Bavarian entry in the Leading-Edge Cluster Competition wins in Berlin

Zeil: “Carbon fibers are the material of the future”

MUNICH / BERLIN    The Bavarian entry ‘MAI-Carbon’ is one of the five winners in the Leading-Edge Cluster competition launched by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. Up to 80 million euro in funds will be made available to the cluster over a period of five years, half of which will be provided by the business community and private investors. “Supporting clusters is a core element in the Bavarian innovation policy that is aimed to expand and secure Bavaria as a world-class high-tech business location. The applicant MAI-Carbon has therefore received substantial support from the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs. “This has now paid off“, Bavaria’s  Economics minister, Martin Zeil, happily commented. The presentation of the cluster convinced the high-profile jury from business and science.
 
These products are set to become the material of the future in automotive engineering and in the aviation sector: carbon fibers are robust, lightweight and boast very high tensile strength; they make vehicles lighter and lead to low fuel consumption and low emissions. “They are referred to as the ‘black gold’ among composite materials and have enormous market potential“, Zeil added.
 
MAI-Carbon is a cooperation of 68 partners from the regions Munich, Augsburg and Ingolstadt (MAI), and includes renowned global players and technological leaders from the sectors of automotive engineering, aviation, mechanical and plant engineering as well as fiber manufacturing, such as Audi, BMW, Premium Aerotec, Eurocopter, Voith and SGL Carbon, amongst others. It is the stated aim of MAI-Carbon to expand the technological leadership in the application of carbon fiber components in mass production.
 
Innovative cross-sector technologies play a key role in the overall concept of the Bavarian Government’s research, technology and innovation policy. The topic of carbon fibers was already being promoted by the Ministry of Economic Affairs ten years ago, and since then has been continuously further developed, from carbon fiber reinforced ceramic composites up to the installation of an experimental production of carbon fibers suitable for aviation/aerospace applications. Since the year 2000 some 15 million euros in funding have been granted to 30 R&D projects, primarily from the program “New Materials”.
 
The Leading-Edge Cluster competition is intended to set an innovative approach for a long-term cluster strategy. Research and development are to help speed up the implementation of innovative products, processes and services in the market. More detailed information on the Leading-Edge Cluster competition can be found under www.spitzencluster.de.