professional exchange of project results to date, the joint work on the further steps necessary to achieve the research goals set and the creation of new synergies among each other - especially between the research institutions and industrial companies.
Upper Lusatian culture & Hospitality
Away from the intensive work, Prof. Jos Tomlow took the guests on a tour of Zittau on Thursday evening, introducing them to the history of the city and Upper Lusatia before a relaxed atmosphere for further discussions was created in the foyer of the Gerhart-Hauptmann Theater with live music by Christian Fischer and Falk Schönfelder alias "SchönFisch" and a buffet. The Mayor of Zittau, Thomas Zenker, also found inspiring words for the region as an important scientific and cultural location during his welcome speech in the theater.
Culinary delights from Upper Lusatia were offered to guests from near and far by Theatergastronomie Görlich and Anja Nixdorf-Munkwitz with "Ein Korb voll Glück". The seasonal products from regional producers, put together in a wonderful buffet, were particularly well received.
All European guests from science and industry were impressed by the organization, culture and hospitality at the university and in Zittau and will have very positive memories of Upper Lusatia. The conference and meeting participants are also returning home with new ideas and impulses for their (research) work and are looking forward to the next consortium meeting and the second EADC in Milan.
Thanks to all participants
Many helpers and supporters are needed to make an event like this a success. Aus diesem Grund möchten wir ganz herzlich danken: Rektor Prof. Friedrich Albrecht, Kanzlerin Karin Hollstein, Oberbürgermeister Thomas Zenker, dem Landkreis Görlitz, Jenny König, Norbert Kalz, Prof. Jos Tomlow, Henry Beyer, Studierendenwerk Dresden, Bäckerei Rönsch, Gerhart-Hauptmann-Theater Görlitz-Zittau, Theatergastronomie Susann Görlich, Christian Fischer and Falk Schönfelder alias "SchönFisch","Ein Korb voll Glück" Anja Nixdorf-Munkwitz, Engemanns, Andreas Volz, Elisia Heinrich and Samer Hamdan.
Disclaimer
The iDev40 project has received funding from the ECSEL Joint Undertaking under grant agreement No 783163. The JU is supported by the EU's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program. The project is co-funded by the consortium partners as well as funding from Austria, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Spain and Romania. The project coordinator is Infineon Technologies Austria AG.
Text: Fabian Lindner
