Montan-Innovation-Lab-Saar GmbH wins funding project from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research

Together with Saarland University, HTW Saar and the Center for Mechatronics and Automation Technology (ZeMA) in Saarbrücken, Montan-Innovation-Lab-Saar has now won a 3-year project grant of over 5.5 million euros. The ability of MILS to obtain project funding of this scale just one year after its launch is counted as proof of the concept for the company by Managing Directors Dr. Jörg Strese and Christian Weber. “With this project funding, MILS is fulfilling its mission of promoting and developing innovative ideas in the early stages of start-ups. The transfer of innovative know-how between Saarland’s university institutes and the state’s business community is being supported and made commercially viable for the benefit of securing jobs and business locations,” Strese said.

The funding program comes from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). It is based on the finding that although universities have developed excellent research profiles, they often do not succeed to transfer these to industry for commercial use. The aim is to use a variety of knowledge transfer formats and methods to create “Transfer Spaces” where the region’s existing potential for scientific, economic and social innovation can be supported and used for structural change.

A 9-member project group led by ZeMA Scientific Director Prof. Dirk Bähre designed the Depart!Saar project for this purpose and presented it to the Berlin BMBF. The “employee mobility” project module from MILS consists of knowledge transfer formats inspired by the experiences of Saarland’s steel industry. Other Depart!Saar modules include “employee development”, “fields of experimentation”, and “technological maturity enhancement”, for which suitable formats have also been devised.

In addition to the more methodological focus of the “Transfer Spaces” project funding, a specific technological innovation is often at the center of the content. This means that knowledge transfer formats are developed especially for this technology. In the case of the Depart!Saar project, this involves energy-related applications for innovative nickel-titanium alloys. The Intelligent Materials Systems department at Saarland University, headed by Prof. Stefan Seelecke, incorporates these materials into highly innovative applications for the automotive, manufacturing and medical industries.

“Both the methodological and the content focus of the Depart!Saar project correspond very well with the MILS mission to make innovations both inside and outside the steel industry usable for the decarbonization process of the Saarland steel industry, which is currently being advanced at full speed,” Strese said.

After successful implementation, the project can be extended to a funding amount of 17 million euros for up to nine years, for which excellent conditions also exist within the framework of the “InnovationsCluster 4.0,” initiated by the Montan-Stiftung-Saar.

About Montan-Innovation-Lab-Saar
Montan-Innovation-Lab-Saar is a subsidiary of Montan-Stiftung-Saar. Its mission is to promote creative innovations at an early stage and bring them to market maturity.