Zwischen Wissenschaft und Industrie : Mechanismen des Wissens- und Technologietransfers am Aachener Werkzeugmaschinenlabor von 1906 bis 2006

The Aachen Laboratory for Machine Tools and Production Engineering (Aachener Laboratorium für Werkzeugmaschinen und Betriebslehre WZL) at Aachen University of Technology (RWTH) was founded in 1906 as an institution which was supposed to guarantee an education of engineers that included scientific as well as practical knowledge. As a result technology-oriented knowledge and new technologies developed at universities could be transferred directly into the industry. The aim of this dissertation is to analyse the Knowledge and Technology Transfer in its historical contexts. The intense interaction between research institution, industry and state did not only change in the course of time, but has had fundamental effects on the participants in the transfer process. Each of them has had to adapt to the economic and political conditions and play an active role in order to ensure the required transfer and to guarantee innovation during each development stage. The WZL succeeded in this process through specific network and knowledge management. The common system of values at the WZL was based on the principle of an integral view of things and developed into an interdisciplinary team spirit that transcended the limits of the organisation. This investigation divides the transfer process into four phases: Adolf Wallichs established the WZL 1906 as a connection between the university and the machine tool industry of the Aachen region as well as the Rhinish-Westphalian heavy industry. He reacted to the demands of the industry, which asked for well trained engineers who could adapt to the job quickly, as well as solutions for practical questions. By translating Taylor’s theories of scientific management he gained unique knowledge, which was completely new to a German university and which he offered the German industry. Thus Wallichs developed networks which have lasted until today and thereby created the bases for the Knowledge and Technology Transfer at the WZL. In the time of National Socialism the WZL became a part of the National Socialist armaments research. The initiation of the four-year plan of 1936 led to a reorientation of the transfer process: The Knowledge and Technology transfer now mainly served the purpose of military armament. Government authorities became the main recipients of the technology transfer, rather than industrial enterprises. After the Second World War the WZL turned to the structures of the Weimar time: The Knowledge and Technology Transfer with the machine tool industry of the Aachen region as well as the Rhinish-Westphalian heavy industry were reactivated. The technological developments in the area of production engineering – the mechanisation and automation for productivity increase – required a changed attitude towards the attainment of knowledge and towards interdisciplinary research. This made the scientific exchange of ideas in working groups and networks necessary in order to submit practical solutions for the international machine tool industry. In the early 1970s the national research and technology policy with its orientation to basic research was criticised. At the same time electronic data processing determined the development of the manufacturing technology. Data processing, numerical control machine tools, EDP systems and Computer Aided Design were supposed to make the WZL more flexible in its response to market fluctuations in the 1970s. In order to be prepared for future requirements of global competition a strategic process of change at the WZL began in 1973: As a first step, three chairs and one department were merged under the joint umbrella organisation WZL. In 1980 the WZL succeeded in tying the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology with the focus on application-orientated contract research to the WZL. In 1988 the WZL succeeded in establishing the first chair for Metrology and Quality Management in Germany. The knowledge gained through all partners was bundled efficiently and placed at the disposal of a broad network of “transfer recipients” such as small and medium-sized machine tool industries of the region, the internationally orientated industrial enterprises as well as the international members of the university and industrial research community. Thus the WZL succeeded in creating new sources of integral generation of knowledge which ensured the continuation of an innovative Knowledge and Technology Transfer at the WZL.

Grantor dc:publisher

Publikationsserver der RWTH Aachen University

Year dc:date

2009

Author dc:creator

• Kompe, Cornelia

Contributors dc:contributor

• Heinen, Armin

• info:eu-repo/classification/ddc/900
• Wissens- und Technologietransfer
• Aachen / Technische Hochschule / Werkzeugmaschinenlabor
• Geschichte
• WZL
• knowledge and technology transfer

Statement dc:rights

• info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess

Language dc:language

ger

Identifier

https://publications.rwth-aachen.de/search?p=id:%22RWTH-CONV-124312%22

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:publications.rwth-aachen.de:62812