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| Rapid.Tech 2009  The dream of countless design students is taking shape. With the BMW Group GINA Design Award, young visionaries are given the chance to develop Rapid Manufacturing technologies for one of the most important brands of the automotive industry. With this special award offered for the first time, the trade fair and users' conference Rapid.Tech in Erfurt is also greatly picking up speed. As the trade fair for rapid technology will already be going into its sixth round on 26 and 27 May 2009, the Student Design Award for Rapid Manufacturing now integrated into this event will be awarded for only the third time. The closing date for applications is the 31st of January 2009. The winning works of 2007 and 2008 generated trendsetting impetus for the entire generative industry. First place was taken last time by a design student from Magdeburg, who redesigned a line jammer for sailboats fit for laser sintering. The enormous response from product design, architecture and engineering science students from all around Germany and neighbouring countries is easy to understand: "Winning this competition is an excellent stepping stone into a career, especially seeing as the first three winning works are produced in cooperation with prestigious companies, " reports Johann Fuchsgruber, Chairman of Messe Erfurt AG. Alongside the organizer Messe Erfurt, the Thüringen Foundation for Technology, Innovation and Research (STIFT) is the award sponsor. Now the candidates of 2009 are glimpsing a double chance. They get to decide whether they will submit a free work and/or solve the BMW Group Design challenge. "The special BMW Group GINA Design Award is a one-off opportunity for students who have extraordinary ideas, " Johann Fuchsgruber says with anticipation, and he hopes "the juror Christopher E. Bangle, Director Design BMW Group, will personally come to Erfurt for the awards on the 26th of May 2009." In addition to public attention, the winner can complete a three to six-month traineeship at BMW Group Design. Challenge established concepts, hazard visions. That is the GINA design philosophy. GINA stands for Geometry and Functions in N Adaptations, and is a principle that urges design on to new degrees of freedom. This innovative design philosophy allows products of unique form and function that can adapt to the personal requirements of their users. Rapid Manufacturing makes it possible to implement customer preferences into the design of body elements or other components within the designer's specifications. With the combination of GINA and Rapid Manufacturing, an incomparably rapid, cost-effective, yet individual manufacture of individual components has become absolutely real. This combination was first used was first used during the production of hoods for the BMW Z4 M Roadster and the BMW Z4 M Coupé. This method paves the way to entirely new forms of individualization. Naturally, a lot is being expected of the contenders for the BMW Group GINA Design Award. They are being asked for innovative suggestions that will lead to the progressive advancement of possible applications within and beyond the automotive industry. Meanwhile, in 2009, the trade fair and users' conference for rapid technology in Erfurt will be continuing the successful course of this rapid, intensive and cross-industry knowledge exchange. "The strength of Rapid.Tech lies in its compactness and the information transfer between engineers, users and designers, " says Johann Fuchsgruber. write your comments about the article :: © 2009 Exhibition News :: home page |