Institutes: bridges between teaching and research

When the Institute of Applied Logistics Solutions, the first FHWS institute, was established 15 years ago, research at FHWS was still at the beginning. Over the years, seven more institutes were added to this – which today allow FHWS to shine with great diversity.

A robotic assistant for nursing staff. “On-demand” parcel deliveries by bus for inhabitants of rural areas. Higher performance batteries for electric cars. Or ethical questions concerning the use of big data and artificial intelligence in healthcare. Professors, research associates and students at FHWS carry out research into promising ideas like these in eight application-oriented institutes and more than 90 laboratories. Research activities have increased at FHWS since 2006, when the research mission for universities of applied sciences was introduced into the Bavarian Higher Education Act. Since then, research at FHWS has been developing continuously.

From a technical focus to great diversity

The Institute of Applied Logistics Solutions (IAL) was established on 1 October 2006. “There already were research activities in the field of high voltage technology at the time. But it wasn’t an institute, just a laboratory. But a lot of third-party funds were made available,” remembers Prof. Dr. Ulrich Müller-Steinfahrt, who has managed the IAL since the beginning. “In contrast, the non-technical field was challenging.” At the time, he represented the field of logistics in Würzburg together with Prof. Dr. Peik Bremer. With the establishment of the institute, the plan was to raise third-party funds also for non-technical research, and to bundle all logistics research activities. This was part of the target agreement between FHWS and the Bavarian Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts.

At the same time, research in the field of high voltage technology also continued to progress. “At the time, Prof. Dr. Andreas Küchler was one of the leading experts in high voltage technology, both nationally and internationally,” says Dr. Simone Heimpel, who has guided research at FHWS for many years. In 2011, his activities were finally rewarded with an institute: the Institute for Power Engineering and High Voltage Technology (IEHT). “It forms the Competence Centre Mainfranken in Schweinfurt together with the Institute of Medical Engineering (IMES), which developed at the same time,” explains Dr. Heimpel. But the IEHT and IMES weren’t the only institutes which started that year: the Institute for Design and Information Systems (IDIS) has considered itself to be a think tank for innovative solutions since 2011 and brings computer scientists and communication designers together.

A new beginning in a time of change

An extraordinary collaboration came about in Bad Neustadt in 2012: ten years ago, the small town on the Saale river became the first “model electromobility town”. The founding of the Technology Transfer Centre for E-mobility (TTZ-EMO) followed suit. The establishment of the Technology Transfer Centre for E-mobility would not have been possible without the close collaboration between the district authority, local politicians, industry and FHWS. So, the town provided the premises, the industry financed the endowed professorship and FHWS provided its expertise in research and teaching.

Nowadays, more than 40 employees and doctoral candidates continue to drive scientific strength and international networking at the Technology Transfer Centre for E-mobility. Applying state-of-the-art technology and methodology, they research how to improve batteries for electric cars and how to generate renewable energy locally and temporarily store it in electric car batteries. Approx. one and a half to two million euros are invested in research and technology transfer every year, more than 80 percent of which is in collaboration with industry.

Breaking down the boundaries between faculties

While the older institutes were predominantly established from faculties, university management is shifting towards the strategy of breaking down boundaries between faculties and bundling skills in one institute, particularly for the newer institutes. Mechanical engineers should work together with industrial engineers, social scientists with computer scientists. This applies in particular for the Institute for Digital Engineering (IDEE). “Certainly, all institutes should work interdisciplinarily, but the IDEE pursued this from the start,” explains Prof. Dr. Jürgen Hartmann, Vice President of Research at FHWS. “We wanted to unite everything concerning digitalisation in one single institute.” Since March 2018 and organised into four centres, the IDEE has united the faculties of Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, and Business Information Systems, which all deal with the topic of Industry 4.0.