MAI Carbon

© MAI Carbon Cluster Management GmbH

M·A·I Carbon – bundled competency for CFRP-applications

Carbon-fiber-reinforced polymers (CFRP) have a vast lightweight construction potential which is made available by the innovation of M·A·I Carbon. M·A·I Carbon is one of the five Leading-Edge Clusters which were recommended by an independent jury for funding by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research in the third round of the Leading-Edge Cluster Competition on the 19th of January 2012. The cluster of the Munich-Augsburg-Ingolstadt region aims to implement the CFRP-technology for various application areas in Germany until 2020. In order to achieve that aim there is a need of innovations all along the lifecycle of the components – starting from fibre and matrix material to manufacturing of the components and product systems up to coherent recycling concepts.

Application Sectors

The cluster is made up of more than 100 partners bringing together their knowledge in order to strengthen their position as a technological leader using CFRP components in mass production and to make Germany the world leader in the field of fibre composite technology. The intense collaboration of well-known German large-scale enterprises and leaders in technology of all application sectors as well as manufacturers of semi-finished products and fibre contribute to the uniqueness of M·A·I Carbon.

The founding partners of MAI Carbon are: Audi, BMW, Premium AEROTEC, AIRBUS Helicopter (previously Eurocopter), Voith and SGL Group, as well as the IHK Schwaben, the department for carbon composites (LCC) of the TU Munich and Cabon Composites e. V. itself.

The cluster management controls the development and the strategic position of the initiative M·A·I Carbon and takes measures in close cooperation with the partners. In the future, it will also be the aim to pick up on the topics addressed in the Leading-Edge Cluster MAI Carbon und push these, in conjunction with, for example, Campus Carbon 4.0 with the University of Augsburg. The existing cluster management team continues to participate in the MAI Carbon department of Carbon Composites e.V. and will also further expand the existing network. More actively than to date, the cluster management will, for example, take care of internationalisation. With cluster cooperations in South Korea and in the USA, the topic is given additional support by the MAI iBIC project (International Bridges for Innovation in Carbon Composites). In addition, the MAI iTeCK project is to be placed; a composite project for educational cooperation with South Korea for the introduction of a dual professional education based on the German format. The national support, especially in terms of training and further education, at SME is pursued by the MAI Job project – a JOBSTARTER plus-project implemented using funds from the BMBF and the European Social Fund. The further aims, such as networking of department members for technological development and business deals of partners or technological and scientific advancement of fibre composites are promoted within the framework of suitable new projects. In order to continue to inform society and to anchor topics surrounding the material carbon, the special exhibition will remain open to the public. This is accompanied by ongoing press and public relations work across almost all channels. Along with additional promotional projects that are constantly being implemented.