Image: from left to right: Heike Gensing (Managing Director of CIT GmbH), Felix Kuke (Head of the Fraunhofer ZenaLeb project group), Florian Müller (Economic Development, City of Forst (Lausitz)), Simone Taubenek (Mayor, City of Forst (Lausitz)), Matthias Senftleben (Managing Director of Forster System-Montage-Technik GmbH), Sebastian Fritzsche (Cluster Manager SpreeTec neXt, BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg), Prof. Holger Seidlitz (Project Manager SpreeTec neXt, BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg), Prof. Gesine Grande (President BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg), Photo: BTU, Sascha Thor

Forster System-Montage-Technik GmbH will play an active role in shaping the future in the coming years. The establishment of Fabric Lausitz – Platform for Lightweight Solutions is coming closer step by step. This will significantly improve development opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises and strengthen regional lightweight construction expertise. We welcome the progress of the project and see great potential for innovation and economic growth. More on the project: Press releases from the city of Forst (Lausitz) and BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg

Over the next three years, a technology transfer center is to be built in Forst (Lausitz) for around 24 million euros, which will bundle the expertise of companies based in the region in the field of lightweight construction. This will create crisis-proof jobs and make Lusatia much more attractive as a business location. In addition to networking the local companies, Fabric Lausitz offers low-threshold access for start-ups and newly established companies to existing company associations, business partners and scientific institutions. The establishment of Fabric Lausitz will create stable value chains that include new products and processes in the field of lightweight construction applications. This will strengthen companies in the development of new markets. BTU is closely involved in the establishment and operation of Fabric Lausitz through the joint project SpreeTec neXt. Research findings and technologies developed via the SpreeTec neXt research cluster will be transferred to an industrial environment in Fabric Lausitz in the future, right through to the production of pilot components and systems and the achievement of pre-production readiness. In this way, interdisciplinary teams are driving forward the transfer of technology to industry. The focus is on lightweight construction solutions, e.g. for innovative hybrid photovoltaic and solar thermal collectors, for H2 storage solutions, functionally integrated CFRP flooring systems and interior components or resource-efficient multi-material 3D printing for mold making. The collaboration between scientists from BTU, the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft and employees from the companies in the technology transfer center ensures the training and further education of highly qualified specialists and thus strengthens the innovative power of the region. Users of Fabric Lausitz have access to a network of more than 70 partners from science, business and society. Following the successful qualification process by a Lusatian panel of experts in the workshops of Wirtschaftsregion Lausitz GmbH, the project “Fabric Lausitz – Platform for Lightweight Solutions” was confirmed by the interministerial working group of the Brandenburg state government on March 15, 2023. This paves the way for an application for funding from the Investitionsbank des Landes Brandenburg (ILB). The task of implementing the “Fabric Lausitz” project was assigned to Forst entrepreneurs Matthias Senftleben and Christian Mrose by the town council of Forst (Lausitz) in 2022 following a prior expression of interest procedure. The opportunity to take the Fabric Lausitz structural change project from idea to implementation is the result of the continuous support from the State Chancellery of Brandenburg, BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg, Wirtschaftsregion Lausitz GmbH, the district business development company CIT GmbH and the entrepreneurs involved, who have been committed to this forward-looking project in our city