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University of Bayreuth, Press Release No. 112/2024 -  16.10.2024

Joint research for a sustainable future

D3MAT, a joint research project between the University of Bayreuth and Deakin University, Australia, on sustainable product design, will start in January 2025. The project is being funded by the Volkswagen Foundation with around 1.2 million euros. 

Sustainable product design has emerged as a pivotal element within contemporary industrial practices, driven by increasing global concerns about environmental degradation and resource depletion. However, the integration of precise technical design and engineering incentives with sustainability considerations is still infrequent. D3MAT examines the reduction of material quantity in products during the design phase, employing computational engineering and advanced additive manufacturing methods to accelerate innovative, sustainable and versatile products. The aim is to create flexible, transferable, and scalable algorithmic strategies based on environmental considerations all validated by a sustainable, performance-driven, and adaptive hand orthosis.

The overarching aim of D3MAT is to advance circular product design principles, particularly within the context of computational approaches, without sacrificing performance. This initiative targets complex design and manufacturing systems with an emphasis on spatial and temporal product adaption and aims to provide a transferable approach applicable across various industries, including robotics, automotive, aerospace, and sports technology.

The initiative is part of the collaboration between the University of Bayreuth (UBT) and Deakin University (DU) and was developed and led by joint PhD student Niko Nagengast and PhD student Marco Wimmer (UBT). Project leaders are Prof Dr Frank Döpper (Chair of Environmental Production Engineering, UBT), Prof Dr Franz Konstantin Fuss (Chair of Biomechanics, UBT) and Dr Clara Usma-Mansfield (School of Engineering, DU). D3MAT will also include two further joint PhD projects between the University of Bayreuth and Deakin University, promoting further collaboration and research at an international level. Supported by industrial partners medi, AM Polymers, voxeljet and robotif, the project will ensure the applicability and scalability of the hand orthoses and the overall research approach.

The official project kick-off is planned for the start of 2025. International coordination will be handled by the Gateway Office of the University of Bayreuth in Melbourne.

Prof. Dr. Frank Doepper

Prof. Dr. Frank Döpper

Chair of Environmental Production Engineering

Phone: +49 (0)921 / 55-7520
E-mail: frank.doepper@uni-bayreuth.de

Theresa Hübner

Theresa Hübner

Deputy Press & PR Manager
University of Bayreuth

Phone: +49 (0) 921 / 55-5357
E-mail: theresa.huebner@uni-bayreuth.de