IMTC 2013

The first International MERGE Technologies Conference (IMTC) took place from 24 until 25 October 2013 at the Virtual Reality Center of the Fraunhofer Institute for Machine Tools and Forming Technology (IWU) in Chemnitz, Germany.

More than 200 international participants including professors, scientists and industry representatives discussed the latest developments for the resource-efficient mass-production of lightweight structures. On the first conference day, the main session topics were new scientific data concerning “Composites” and “Metal-based hybrids“. In addition to the presentations, the participants gained an inside view of the research laboratories of the Fraunhofer IWU, the Fraunhofer Institute for Electronic Nano Systems (ENAS), the Department of Lightweight Structures and Polymer Technology as well as the Materials and Surface Engineering Group of Chemnitz University. After an informative and interesting first day the participants could continue their exchange of information during the evening programme in pleasant atmosphere of “pumpwerk eins” in Chemnitz.

On the second day, the scientific focus lied on the topics “Lightweight structures“ and “Smart systems integration“. The wide variety of IMTC topics reflected the interdisciplinary research approach of the Federal Cluster of Excellence MERGE. The main objective of the Cluster is the fusion of fundamental technologies suitable for the resource-efficient mass-production of lightweight structures with high-performance and functional density.