The promotion of scientific work and technical progress in the fields of electroplating and surface technology is the overarching, statutory task of the DGO. An essential aspect of this is the promotion of technological innovations for the benefit of the entire industry. In order to further expand this core competence, the DGO will now receive noticeable support from its new Technical Managing Director, Dr. Daniel Meyer, from 1 January 2022.
Dr. Meyer has been working for DGO since 2017. He previously studied mechanical engineering at Chemnitz University of Technology until 2008, where he then worked at the Institute of Materials Science and Engineering IWW in the field of surface technology. In 2014, Meyer went into industry as an R&D project manager and completed his doctorate in 2017 at Chemnitz University of Technology under Prof. Thomas Lampke on the production of anodic aluminum oxide coatings for wear protection applications. Dr. Meyer is 40 years old, married and has 2 sons.
For many years, the DGO has been initiating and supporting industry-relevant R&D projects, the results of which represent a medium or long-term benefit for industrial companies.
However, maintaining personal contact and the professional exchange of ideas also make a significant contribution to the well-being of the industry in normal non-pandemic times. With its technical committees, working groups and district groups as well as the Leipzig Technical Seminar, Precious Metals Expert Workshop, Ulm Discussion and North German Electroplating Day, the DGO therefore offers its members a variety of platforms for discussing practical problems, finding out about new technical developments and making new contacts. By organizing specialist and master craftsman courses, the DGO also makes an important contribution to securing skilled workers within the industry.
"By taking over the role of Technical Managing Director at the DGO on January 1, 2022, it is particularly important to me to emphasize these unique selling points within the association landscape and I would like to underline the role of the DGO as a technical and scientific pillar in association with the ZVO," says Daniel Meyer.
Against this backdrop, one focus of the DGO's work since 2017 has been the lead implementation of the InnoEMatplus scientific support measure for the BMBF funding initiative InnoEMat - Innovative Electrochemistry with New Materials. It was essentially aimed at intensive professional networking of the funded InnoEMat joint projects, the processing and bundling of research results achieved, the identification of new scientific issues, intensive public relations work and sustainable transfer of results and technology. The majority of the projects funded were collaborative projects with a research focus on "electrochemical surface technology". With the final evaluation of the funding initiative, the accompanying measure officially ended on December 31, 2021.
The strength of Germany as a business location will continue to depend to a large extent on the innovative power of German companies and SMEs in particular. Ongoing developments in the areas of digitalization and e-mobility or the energy transition, which is picking up speed again, will continue to pose new challenges for electroplating as an important cross-sectional technology. Constructive and, above all, needs-oriented dialog between research and industry is therefore of fundamental importance. With a view to the needs of its member companies, the DGO will therefore increasingly turn to the BMWi's application-oriented Central Innovation Program for SMEs (ZIM) in addition to the pre-competitive Industrial Collective Research (IGF). With an annual funding volume of around five hundred and fifty million euros, the ZIM has developed into a mainstay of German innovation policy since it was founded in 2008. It supports application-oriented projects with a focus on experimental development and is of particular interest to companies due to its low-threshold approach in terms of innovation level and project size. In addition, the ZIM closes the gap between the pre-competitive IGF and a marketable product due to its proximity to the market.
Against this background, the DGO office has expanded its range of services and offers interested companies comprehensive technical and administrative expertise in the realization of ZIM projects. The advantage for companies lies in minimizing the personnel costs required to prepare a detailed research application, significantly increasing the chances of approval and allowing them to concentrate fully on the actual innovation process. The funding rates for ZIM individual and cooperation projects are a maximum of 45% and 55% respectively, which significantly minimizes the financial risks of development work in particular. We would be happy to support you in the realization of your own ZIM project and look forward to hearing from you!
We are already taking the first steps in this direction with the planned ZIM innovation network "Digitalized value chain in electroplating technology - DiWeGa". This is an association of several companies in the sector that is in preparation and will enable the companies to jointly develop individually tailored digitalization solutions, implement them in the medium term and significantly reduce investment risks. If you are interested in participating, please contact us!
"I would like to shape the future together with the industry members and look forward to actively supporting and accompanying company-relevant innovation processes of all kinds," says Daniel Meyer.
Contact:
Dr. Daniel Meyer
Phone: +49 (0) 2103 - 25 56 35
Mobile: +49 (0) 171 26 63 902
E-mail: d.meyer(at)dgo-online.de
