Henrike Stephani

Fraunhofer ITWM

Our goal is to further establish mathematics as a key technology, give innovative impetus and implement it in practice together with industry partners. Not only large companies, but also more and more small and medium-sized enterprises use simulations in the most diverse areas and thus profit in terms of innovation and quality assurance of products and processes. The spectrum of the institute's customers extends across all industries – from automotive and mechanical engineering to the textile industry, microelectronics, computer industry and finance. The basic modules of our projects are consulting, support in the application of high-performance computer technology and the deployment of tailor-made software solutions. Computer simulations are an indispensable tool in the design and optimization of products and production processes, services, communication processes and work processes. Real models are replaced by virtual models. Mathematics plays a fundamental role in the creation of this virtual world. The transverse character of mathematics makes it a "generic technology"; as a basis for bridging into the simulation world, however, it also becomes the key technology for computer simulations which have found their way into nearly all areas of economic life. Increasingly more companies utilize simulation for cost reduction. It is specifically these companies that we support with consultation and computing power. They profit in the market through the use of simulation as identification for innovation and quality assurance of their products. Along with the implementation of this technology in application projects and its further development in research projects, the close collaboration with the Department of Mathematics at the University of Kaiserslautern is also a point of emphasis of the Fraunhofer ITWM. The classical disciplines of applied mathematics such as numerics, optimization, stochastics and statistics as well as differential equations are cornerstones.