Communicating Perspectives

The Chair DAP Network

“With every change of perspective comes the chance to find something new in the familiar”

 (translated) Source: Mirwald, Bei Licht besehen: Wesentliches in wenigen Worten, Bd. 2. Verlag Markus Mirwald 2018

Working in networks helps to examine challenges from different angles. Offering an exchange platform, industry, basic and application-oriented research bundle and expand their know-how in an interdisciplinary manner. This way, forming the basis for new approaches along the entire value chain. Networks: catalysts for progressive innovation!

International Center for Turbomachinery Manufacturing in Aachen (ICTM)

DIn October 2015, the RWTH Aachen Laboratory for Machine Tools and Production Engineering WZL and DAP Chair, the Fraunhofer Institutes for Laser Technology ILT as well as Production Technology IPT established the Aachen “International Center for Turbomachinery Manufacturing – ICTM” together with 19 renowned partners from industry.

The network’s 28 industrial partners – current status – include large and medium-sized enterprises representing turbomachinery, mechanical engineering, automation and machining technology, as well as Additive Manufacturing. It conducts collaborative R&D with regard to manufacturing and repair of turbomachinery in the context of advanced machining, additive manufacturing and Industry 4.0.
The research center was founded without any government funding and is, thus, one of the few independent networks that emerged from the Fraunhofer innovation clusters “TurPro” and “ADAM”. The ten-member steering committee consists of representatives of the participating industrial companies and research institutes.

Visit ICTM Homepage

Digital Photonic Production (DPP) Research Campus

Under one roof, the Digital Photonic Production (DPP) Research Campus establishes a new long-term, systematic cooperation between RWTH Aachen University, Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft and industrial partners.
The joint research focuses on the use of light as a tool for tomorrow’s industrial production. The common vision: directly producing any component by means of laser radiation using digital data – Digital Photonic Production.
Bearing this purpose in mind, partners from science and industry interdisciplinary develop solutions for the entire production chain “from bits to photons to atoms”.
The DPP Research Campus is part of the Germany-wide “Research Campus – Public-Private Partnership for Innovation” funding initiative of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).

In this context, the DAP chair researches topics in the field of material development for Additive Manufacturing (AM) as well as laser beam modulation in the Laser Powder Bed Fusion process. Furthermore, the scientists develop AM solutions for automated component design and data handling as well as reproducibility and quality assurance. In addition, the DAP chair´s researchers use a “Virtual AM Lab” to examine and define the requirements for future data processing of AM-specific production, considering uniform communication along the entire process chain.

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Hydrogen Future Cluster

The Digital Additive Production Chair DAP is part of the Future Cluster Initiative of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). The Future Cluster exploits regional networks as key for creating the innovations of the future through excellent research. This way, bringing together experts in the field of hydrogen technology in a holistic innovation ecosystem around the energy carrier of the future – hydrogen – and opens up applications for the use of the technology in business and society.

Within the Future Cluster´s collaboration, the RWTH Aachen chairs VKA, AVT, DAP plus TIME and the Forschungszentrum Jülich, jointly develop advanced solutions for hydrogen production, storage and use.

Visit Hydrogen Future Cluster´s Homepage

U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), as an agency, is an administrative part of the U.S. Department of Transportation. Primarily, the agency’s mission is to issue advisory circulars (AC), airworthiness directives (AD), and guidelines (FARs) for all air traffic in the United States in order to take preventive measures to avoid accidents.
The FAA and the DAP chair collaborate in the areas of facility infrastructure maintenance of air traffic control, as well as research and development of aviation-related systems and technologies.

Visit FAA Homepage

European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA)

Die EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency) ist die Europäische Agentur für Flugsicherheit und übernahm 2002 die Aufgaben der Joint Aviation Authorities der EU-Länder. Zu ihren Aufgaben gehören die Ausarbeitung von Rechtsvorschriften zur Flugsicherheit und die technische Beratung der Europäischen Kommission sowie der EU-Mitgliedstaaten. Weitere Funktionen der EASA, in denen der Lehrstuhl DAP unterstützend tätig ist, umfassen die Lufttüchtigkeits- und Musterzulassung von Luftfahrzeugen und Luftfahrzeugteilen für in der EU betriebene Luftfahrzeuge, die Zulassung von Luftfahrzeugkonstruktionsbetrieben weltweit sowie Produktions- und Wartungsbetrieben innerhalb und außerhalb der EU.

The EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency) took over the tasks of the Joint Aviation Authorities of the EU countries in 2002. Its tasks include the development of aviation safety legislation and the provision of technical advice to the European Commission as well as the EU member states. The DAP chair supports the EASA in the field of airworthiness and type certification of aircrafts and aircraft parts to be operated in the EU, certification of aircraft design organizations worldwide, and production and maintenance organizations within and outside the EU.

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Institutes for Standardization (DIN, CEN/CENELEC & ISO/IEC)

Standards are developed by committees at DIN (German Institute for Standardization), at the European standards organizations CEN/CENELEC (European Committee for Standardization / European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization) or at the international standards organizations ISO/IEC (International Organization for Standardization / International Electrotechnical Commission) according to defined principles, procedural and design rules. All parties interested in the preparation of standards can participate in the work of the committee: for example, manufacturers, consumers, trade, universities, research institutes, authorities or testing institutes. The interested parties send their experts to the DIN working committee, which are organized in standards committees according to specialist areas and ensure the uniformity and consistency of the German body of standards.

As an interested party, the DAP chair participates and actively contributes input on current innovations and technologies in the Additive Manufacturing sector. Within the working committees, the experts agree on a common version of the committee’s contents, bearing the state of the art in mind and considering all interests of the stakeholders and discussing counterarguments.

Zur DIN Webseite

Association of German Engineers (VDI)

The Association of German Engineers (VDI) claims to be the largest association of engineers and scientists in Germany and sees itself as a representative of its scientific community´s interests.

The VDI represents its interests in national politics and, through its network, facilitates regular exchange at the federal, state and district levels with established experts and managers. In principle, the essential purpose of the association is the creation of technical rules and regulations. In particular, VDI guidelines are developed by expert volunteers from industry, science and administration as well as VDI employees in guideline committees. These contain recommendations and rules in the field of engineering sciences as well as the state of the art.
The chair DAP contributes to the VDI network with its employees as a research institute.

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The German Aerospace Industries Association (BDLI)

The German Aerospace Industries Association (BDLI) has established the competence network “Additive Manufacturing in the Aerospace Industry” (AMIAS).
This network bundles the interests of diverse players from the aerospace production chains addressing different topics of Additive Manufacturing (AM). For the aerospace application, the resulting committees deal, among others, with AM design as well as the AM processes Laser Powder Bed Fusion and Direct Energy Deposition for metallic materials and Fused Filament Fabrication or Laser Sintering for polymers. The chair DAP acts as a research partner in the AMIAS network. Within the respective committees, established and competent experts lively exchange their knowledge on project basis.

Visit BDLI Homepage