“With TU Dresden, we have won as a strategic partner an excellent university with profound scientific expertise in automotive technology,” stated Prof. Dr.-Ing. Ulrich Hackenberg, Board of Management Member for Technical Development at AUDI AG, as the agreement was signed. The goal of our cooperation is to achieve a technology transfer between science and industry: We want to transfer research at the highest level into concrete projects. This will allow us to secure our ‘Vorsprung durch Technik’ over the long term.”
Prof. Dr. Hans Müller-Steinhagen, Principal of TU Dresden, emphasized: “We want to create a competence center in which science and practice are closely meshed. One special aspect is the interdisciplinary approach, because various faculties are involved in the project. In addition to physicists, electrical engineers and mechanical engineers, psychologists and transport scientists will work together on topics relating to automobile manufacturing.“
The cooperation had already proven its worth before INI.TUD was established. At present, for example, four doctoral students of TU Dresden are working on Audi projects, including an emissions concept to reduce energy consumption and the assessment of tire properties. As a pioneer for lightweight construction, Audi places priority on an intelligent multi-material mix and will benefit even more in the future from the expertise in this field of TU Dresden, facilitating research into new areas.
The premium manufacturer is pursuing another objective with this cooperation: “Through the research projects, we get to know highly qualified and talented people. We are able to recruit most of the doctoral students after they have gained their doctorate as high potentials for our company, and therefore benefit from their expertise in the longer term,” explained Prof. h.c. Thomas Sigi, Board of Management Member for Human Resources and Labor Relations Director at AUDI AG. With INI.TUD, Audi has established its 13th strategic and long-term cooperation with a university. “In this way, we are continuing the ten-year success story of our scientific cooperation,” continued Thomas Sigi.
Audi cooperates with 29 scientific institutions worldwide. In addition to doctoral projects, the types of cooperation include the “Audi Colloquium” series of lectures, professorships sponsored by foundations, and the involvement of Audi employees in academic teaching.
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Notes for the media:
Photographs of the signing of the agreement showing Prof. Dr. Hans Müller-Steinhagen, Principal of the Technical University of Dresden, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Ulrich Hackenberg, Board of Management Member for Technical Development at AUDI AG, and Dr. Peter F. Tropschuh, Head of Corporate Responsibility and Scientific Cooperation at AUDI AG, can be found as of 9:30 p.m. at www.audi-mediaservices.com.