Institute for plastics processing

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Institute for plastics processing

The Institute for Plastics Processing (IKV) in Industry and Craft at the Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen is a teaching and research institute for the study of plastics technology and stands for practice-oriented research, innovation and technology transfer. The focus of the IKV is the integrative consideration of product development in the fields of materials , construction and processing , especially in the areas of plastics and rubber . The sponsor is a non-profit association to which around 300 companies from the plastics industry worldwide now belong (as of Dec. 2018) and through which the institute maintains a close connection between industry and science. In addition, the Institute for Plastics Processing is a member of the working group of industrial research associations "Otto von Guericke" (AiF).

The institute was founded in 1950 and, with around 350 employees, became the largest research and training institute in the field of plastics technology in Europe. The first director of the institute was Karl Krekeler, who was followed by AH Henning in 1959. Georg Menges headed the institute from 1965 to 1988 and Walter Michaeli until his retirement in 2011 . Christian Hopmann has been the current director of the institute and at the same time managing director of the association since 2011. He is also the holder of the chair for plastics processing within the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at RWTH Aachen University.

The tasks of the institute

The tasks of the institute are:

  • scientific and practice-oriented research in the field of plastics technology;
  • the training of students to become qualified young professionals for the plastics industry;
  • the training of practitioners in the craft industry in the field of plastics technology.

Structure and employees

The scientific departments of injection molding / PUR technology, extrusion and processing, molded part design / materials technology and fiber-reinforced plastics are the institute's operational units. The Center for Plastics Analysis and Testing (KAP) at the IKV supports and advises the scientific departments and is available to the industry as a service unit for problem solutions. The education and training department is responsible nationwide for technology transfer in the craft industry.

Since 1960 the institute has been cooperating with the Gewerbeförderungsanstalt (GFA) in the training center of the Aachen Chamber of Crafts (HWK), which serves as a course center for plastics technology for both the IKV and the German Association for Welding Technology (DVS) and the German Association of Gas and Wasserfach (DVGW) has been recognized and certified. In 1983, on the initiative of the incumbent HWK President Anton Immendorf, this area was transferred to the Vocational Training and Trade Promotion Institution (BGE) in Aachener Tempelhofer Straße.

There are currently 130 employees at IKV, including 80 scientists, in research, development and training. They are supported by 220 student assistants. In addition to the tasks mentioned above, one of the goals of the IKV is to provide industry with solutions to problems that can be used in operational practice. Individual projects, but also those within the framework of industrial joint research , often lead to high-quality product ideas and developments which, in terms of the technology transfer sought, are intended to benefit not only larger, but also small and medium-sized companies .

Web links

Commons : Institute for Plastics Processing RWTH Aachen  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Information on kunststoffe.de ( Memento from May 31, 2009 in the Internet Archive ).
  2. ↑ Successor to head of the institute at IKV ( Memento from December 31, 2010 in the Internet Archive ).
  3. ↑ Kunststofftechnik at the HWK Aachen ( Memento of the original from April 2, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.hwk-aachen.de

Coordinates: 50 ° 46 ′ 43.7 "  N , 6 ° 4 ′ 52"  E