Prof. Philipp Höfer is a member of the SPACE Research Center and head of the Institute of Lightweight Engineering at the Department of Aerospace Engineering.
Light-weight and efficient structures are of fundamental importance to the development of powerful and modern systems, especially for space flight. However, lightweight engineering is also a key element for high performance in aviation and the entire mobility sector and, against the background of current ecological challenges, also for reducing emissions and conserving resources. Particular challenges in this area are the development of new structural concepts, functionally integrative designs, and the use of new manufacturing processes and materials.
The Institute of Lightweight Engineering focuses its research on the development of construction methods and structural concepts for applications in the aviation, space and automotive sectors. The research priorities are fiber-reinforced plastics, structural dynamics, and additive manufacturing. Research issues range from fundamental topics to implementation in application-relevant systems. Depending on the objective, analytical and numerical methods based on comprehensive experimental material and structure studies are used in the research work. For this purpose, the Institute has access to a comprehensive structural/mechanical testing laboratory and modern manufacturing processes.
For more information, see the website of the Institute of Lightweight Engineering (in German) >