Around 130 entrepreneurs and scientists came together at the second futureSAX Innovation Forum 2019 at the Technical University Bergakademie Freiberg to exchange ideas on the cross-sectoral topic "Future field of environmental and resource technology - securing competitiveness and opening up new business fields with sustainability and efficiency". The participants got to know different technologies and application scenarios of future innovation drivers that are of high relevance for different industries.

Montanunion Erzgebirge: Research and innovation with tradition

The UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site Ore Mountains and with it the Technical University Bergakademie Freiberg stand for a centuries-long tradition of innovations, which open up new fields of application from business and science and thus decisively determine this future field in Saxony. For this reason Freiberg is also the best place with many starting points for the futureSAX Innovation Forum, according to Marina Heimann, Managing Director of futureSAX GmbH, in her welcoming address.

Core task for the future: Sector coupling across different industries

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Bernd Meyer, Director of the Institute for Energy Process Engineering and Chemical Engineering at the Technical University of Freiberg, explained in his keynote address which challenges the energy and raw material turnaround will pose for the economy and society. At the same time, he pointed out which technical solutions already exist to link different industries and sectors in the future in order to achieve higher efficiency. Prof. Meyer was available in advance for an interview on his topic.

Afterwards, the three moderators of the theme workshops, Philipp Büttner (Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology), Karl Lötsch (Innovation Cluster HZwo), Mark Richter (Fraunhofer IWU), were given the floor one after the other to present the theme workshops and the theses to be discussed in impulse lectures.

Impulse lectures & animated discussions in the panels

In the following rounds of talks, the experts from science and industry discussed with the guests of the theme workshops the areas of new raw material cycles, new raw material sources and efficient production. In the theme workshop "New Raw Material Cycles", the participants discussed, among other things, the extent to which the raw material demand can and must be met sustainably from domestic sources. nbsp]The link to other sectors is reflected in the discussion of the theme workshop New sources of raw materials. Here it was discussed how the Saxon economy must position itself in order to secure future competitiveness with regard to materials and processes in the field of fuel cell technology.

The subsequent coffee break was used by the participants to exchange the results of the first round, to network, but also to inform themselves about the offers of the futureSAX innovation exchange. The various exhibitors provided the guests with information about new technologies and cooperation opportunities.

Also in the second round the guests received many impulses from the discussions with the experts. The theme workshop on efficient production took up the general credo on sector coupling. Whether raw material or energy source: the overarching coupling is necessary to be not only sustainable, but also competitive in the future.

"Although I come from the semiconductor industry, the event was extremely good today because I think today's topics will be interesting for all industries. I was very curious and it was a lot of fun to deal more intensively with the hydrogen topic. Such events can be an initial process to start projects together. I also saw that many guests today exchanged contact details."

Heinz Martin Esser, Geschäftsführer Fabmatics GmbH Dresden

Saxony has great potential

Marina Heimann, Managing Director of futureSAX GmbH, emphasized in her closing remarks:

"Today has shown that Saxony is rightly a leading location in the field of environmental and resource technologies. A large number of committed companies and research institutions as well as exciting start-ups are the necessary prerequisites for new innovations to emerge again and again from centuries of tradition and to make Saxony fit for the future as a business location".

The event was rounded off by a joint get-together. A good meal was enough time to make new contacts and find cooperation partners from other areas. What synergies and projects will develop from the discussions? You can be curious!

New concepts for sector tying

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Bernd Meyer,
Institutsdirektor des Instituts für Energieverfahrenstechnik und Chemieingenieurwesen, Technische Universität Bergakademie Freiberg

New raw material cycles: From waste to raw material - recycling management as a business model

Philipp Büttner,
Projektkoordinator rECOmine, Helmholtz-Institut Freiberg für Ressourcentechnologie, Freiberg 

New sources of raw materials: Renewable and Green - Opportunities for the Hydrogen Economy

Karl Lötsch,
Geschäftsführer, Innovationscluster HZwo, Chemnitz 

Low consumption: less is more - reduction & efficiency as a competitive advantage

Mark Richter,
Abteilungsleiter Zukunftsfabrik, Fraunhofer-Institut für Werkzeugmaschinen und Umformtechnik IWU, Chemnitz