The European Lightweighting Network

The European Lightweighting Network

The purpose of ELN is to establish a platform and agenda for common goals concerning the reduction of emissions through reduced weight in products.

The network is an initiative by public authorities from, up until today, Germany, Austria, Sweden, Spain, Belgium and Slovakia. The network activities focus on exploiting lightweight technologies supporting the European Green Deal objectives.

Date: 28 May 2024

Event: External activities 

About project: Contribute for Wallonia 

The 2024 Conference programme

TUESDAY 28

10.30 Conference Opening
Pierre DUYSINX, Vice-Rector for international affairs, University of Liège, Belgium
Jean-Christophe DEPREZ, IIS Contribute Wallonia

11.30 Conference Introduction
Introduction and programme
Jürgen TIEDJE, Head of Unit for Sustainable Industry Systems, DG for Research & Innovation, European Commission

11.45 Session 1 – Voice to policy makers
“The importance of lightweighting to support the Green Deal goals. The vision of Policy Makers”

Lionel BONJEAN, Director General – Economy, Employment and Research, Public Service of Wallonia (SPW EER), Belgium
Lena KILLANDER, Vinnova – Swedish innovation agency, Sweden
Michael KELLNER, Member of the German Bundestag, Germany (Video Greetings)

12.00 Lunch and networking

13.00 Session 2: Additive manufacturing and lightweight materials
“Additive manufacturing has drastically changed the manufacturing capabilities enabling more freedom to designers. Combined with innovative redesign tools such as topology optimization, large mass and material savings are possible. Everyday researchers and experts highlight some remarkable applications exhibiting the great potential of additive manufacturing in aerospace, mechanical or civil engineering. This session will discuss the recent developments of additive manufacturing techniques able to manufacture plastic, metallic, large scale metallic parts (WAAM), reinforced plastic with continuous fibres or even concrete structures.”

Keynote speaker: Stephan UCSNIK, Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT), Austria

Moderator: Vincent THOMAS, SAFRAN AERO BOOSTERS, Belgium

Panel discussion:

Stefanie BRICKWEDE, DB Fahrzeuginstandhaltung GmbH, Germany
Amaya IGARTUA, Coordinator of Materials Initiatives (EUMAT, AMI), TEKNIKER, Spain
Jonas GALLE, VALCUN, Belgium
Tomasz DUDZIAK, Krakowski Instytut Technologiczny, Poland

13.50 Session 3: Advanced simulation and digital twins for lightweight structures
“Designing lightweight structures and materials is boosted by the continuous development of numerical simulation and computer aided software tools. Nowadays, the modern concept of digital twins is the incandescence of preceding computer techniques.”

Keynote speaker: Samson COOPER, 3Ds – Dassault Systems, UK

Moderator: Michael BRUYNEEL, GDTech Engineering, Belgium

Panel discussion: Martin SCHWAB, 4a engineering, Austria
Marie JONSSON, Linköping University, Sweden
Christian HAMM, ELISE and Alfred Wegener Institute & Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research, Germany
Rafael CEBOLLA, Go Ahead Engineering, Spain

14.40 Coffee break and networking

15.10 Session 4: Reducing mass, CO2 and Cost in Aeronautics
“Advanced composite materials are key technologies to tackle energy consumption reduction in aerospace. Developing new manufacturing technologies can also reduce their cost and CO2 footprint. The session will review current trends and inspiring proof of concepts showing it is possible to envision simultaneously lighter and more cost effective components for future aircrafts.”

Keynote speaker: Miguel Angel CASTILLO, AERNNOVA, Spain
Moderator: Etienne MAILLARD, SONACA, Belgium

Panel discussion: Peio OLASKOAGA, IDEKO, Spain
Michael EFFING, AMAC, Germany
Harald CREMER, NMWP.NRW, Germany

16.00 Session 5 : Wood and natural material solutions for lightweight applications
“Nature provides many lightweight materials such wood, plant or rock fibres, or clays … Natural materials can present a high recyclability and sustainability, while also being able to exhibit high strength and physical performance in dedicated applications. Natural materials coupled with a matrix are known as composites, and they offer superior strength and durability over petroleum-based or human-manufactured products. While they have been used in human constructions for centuries, there is a great revival interest to revisit the (optimized) implementation of natural materials in present and future lightweight structures in construction, but also energy systems (e.g. wind turbines) or even ground and aerospace vehicles. The session 5 will brush the state-of-the-art of current research on various natural materials and their implementation in lightweight applications that are highly inspiring.”

Keynote speaker: Anita CATAPANO, Bordeaux Institute of Technology, France
Moderator: Bernard VOSS, ISOMATEX, Belgium

Panel discussion: Thomas KRENKE, Innovation center W.E.I.Z., Austria
Herfied LAMMER, Competence Center for Wood Composites and Wood Chemistry, Austria
Riccardo PANCIROLI, FUKO, Italy

16.50 Session 6: White paper “Lightweighting for Climate Action”
è”This session is devoted to share the last version of the White Paper “Lightweighting for Climate Action”. Rapporteurs will present the latest status of the White Paper and to discussion the dissemination strategy.”

Keynote speaker: Werner LOSCHEIDER, Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, Germany
Moderator: Pierre DUYSINX, University of Liège, Belgium

Panel discussion: Alexander POGANY, Federal Ministry for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology, Austria
Boel WADMAN, RISE Research Institute of Sweden, Sweden
Martin NOSKO, Slovak Academia of Sciences, Slovakia

17.30 Conclusion of Day I

WEDNESDAY 29

Welcome for the opening of day II

09.10 Session 7: Circular materials and lightweighting
“Is it possible to combine materials from circular economy and lightweighting? The session will discuss if it is possible to break the paradoxical situation and will share different success stories from different domains and kinds of materials.”

Keynote speaker: Marco DIANI, Politecnico di Milano, Italy
Moderator: Eric PIRARD, University of Liège, Belgium

Panel discussion: Carina SCHLÖGL, Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT), Austria
Olivier MANTAUX, University of Bordeaux, France
Jean-François NIVART, CIRKLA Interreg Project, Belgium

10.00 Session 8: Reducing mass, CO2 and Cost in Transportation
“Multimaterial and composite structures have shown a remarkable potential to reduce simultaneously the mass of components in aerospace and transportation industry. However recently the Light Vehicle 2025 in EUREGIO has showed with 4 demonstrators that it was possible to reduce simultaneously the mass, the CO2 emissions and the cost of the 4 automobile components when considering the holistic redesign of the components.”

Keynote speaker: Frantisek SIMANCIK, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Slovakia
Moderator: Jean-Pierre HEIJSTER, RAI Automotive Industry NL, The Netherlands

Panel discussion: Karl RADLMAYR, Voestalpine Metal Forming, Austria
Sai CHENNOJU, Automative Management Consulting , Germany
Cecilia WARROL, Technology industries, Sweden
Stefan GEH, SGL Carbon, Germany

View online : https://www.elnconference.eu/about-eln/