Active in aerospace: Prof. Dr. Frank Allmendinger (left) and Transfer Manager Rudolf Merz.
2025 Aerospace Congress in Stuttgart
By participating in the 2025 Aerospace Congress in Stuttgart, Furtwangen University (HFU) has underscored its ongoing interest in the future-oriented field of aerospace. Prof. Dr. Frank Allmendinger and transfer manager Rudolf Merz attended the event, which was organised by the Stuttgart Region Chamber of Industry and Commerce.
The congress brought together representatives from industry, research, politics, and transfer, providing a central platform for information, exchange, and networking. The aim of participating was to learn about current developments, needs, and trends in the industry first-hand from stakeholders, to maintain existing contacts, and to open up new opportunities for discussion for possible future collaboration.
The 2025 Aerospace Congress was held under the motto “Tapping into future markets – opportunities for SMEs” and was aimed in particular at companies seeking to enter the aerospace or defense industry. For HFU, the event provided a concentrated overview of technological priorities, qualification requirements, and cooperation models within a highly dynamic field of innovation.
The content focused on topics such as system integration, sensor technology and AI, actuator technology, supply chains and scaling, and sustainable drive concepts using hydrogen, for example. Numerous links to existing research and areas of expertise at HFU became apparent. In particular, the potential of the university's internal Energy and Storage Systems Working Group (AG ESS) at the IFC Tuttlingen, which develops expertise in these future-oriented topics, stood out clearly in this context.
One focus of the HFU's presence was on the accompanying networking formats. Here, the university representatives took the opportunity to exchange ideas with players from industry, research institutions, clusters, and start-ups. The focus was not on short-term project completions, but on establishing sustainable contacts, a professional assessment of industry dynamics, and the identification of possible long-term cooperation prospects. “Events like this are important seismographs for us − they show where technologies, markets, and qualification requirements are heading and where there may be potential points of contact for a university of applied sciences,” said Prof. Dr. Frank Allmendinger.
Participation in the 2025 Aerospace Congress is one of a series of activities with which Furtwangen University is further sharpening its profile in technology-driven fields of the future. These include initiatives such as the “Suppliers in Orbit” event, successfully organised in collaboration with the Schwarzwald-Baar-Heuberg Chamber of Industry and Commerce and AuToS SW-BW, which aim to support small and medium-sized enterprises in particular in entering the aerospace industry and to systematically develop regional value chains. Aerospace is an interdisciplinary field that combines expertise from engineering, energy systems, digitalisation, and transfer. The impressions, contacts, and ideas gained at the Aerospace Congress are now being incorporated into further discussions within the university.
Contact person for companies, networks or research institutions interested in a professional exchange or possible cooperation with Furtwangen University in the field of aerospace:
Internal link opens in the same window:Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Frank Allmendinger
Internal link opens in the same window:Rudolf Merz, HFU Transfer Manager