How can knowledge transfer between universities and industry be successfully achieved? The hackathon organised by the University-Industry Partnership Network initiative as part of CARS 2.0 on 20 May provided an answer to this question.
Companies from the Stuttgart and Neckar-Alb regions presented specific challenges arising from the ongoing transformation process in the automotive and mechanical engineering sectors. The topics ranged from autonomous management agents for production and AI-supported vehicle thermal management to simulation-based automation in hail damage repair. The companies involved were TheSys GmbH, mobitec Kottmann und Berger GmbH, Fibryx, Garage Inx, nfiniity GmbH and Collectu.
On the university side, teams from Esslingen University of Applied Sciences and the University of Stuttgart worked on the issues. Represented were the Institute for Control Engineering of Machine Tools and Manufacturing Systems (ISW), the Institute of Aircraft Structures (IFB), the Institute for Industrial Automation and Software Engineering (IAS) and the Institute of Mechanical Process Engineering.
Following the welcome and an introduction to the activities of CARS 2.0 and the University Partner Network initiative, the participating companies presented the challenges they face. This was followed by intensive working sessions and discussions between company representatives and university teams.
The particular added value of the format became apparent in the direct discussions: rather than theoretical debates, the focus was on specific problems, targeted queries and initial, actionable solutions. Within a short space of time, promising approaches for further collaboration emerged.
Particularly encouraging: all participating companies signalled their interest in continuing the collaboration with the university teams. This laid an important foundation for joint development and innovation projects.
The results of the collaboration will be presented at a future Demo Day. Further information to follow.
