Ansbach University has extended its technical lab by adding a MicroPower from the Wittmann Group. The new injection molding machine for micro technology is now available for teaching and research and also being used primarily for further extension of its cooperation network with industrial partners.
“We offer very well equipped labs to plastics processing companies and provide more or less ‘neutral ground’ for sampling and development projects “, emphas Professor Dr.-Ing. Thomas Müller-Lenhardt, Head of the part-time degree program Applied Polymer Technology at the University of Ansbach. The Wittmann Group, too, will use this facility jointly with customers, since after all, the knowledge transfer with university researchers yields considerable benefits. “The cooperation is a win-win situation. Micro injection molding is developing very dynamically. Important steps for further development have been taken in recent years, for example in the direction of nanostructures. By a joint effort, we will be able to put new findings into practice more quickly”, says Andreas Schramm, Managing Director of Wittmann Battenfeld Deutschland, the German subsidiary of the Austrian Wittmann Group.
Practice-oriented education and training
In research, the high-precision injection molding machine - acquired with funds from the High-Tech Agenda Bavaria - is being used to develop new materials and products for applications in areas such as medical technology, mechanical engineering and electronics. Under the direction of Professor Dr.-Ing. Alexandru Sover, research for doctorate theses is carried out, cooperations are supervised and projects in the area of micropart development and production are implemented. In this way, the Ansbach University’s expertise in the field of application-oriented micro part manufacturing is continuously broadened and consolidated.
For the students, the new machine extends the portfolio of internships and student projects. “It is important to understand things not only with your head, but also with your hands. And that is only possible directly on the machine”, says Müller-Lenhardt. Students of several different degree programs will work with the new MicroPower. In addition to Applied Polymer Technology, these include Sustainable Engineering and Engineering & Management. “I am very pleased with the machine concept of the MicroPower from Wittmann”, says Müller-Lenhardt. “Thanks to the Euromap 77 interface included in the delivery, we will also be able to use the machine for digitalization projects. By using the MicroPower, we can demonstrate very clearly how injection molding processes can be intelligently monitored and controlled.”
Students praise the equipment
Ansbach University ranks among the top ten German universities according to the current rating of the StudyCheck evaluation portal, and in Bavaria it takes even second place. Special points of particularly positive feedback from students are the university’s courses and lectures, as well as its range of equipment, to which now an additional attraction has been added in the form of the new Wittmann machine.
