German-Hungarian Innovation Day in Budapest (Press Release)

Excellence and originality are core objectives of the mission of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. In order to achieve these goals beyond the German borders and to secure the future viability of the business locations Germany and Europe, Fraunhofer cooperates with top international partners. Fraunhofer has therefore been working successfully with the Institute for Computer Science and Control (MTA SZTAKI) of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA) for a long time. In order to deepen the scientific collaboration, the two partners are organizing a German-Hungarian Innovation Day entitled “Partnership for Innovation and Excellence,” which will be held on the premises of MTA SZTAKI in Budapest on May 25, 2018. High-caliber speakers at the event will include Prof. Reimund Neugebauer, President of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, Prof. László Lovász, President of MTA, Prof. László Monostori, Director of MTA SZTAKI and head of the Fraunhofer-SZTAKI partnership, and László Palkovics, minister for Innovation and Technology. The event will also include the official opening of the offices of the newly established corporation EPIC InnoLabs Non-profit.

The Innovation Day will center on the official opening of the offices of EPIC InnoLabs Non-profit, a new corporation jointly founded by Fraunhofer and MTA SZTAKI. The main goals of EPIC are to transfer internationally recognized R&D findings to industry in areas such as cyber-physical production and logistics, and to establish a regional hub for industrial digitalization and Industrie 4.0 applications. “We are convinced that EPIC InnoLabs Non-profit has a bright future,” says Prof. László Monostori. “The skills and portfolios of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft and MTA SZTAKI complement each other, and there is strong demand in Hungary and neighboring regions for high-quality innovations and services. All this creates an excellent basis for our joint venture, which will make a major contribution to innovation and excellence in Europe.”

Honorary doctorate for Prof. Reimund Neugebauer

“For Fraunhofer, excellence and originality are always in the focus. This also applies to our international commitments. The long and stable partnership with our colleagues in Hungary brings benefits not only for the scientific organizations involved. I am convinced that, by enabling the transfer of outstanding research findings to industry, our partnership will provide long-term benefits to the economies of our two countries, as well as that of Europe, as they compete in global markets,” says Fraunhofer President Prof. Reimund Neugebauer regarding the deepened collaboration and joint projects. The event is accompanied by the awarding of an honorary doctorate from the Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME) to Prof. Neugebauer. Prof. Neugebauer is receiving the honorary doctorate in recognition of his outstanding achievements as a researcher, leader in science and, last but not least, as a strong advocate of scientific collaboration between Hungary and Germany. “It is a great honor for me to receive this doctorate,” says Prof. Neugebauer.

Partnership and innovation

The Innovation Day “Partnership for Innovation and Excellence” is the culmination of many years of successful collaboration between the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft and MTA. In 2010, Fraunhofer and MTA founded the Fraunhofer Project Center for Production Management and Information Technology at SZTAKI. Last year, the two partners scored a big success at EU level: as part of the latter’s Spreading Excellence and Widening Participation program, they won EU funding for seven years to establish the European Center of Competence for Production IT and Control (EPIC). The partners in the consortium are MTA SZTAKI (as scientific coordinator), three Fraunhofer Institutes from Germany (the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA, the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Systems and Design Technology IPK, and the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology IPT), Fraunhofer Austria, the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and the Faculty of Transportation Engineering and Vehicle Engineering of the Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME) as well as the National Research, Development and Innovation Office of Hungary in the role of consortium.