Successful Hessian Bionics Network Workshop at KARL MAYER, 13.02.2014 in Obertshausen

In bionics animals and plants serve as examples for new creative solutions and innovative technical applications. What these are will be discussed in the ‘Bionics in operation’ events series from the Hessian Bionics Network. The specialists meeting at the interface between Nature and technology is supported by the Hessian Ministry for Economics and was held recently on 13 February at KARL MAYER Textilmaschinenfabrik GmbH in Obertshausen. The workshop dealt with the theme ‘Technical textiles and composite materials.’ There were around 80 interested parties. The participants came mainly from small and medium-sized companies, from consultancies and from the legal sector – a colourful mixture of practical innovators from the region who made the workshop into a successful network platform.

A programme by practical people for practical people

At the start of the event details were given of the setting up, production, logistics and the development centre of the host. Many visitors were astonished by the size and modern nature of the company – a real ‘hidden champion’ just around the corner.

Then Arno G?rtner, the KARL MAYER business manager, introduced the company and opened the series of reports. During the lectures the visitors found out more about the points of contact between KARL MAYER and bionics: on one hand the textile machine manufacturer processes fibre-based materials and hence materials inspired by Nature in its products. On the other KARL MAYER warp-knitting and raschel machines are used to produce bionic solutions such as Velcro fasteners, fog-catching nets and sun collectors

The Denkendorf Institute for Textile and Research Technology (ITV) and the companies H. Moldenhauer and evosolutions made contributions to the theme ‘Composite materials’.

The lively lectures and the extraordinarily well aimed exchange of information between the participants turned the workshop in Obertshausen into a complete success. Michael Kieren, a developer at KARL MAYER, stated: ‘We were able to speak to specialists from a wide range of sectors and to see how work is done in other branches of industry. That is very important for our work. In view of the very high level of sophistication of our machines, real technological innovations can today be brought about increasingly only through interdisciplinary cooperation. Ability to see beyond the end of one’s nose is thus necessary.’

Fig. 1 (from the left to the right): Michael Kieren and Arno Gаrtner from KARL MAYER and Stefan Schmidt from the Finishing – Yarns – Fabrics – Technical Textiles Industrial Association at a specialist discussion

Fig. 2: Stephan Jung, trainer at the company academy, explains the set-up