Linz, 16.07.2019 – It was offi­cially launched with the signing of the coop­er­a­tion agree­ment by SAL, Infi­neon DICE, and voestalpine on Tuesday, July 16, 2019, in the new LIT Open Inno­va­tion Center on the campus of Johannes Kepler Univer­sity (JKU) Linz, Austria. Not only does the project bank on the novel use of intel­li­gent radar sensor tech­nology for indus­trial appli­ca­tions, it also serves as a show­case for the increasing digi­tal­iza­tion of Austria’s industry with the help of collab­o­ra­tive, cutting-edge re­search.

“SAL aims to conduct leading re­search world­wide for elec­tronic based systems along the value chain, from the produc­tion of compo­nents all the way to indus­trial uses of elec­tronics. We have succeeded in doing precisely that through the Radar Tomog­raphy re­search project,” says Thomas Lüftner, SAL Divi­sion Head for RF Systems and Site Director in Linz. “Bringing Linz-based Infi­neon (a world­wide leader in the devel­op­ment of radar chips) and voestalpine (a leading manu­fac­turer world­wide of high-tech prod­ucts made of steel and other metals that is head­quar­tered in Linz)—two leading tech­nology compa­nies from very different indus­tries—together with our top researchers will generate entirely new thought patterns and approaches to solu­tions that will be able to make a differ­ence in the world market.”

RE­SEARCH AS GUAR­ANTOR OF GLOBAL INNO­VA­TION

The collab­o­ra­tive project entails harnessing the radar tech­nolo­gies in the auto­mo­tive industry, which are already leading glob­ally, for indus­trial appli­ca­tions also, turning the key concept—Industry 4.0—into reality:

“Thanks to its devel­op­ment center for high-frequency compo­nents in Linz, Infi­neon already is a trail­blazer in the field of radar for auto­mated driver assis­tance systems. With more than 100 million 77 GHz radar chips sold, Infi­neon is the tech­nology and world market leader in this segment,” Manfred Ruhmer and Peter Zeiner, Managing Direc­tors of Infi­neon DICE Danube Inte­grated Circuit Engi­neering GmbH & CoKG, are happy to report. “Re­search and devel­op­ment are key require­ments in this connec­tion to ensure that we will be at the fore­front of global devel­op­ments in the future too. In SAL, we’re getting a new, impor­tant partner within the nexus of science and economics. Our joint re­search in collab­o­ra­tion with SAL and voestalpine in the Radar Tomog­raphy project will open up new appli­ca­tions and generate new momentum for Linz as a center for high frequency re­search,” is how the two describe SAL’s role as a re­search partner for the indus­trial compa­nies.

JOINTLY TAP INTO DIGI­TAL­IZA­TION OPPOR­TU­NI­TIES

voestalpine also banks on inten­sive re­search and devel­op­ment activ­i­ties. „The key word here for voestalpine’s success glob­ally is inno­va­tion. With a current re­search budget of more than EUR 180 million, we are one of the most re­search-heavy compa­nies in Austria”, Franz Androsch, Head of Re­search of the voestalpine Group. “The re­search coop­er­a­tion agree­ment with SAL and Infi­neon enables us to develop answers to the future require­ments of digi­tal­iza­tion in a number of fields—whether sensor systems, high frequency, autonomous systems, machine learning, or smart facto­ries. Going forward, the build-up of know-how in the long term through such high-value alliances will help us as a tech­nology group to continue strength­ening and expanding our leading posi­tion in the industry,” Androsch adds.

SAL’s re­search model thus is an impor­tant tool for tapping into the digi­tal­iza­tion oppor­tu­ni­ties for the Austrian indus­trial ecosystem by working jointly with part­ners on the devel­op­ment of inno­va­tions.

By 2023, SAL will employ about 80 top researchers at the Linz site, who will conduct re­search on key tech­nolo­gies for high frequency tech­nology in the mm wave area for radar and commu­ni­ca­tions, embedded arti­fi­cial intel­li­gence, and smart factory commu­ni­ca­tions.