VDM Metals CEO Dr Niclas Müller opened the event and welcomed the participants traveling from Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Benelux countries.

The first workshop day started with ten lectures held by VDM Metals experts, clients and partners on new materials and their applications. The motto of the second day’s seven workshops was nickel alloys and their processing. Well received were the lectures by Shell’s Dr Wouter Hamer on ‘nickel alloys for metal dusting applications’ and by Prof. Robert Singer from University Erlangen who shed light on ‘additive production (3d printing)’. The lively debates following the lectures once more underlined the participants’ interest in these fields of knowledge.   

The lectures of the first workshop day allowed the participants to take a closer look at future application possibilities of new materials while the following guided tour on the grounds of Zeche Zollverein introduced them to the eventful history of the UNESCO world heritage. The closing dinner, moreover, gave room to get together and talk.

Workshop host Dr Jutta Klöwer, Senior Vice President Research & Development at VDM Metals, sums up: “Very interesting lectures, lively debates and a nice evening program made the workshop a total success. We are very pleased with the event. Against this background we are already looking forward to sending out the invitations to the next VDM Metals workshop in two years’ time.”