Science and industry are to combine their strengths in a series of ongoing joint research projects in the fields of aerospace and public security, as the go ahead 
for a high-technology site in Germany is granted.
Based in Ottobrunn/Taufkirchen where the campus is located, the Bavarian International Campus Aerospace & Security (BICAS) will be developed into an international innovation hub for science and business over the coming years. The aim is to enable researchers and companies from around the world to work together at the high-technology site.
Bavarian Prime Minister Horst Seehofer said: “With this move we are investing in fundamental research for aerospace and security, five new courses of study, a postgraduate school for doctoral candidates and a start-up centre.
“Science and business will benefit from this at the Ottobrunn site and throughout Bavaria.”
The partners in the BICAS consortium are EADS and IABG along with the Technical University of Munich, the Bundeswehr University Munich, the Munich
University of Applied Sciences and Bauhaus Luftfahrt, with the Deutsche Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt DLR (German Aerospace Centre) as an additional partner.
Representing science in the BICAS consortium, Professor Merith Niehuss, President of the Bundeswehr University Munich, said: “In a series of quality processes over many years, university and non-university research has created the conditions that repeatedly attract great brains, which then in turn introduce highly gifted young people to the world of research. This pool of outstanding scientists and academics is the intellectual foundation for the innovation processes that are to be put in place at the BICAS Campus.”
Focal areas for the planned research work at BICAS will be Green Aerospace (climate neutral or low-emission flying), Public Security, Integrated Systems and Autonomous Aerial Systems.
The research activities will be supplemented by newly created master’s degree programmes, in English, for up to 200 students, and a postgraduate college for doctoral candidates.
Professor Rudolf F. Schwarz, Managing Director and Chairman of the Management
Board of IABG, said: “To secure the competitiveness of IABG, cooperation with universities and major research establishments is a central element of our corporate strategy. BICAS offers the ideal platform for cooperation. This is why we welcome the commitment of the Bavarian state government, particularly here at our primary locationin Ottobrunn. We are expecting this to safeguard the location for the long term and to boost its attractiveness.”
Now that the declaration of intent has been signed, the aim is to launch the first research projects before the end of the year. BICAS will make a crucial contribution to continuing the tradition of Ottobrunn as a centre for high technology – for future technological milestones “Made in Bavaria”.
EADS
