Research and development for real applications
Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials IWM
© Fraunhofer IWM
Business units
Research and development activities at the Fraunhofer IWM are organized into eight business units where similar project topics are grouped together.
Cooperation
Cooperation with the Fraunhofer IWM begins with a noncommittal advisory meeting during which the potential objectives, time scale and financial framework are discussed. We pride ourselves on our professional project work, irrespective of the project size. We treat client information with utmost confidence – a confidentiality agreement can be included in the cooperation contract should the client request one.
Customized research and development projects
Our service, research or development projects are tailored to the needs of our clients – be they companies or public institutions. We supply innovative know-how to small and medium-sized companies without their own R&D department.
Many of our projects are direct industry contracts, in which we apply our entire range of services: advisory discussions, feasibility studies, analyses and assessment, product and system optimizations, damage detection and damage avoidance, process and component development.
Solutions for material and energy efficiency
We take a comprehensive approach: the project team is put together according to the competencies required for the topic in question. We use the latest findings from the fields of materials science and material engineering to solve practical problems and provide our clients with long-term solutions. The client mainly benefits in the categories of safety, reliability, service life and functionality, bringing with them cost savings and efficiency improvements.
Research for the future
The Fraunhofer IWM’s research activities go beyond the pure contract work. The basic funding provided by the Federal Ministry of Research and the project funding from federal and state ministries enables the institute to work independently of industry contracts on research in areas of technology that are considered highly promising and relevant for the future. The Fraunhofer IWM incorporates the findings from this work into its cooperation with business in order to, for instance, develop new applications or enter new markets.
Fundamental and initial research forms the basis of the contract research we carry out for our clients. The Fraunhofer IWM carries out numerous research projects on behalf of the German Research Foundation (DFG), trade associations or foundations. The institute is also actively involved in initial research programs with other Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft institutes. This includes both strategic, market-oriented initial research and business-oriented strategic alliances. We also organize and coordinate project consortia at the EU level for publically funded research topics.
Quality and customer satisfaction
We successfully carry out many hundreds of research and development projects every year, and have a certified quality management system – two fundamental aspects that clearly demonstrate that the institute is capable of reliable project work that meets the needs of industry. Surveys have also confirmed a high level of customer satisfaction and the Fraunhofer IWM’s good reputation.
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