Finally back in presence - Materials Symposium 2022 - Vehicles of tomorrow for customers and society

On May 17 and 18 the Materials Symposium 2022 and Future Automotive Production Conference (FAPC 2022) were held jointly with great success at the MobileLifeCampus in Wolfsburg.

After a joint opening by the conference chairs Prof. Dr.-Ing. Klaus Dröder (IWF, TU Braunschweig), Dr.-Ing. Andreas Gebauer-Teichmann (Volkswagen AG group components) and Dr. Joachim Kroos (Salzgitter Flachstahl GmbH), the President of TU Braunschweig Prof. Dr. Angela Ittel and the Lord Mayor of Wolfsburg Dennis Weilmann welcomed the visitors.

A high-profile keynote address by Dr. Christian Vollmer (Member of the Board of Management of the Volkswagen brand responsible for production) kicked off the technical presentations. The events were then divided into the individual parallel sessions. The 150 participants were able to attend each of the other sessions as well. The joint breaks offered the opportunity for professional exchange and networking. The conference was accompanied by an exhibition with numerous exhibits and a tour of laboratory and production facilities (Open Hybrid LabFactory and Volkswagen). Inspired by a keynote speech by McKinsey on "CO₂ - the new currency to pay for lightweight design", the discussions could be deepened during an evening event at the phaeno.

A total of 8 keynote speeches on strategic issues and 46 topical presentations were given in 17 sessions. The thematic focal points included the analysis of future customer requirements, ligthweight design with ultra-high strength materials for electromobility, sustainable production, hydrogen transport, H2 storage and a contribution from the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection on subsidy policy. Salzgitter AG contributed here with contributions on the future of lightweight construction from the customer's point of view, on H₂ transport and its storage, and on the transformation to CO₂-reduced steel production (SALCOS^®).

The two-day joint event ended with a start-up session, during which the two start-ups EnerKite GmbH and eco-softfibre GmbH & Co.KG received awards.