The event commenced with the Aerospace Innovation Forum, where highly regarded participants are expected; Hamburg will be represented here by the Hamburg Aviation cluster network. The ZAL Center for Applied Aeronautical Research then coordinated the presentation of 17 project pitches, each involving several German participants, at the RDV Forum 2018, where research and development ideas bid for investors’ favour. What makes this particularly attractive is that participation presented German research partners with the opportunity, by virtue of their cooperation with Canadian partners, to benefit directly from funding available in Canada.
The role of guest of honour at the Canadian event is yet another successful milestone for the official cooperation between the aviation locations of Hamburg and Montréal, which is receiving up to €4 million in funding from the new high-tech strategy of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). With joint research projects on quieter aircraft cabins and fire-resistant composite fibre components, the transatlantic cooperation has been very close since it was officially established last year and is currently running at full throttle.
Dr Franz Josef Kirschfink, managing director of Hamburg Aviation, commented: “Small and medium-sized businesses in particular can profit enormously from the cooperation and exchange between Germany and Canada. Not only can they open up new customer markets, they can also extend their own expertise and product portfolios with partners in the respective locations. This is securing jobs for the longterm, on both sides of the Atlantic.”
Roland Gerhards, CEO of ZAL Center for Applied Aeronautical Research, added: “By enabling German companies to converse in-depth with Canadian research and industrial partners at International Aerospace Week, exploring such future-oriented fields as acoustics, robotics, the digitalisation of production and innovative aircraft cabins, we can take the successful collaboration between aviation players in both nations to a new level.”
