Perfomance & Success
Focus on Performance & Success
Innovation Models Electromobility
Speed for SME Motor sport is considered the most rigorous test environment for vehicle development. This also goes for electromobility as the trend to increased use of electric motors now even takes in rallying.
What are the benefits of crowdsourcing or open innovation? The manner in which innovation takes place in business and society is currently undergoing a dramatic transformation. New information technology, clients’ readiness to get involved in the development process and social networks all make novel forms of innovation possible. Karl-Heinz Leitner, Senior Scientist Research, Technology & Innovation Policy Innovation Systems Department
How can you harness the knowledge of the crowd for your own innovation process? What are the benefits of open innovation? These and similar issues are currently being examined by the AIT’s Innovation Systems Department, on behalf of Austria Wirt schaftsservice GmbH. Open innovation, crowdsourcing and business model innovation are some of the new development trends found throughout the world which are also increasingly being adopted by Austrian businesses. A number of workshops are being organised to identify possible barriers and analyse success factors which could be addressed by innovation policy and promotion. n “Speed for SME”* is a project which allows small and medium-sized enterprises to develop components and prototypes that make electric-powered vehicles suitable for racing. Light Metals Technologies Ranshofen (LKR, Business Unit of the AIT Mobility Department) has an advisory role in the incorporation of lightweight solutions in rally vehicles and develops the early prototypes for lightweight electric motor casings manufactured through low pressure casting. “The priority is to integrate the components in the overall concept and make optimal use of the available space with a compact design”, explains LKR project leader Richard Kretz. A smart combi nation of development tools, such as casting and solidification simulations, are used in the manufacture of electric motor casings. The result: faster and improved production of components suitable for rally vehicles. n
Speed for SME: rally sport with electric-powered vehicles. LKR Ranshofen is involved in working on new overall solutions.
Richard Kretz, LKR project leader of Speed for SME: “We are using a smart combination of development tools.”
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ystematic development of propulsion systems S for enhanced electro mobility drive trains
Longevity Research
Specialised ribosomes counter the ageing process How can you stay healthy while ageing? This is a question which hundreds of research groups around the world are current ly investigating. Researchers at Vienna’s University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (Boku), together with national and international partners including AIT, have made an important discovery in longevity research. They have observed that gene NSUN5, hitherto largely ignored by scientific studies, can influence the ageing process of various organisms. If this gene is deactivated, protein synthesis in cells is “reprogrammed” such that model organisms like fruit flies or threadworms live longer. The mechanism of action discovered in this research mainly targets ribosomes which are responsible for protein synthesis in the cells. The study has recent ly been published in the prestigious scientific journal Nature Communications. n
Photos: LKR; AIT Krischanz Zeiler
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