Fraunhofer Institute and Korea Institute sign Memorandum of Understanding

The Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT in Aachen has been cooperating with the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials KIMM for years, for example, in projects on laser welding or micromaterial processing. Now that the institutes have signed a Memorandum of Understanding, this cooperation will become even more effective. In the future, the partners plan to work on environmentally friendly manufacturing processes for electromobility and new storage technologies, among other things.

Europe’s largest institute for applied laser technologies is the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT in Aachen. The institute has been collaborating with the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials KIMM for many years. The president of KIMM, Dr. Sang Jin Park, visited the Fraunhofer ILT on his trip to Europe on May 5, 2022. Together with Fraunhofer ILT’s director, Professor Constantin Häfner, he signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the occasion.

“With this agreement, we are taking our cooperation to a new level. Knowledge is transported by people, and with the MoU the exchange of personnel should become faster and easier,” is how Professor Häfner describes the agreement.

This is also to be strengthened by joint events such as symposia and conferences.

KIMM President Dr. Sang Jin Park expressed the hope that “KIMM’s international collaborative research will be further enhanced by expanding cooperation with Germany, where mechanical technology is traditionally strong.”

With the MoU, both partners expect visible advantages when applying for internationally funded projects for the research and development of new laser technologies. Currently, they are jointly developing a laser process for welding and cutting metallic bipolar plates.

“Particularly in environmentally friendly technologies for fuel cells and electromobility, we want to do more together in the future,” explains Professor Häfner.

The first project applications for this have been submitted.

KIMM is a non-profit, government-funded research institute under the South Korean Ministry of Science and ICT. Since its establishment in 1976 in Daejeon, KIMM has contributed to the country’s economic growth by conducting research and development on key technologies in the field of machinery and materials, carrying out reliability tests, and marketing the products and technologies developed.

Find out more about the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT at ilt.fraunhofer.de.

For more information about the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials KIMM, please visit kimm.re.kr/eng.