Hannover, Germany. The new "Emotional Engineering in Lightweight Design" showcase at this year’s HANNOVER MESSE is about enabling visitors to experience innovative design and new materials first-hand. The special display is part of the Lightweight Construction Solutions Area in Hall 6 of HANNOVER MESSE’s Industrial Supply show – the world’s leading trade fair for innovative subcontracting solutions and lightweight construction. It will be staffed by a group of lightweighting experts who will be inviting visiting industry professionals to roll up their sleeves and work with them to create, optimize and prototype aesthetically pleasing, fully functional and sustainable lightweight components. Key focus areas of the display include mobility/transport, urbanization and robotics.

The participating experts and organizers of the "Emotional Engineering in Lightweight Design" demonstration come from all parts of the lightweight construction supply chain, including from companies such as BUSSE Design+Engineering GmbH (Product Design, Prototype Construction), csi entwicklungstechnik GmbH (automotive, surface modeling, chassis, vehicle interior and exterior design, consulting), EOS GmbH (industrial additive manufacturing), Institut für Technik & Design GmbH (industrial design), hme Ulm GmbH (consulting engineers specializing in technical calculations and simulation-based product development), Grasse Zur GmbH (composites testing) and the Landshut Lightweight Construction Cluster (multidisciplinary incubator of innovation and new ideas). The fundamental questions addressed by the demonstration: With the goal of accelerating development work on innovative lightweight projects, who needs to interface with whom? And how can we best create the right network channels in a spirit of partnership and human collaboration?

"Our Emotional Engineering project puts the spotlight on the actual creative process involved in lightweight design and development and the networks necessary to facilitate it," said Dr. Jörg Wellnitz, who is the chair of the lightweight design faculty at Ingolstadt Technical University and Adjunct Professor at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. "Our aim is to give trade visitors fresh inspiration and ideas for their own in-house lightweight design innovation processes." Ideas and know-how will also be conveyed by means of keynotes by high-caliber lightweight design and lightweight construction practitioners and via moderated workshops on design thinking, construction, manufacturing and innovation. Participation in the workshops is open to all trade visitors, with or without prior registration. Among the keynote speakers will be Lutz Fügener (Professor of Transportation Design at Pforzheim University), Dr. Gerhard Hirzinger (DLR Institute for Robotics and Mechatronics) and Dr. Franz-Josef Villmer (HS Lemgo, Product Development & Rapid Prototyping). "Our showcase has a very strong ‘hands on’ focus," explained Wellnitz. "It will give our visitors insights into innovative development and optimization processes for different lightweight parts – from the initial idea and concept development stage through to additive prototype production and material testing – right here at our demonstration stand."

On all five days of the fair, the workshops will teach attendees about the challenges around the "five Es" of lightweight design: Economics, Ecology, Environment, Emotion and Engineering. The showcase will be fully equipped with everything needed for innovative lightweight design processes – e.g. design thinking tools, classic analog creative methods, graphic design tools, CAD tools, FEM tools, virtual product design applications and 3D printers – for a live, fully integrated look at how to get the job done right.