Promoting collaboration between young engineering students and industry professionals

On 4-5 November 2021, the RAIDMAP2 (RAw IDeas for MAterials Projects) presented the project’s results and announced a winner of the final competition where students worked closely with the industry to develop novel ideas. The final event was held at the headquarters of the Fraunhofer Forum at the Spree Palais in Berlin and organised in collaboration with the Italian Metallurgy Association.

Master students are often not ready for their first professional work experience after graduation as there is a lack of collaboration between industry and academia. RAIDMAP2 is an advanced training initiative supported by the EIT RawMaterials Academy. The project promotes collaboration between young engineering students and industry professionals to foster innovative ideas on research projects in new materials, materials recycling and materials substitution. Such an approach helps students prepare for their first career, getting acquainted first-hand with real industry challenges and working on novel solutions in a multidisciplinary approach. The companies Norsk Hydro, Enginsoft, SINTEF, Boliden Group and FerroSilva, were involved too.

RAIDMAP2 events were designed on themes such as circular economy, recyclability and substitution of critical raw materials. During the project, three events took place in Italy, Sweden and Norway. Students were coached by professional mentors to develop innovative ideas. The final idea concept was presented to a board of experts in a contest. RAIDMAP project created a unique opportunity for networking, collaboration and knowledge transfer, as well as creating a platform to foster the development of new sustainable solutions. SLAM, ODD-W and FerroSilva are the groups selected to participate in the final event.

The SLAM Group (Sustainable Lightweight Automotives with safe and economic Materials) won the contest. The team presented a project in the automotive sector for the sustainable industrial production of lighter vehicles, using new materials and reliable, low-cost manufacturing technologies. SLAM’s objectives focus on the overall vehicles weight reduction, which entails the carbon footprint reduction of the industrial process and the optimisation of the vehicles projects and production parameters.

RAIDMAP2 project’s partners include the School of Engineering of the University of Padova, the KTH Royal Institute of Technology, the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) and the Fraunhofer Institute and the Research Center Fiat as technical referents.