By Tanja Buechter
Representatives from more than 30 companies and organizations came to the LASER.region.AACHEN alliance meeting on Tuesday, May 17, in the main administration building of the FH Aachen. The goal of the meeting was to exchange information about the current status of the approved projects and to present newly planned projects and ideas.
In his welcoming speech, Prof. Dr. Thomas Ritz, Prorector for Research, Innovation and Transfer, praised the region's charisma. Through the many interdisciplinary projects, he said, LASER.region.AACHEN not only connects people, but shines far beyond. Whereas in his youth he only knew lasers from science fiction movies, today lasers are established as a basic technology in production and services.
Edwin Büchter, consortium leader of LASER.region.AACHEN (LrA) and managing partner of Clean-Lasersysteme GmbH (cleanLASER), then explained that laser technology used to be considered the "most expensive heater in the world" and is now used highly efficiently as a "green tool".
The impulse lecture by Petra Pauli, managing director of car e.V. (competence center automotive region aachen) and press spokeswoman of the United Business associations (VUV), showed that there are many interesting interfaces to LrA.
The WIR! alliance LASER.region.AACHEN stands for joint laser technology solutions. The main aim is to develop new laser-based production technologies and to create sustainable training and jobs.
Located on the edge of Europe's largest lignite mining region, the alliance is intended to network numerous fields of knowledge, industries and technologies and support the structural transformation "from a mineral resource to a treasure trove of knowledge". A total of 46 partners from the Aachen and Heinsberg region are involved, including 33 industrial companies, five research institutions and eight regional structural, innovation and social partners.
Laser technology is a central key technology for the production of the future and one of the few technology areas in which Germany has so far been able to maintain its leading role.
8 million is to be made available for the first implementation phase of the LrA projects, although the total volume is significantly higher, as the universities will receive 100% funding and the companies between 30 and 50%.
Source: https://laserregionaachen.de/buendnistreffen-laser-region-aachen
