"We haven't yet recognized the full potential of these new materials," says futurologist Dr. Karlheinz Steinmüller, Scientific Director at Z_punkt, "but it's impossible to overstate how much this enabling technology can contribute to solving current and future problems." Trends such as "climate change, global food and energy supply, health and demographic change and sustainable mobility are among the biggest challenges," Steinmüller stated in November 2011 at the "Future of new materials" forum in Fürth. "Materials research can make a significant contribution to overcoming them."

New materials such as CFRP and advanced technical ceramics do indeed have huge potential, and are already a source of innovation in the aerospace industry, vehicle manufacturing and mechanical and facilities engineering. This expertise comes together in the Lightweight Construction and Industrial Ceramics theme parks at the Industrial Supply trade fair. Experts from materials engineering and the related processing industries meet here. Highly specialized companies present their products and solutions for material- and energy-efficient applications.

Carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP), for example, are characterized by high corrosion resistance, high fatigue strength and low thermal expansion, and are easy to use in construction. With these characteristics, CFRP materials already occupy an important place in mechanical engineering. The advantages of CFRP components in machines and vehicles include low mass, high running speed and fatigue resistance. They also contribute to quiet operation. They are easy to assemble and disassemble, and have low maintenance costs and downtimes. The energy savings achieved in their manufacture and use is exemplary. Automated, robot-assisted manufacturing systems for fiber composite materials are already on the market. Visitors to HANNOVER MESSE can explore them at many different exhibitor stands.

With their high resistance to wear and corrosion, mechanical hardness and abrasion resistance, industrial ceramics are also bringing innovation into a number of industry sectors. The range of products extends from wear-resistant cutting ceramics and substrate plates for the electronics industry, to porous structures for membrane and filter technology and high-strength valves for facilities engineering. The Industrial Ceramics theme park at the Industrial Supply tradeshow demonstrates how high-performance industrial ceramics is enabling applications today that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago. The Ceramics Industry Association (VKI), which connects ceramics manufacturers, users and research institutes, presents the sector's companies at the Industrial Ceramics information center in Hall 5.