Kickoff for the Industry Work Group for Virtual Aircraft

Collaborative initiative between LRBW, VDC and Steinbeis

With increasing globalization, virtual engineering serves as an important basis for distributed engineering, particularly for small and medium- sized suppliers. That’s why the exchange of practice-based information and relevant application experience is so valuable for companies in assessing added value and their strategic positioning. A collaborative initiative between the LRBW aerospace forum, the Virtual Dimension Center (VDC) and the TransferWorks BW, a Steinbeis Transfer Center, is working on a platform called “Virtual Aircraft,” which is designed to efficiently network companies with the aim of promoting the use of virtual technologies in engineering.

The work group will address the myriad of issues surrounding virtual technology in the aerospace industry. This includes 3D-based product development methods, virtual mockups, virtual design studies, ergonomics and usability research, the graphical representation of calculation results, virtual courses and even 3D image capturing. The industry work group will promote the exchange of information between companies, provide updates on networking activities, draft competence portfolios and develop new contacts. In addition, a platform will be set up to depict application scenarios, opportunities and obstacles for virtual technologies together with practice-based examples. As a result of the collaboration between the project initiators and regional players, new partnerships and projects can be initiated and implemented, and overarching position papers can be developed.

In the first round, topics for key areas and priorities were selected, based on a survey of LRBW partner companies. Although the platform has no membership restrictions, it is aimed primarily at members of the LRBW and the VDC, at people in companies responsible for innovation, and at directors of small and medium-sized companies who are interested in the selected topic areas or in potential partnership projects and cooperative initiatives. The kickoff meeting for “Virtual Aircraft” was held at the beginning of November, where key players came together at the Bernd Kußmaul company, an industry supplier located in Weinstadt.

The VDC Fellbach has been active as a network hub for digital product development since 2002. Its focus lies in virtual engineering, virtual reality, 3D simulation, 3D graphical representations and content creation. A non-profit organization, it concentrates on high-synergy partnerships in value chains. The LRBW aerospace forum represents the aerospace industry in Baden-Württemberg. Together with its members, it fills the gap between business, science and academia, and political decision-makers, as well as other socially relevant groups. The forum drives national and international partnerships along the value chain. The Steinbeis Transfer Center TransferWorks BW offers professional networking activities for technology projects. The aim of this enterprise is to handle project coordination and communication across industries and organizations relating to the introduction of new technologies. The expansion of knowledge transfer – specifically between companies – and the setup of efficient collaborative work contributes to a structured and modernized process, which the TransferWorks BW coordinates.

Share this page