PIAF is the central research unit of Paderborn University for research in the context of additive fabrication. While publicly funded research projects are coordinated in the PIAF, joint research activities with industrial partners are bundled in the DMRC. The DMRC structure is flexible and very interdisciplinary; depending on the currently handled research topics, the constellation of chairs participating in the DMRC can be changed. At time, within the DMRC 12 different chairs with 14 professors and a large number of researchers work together. The research projects at the DMRC are (co-)funded by the industrial partners and by public sources as well. Additionally, all DMRC-projects are guided and controlled by industry partners. This allows all partners to generate a large amount of output, especially in regard to science.
We draw our funding from both, public and industrial sources. Public research projects are coordinated by the „Paderborn Institute for Additive Fabrication“ (PIAF). The PIAF central research unit of Paderborn University for research in the context of additive fabrication and includes the DMRC. Numerous competences are bundled at the PIAF: Scientists from the Faculties of Mechanical Engineering, Natural Sciences, Economics, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science and Mathematics work together on an interdisciplinary basis to advance basic and application-oriented research and transfer it to industrial practice. The DMRC itself hosts all industry research from companies supporting us. Those companies are called partners and can initiate (research) projects within the DMRC. For our partners, three different partnership models are available – essentially differing in the annual payment and voting power. As our projects are publicly and privatly funded, we maintain a balance of interests in the diverse field of Additive Manufacturing. It is also worth pointing out the importance of the DMRC as a communication platform for all of our stakeholders. Thereby, we quickly leverage contacts and initiate projects.
Eventually our success boils down to a simple recipe: Talented staff, engagement of professors, superb equipment and powerful partners. Within the next pages you will as well get knowledge about the content of the projects being performed under the funding conditions.
