FDWF receives funding for first research project
The Research Association of German Tool and Mold Makers (FDWF), founded in 2021, can announce the approval of its first project. The federal government will provide a total of over half a million euros in funding.
"Now it's finally getting concrete!" reports FDWF President Prof. Thomas Seul, delighted. "We have received approval for the first research project." The FDWF's declared goal of supporting companies in the industry and ensuring the innovative strength and international competitiveness of tool and mold making in Germany through joint pre-competitive research and development is now a lot closer.
Promotion of the SME-dominated German tool and mold making industry
On behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection (BMWK), the German Aerospace Center (DLR) has approved the research project "Extrusion tools based on additive manufacturing". A total of EUR 521,490.87 will flow from the ministry's funds over four years to three different recipients: the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering - Product Development/Design at Schmalkalden University of Applied Sciences, the Fraunhofer Research Institution for Additive Production Technologies IAPT in Hamburg and the Plastics Technology Paderborn (KTP) of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at Paderborn University.
What has been a goal since the FDWF was founded is now becoming a reality: the active promotion of tool and mold making in Germany through large-scale, specific research projects, which should help to successfully defend Germany's technological leadership internationally. This has been achieved thanks to the merger of numerous industry representatives and research institutions to form the FDWF and the pooling of their resources. "The dream is coming true! We have now filled the blank spot on the German funding map," explains Seul. "The goals of the FDWF are no longer just a vision, they are becoming reality. Now it is also up to the toolmakers themselves to get proactively involved in the project in order to benefit from it." The first approved FDWF research project will soon have company - two more have already been submitted and are awaiting official approval.
Research Association of German Tool and Mold Makers (FDWF)
The fundamental purpose of the FDWF is to promote science and research. The non-profit FDWF focuses on joint research for small and medium-sized enterprises. The research association is intended to support tool, mold and die making companies with the aim of securing their long-term competitiveness on a global level. This focus is explicitly laid down in the association's statutes.
