After the introductory welcome by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Martin Fehlbier, the result of the vote for the funding group's future joint research project was presented to the industry representatives present. With over 60 percent of the votes, the decision was made in favor of the project "Development of IFK platform for AI in casting". During the project presentation, Tameem Kisieh M.Sc. explained that the aim is the end-to-end digitalization of the institute's own Bühler 1400 t die casting cell. By systematically linking machine, tool and peripheral data, a reliable and shot-related database is to be created, which is the fundamental prerequisite for future AI assistance systems.

The high relevance of a structured data architecture was also emphasized by Dr. Martin Juhrisch, CEO of Symate GmbH, in his guest lecture. He emphasized that heterogeneous data sources continue to be a key challenge when setting up high-performance AI systems in the foundry industry. Christian Enke, CEO of InterGuss GmbH, drew the bow to the process engineering practice of mold ventilation. He made it clear that well-founded process engineering decisions - analogous to the use of artificial intelligence - depend largely on recording the right measured values at the right time and in the right place.

In addition to approaches to digitalization, current technological research projects were discussed. Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Leisenberg presented the results of the "InForm" project. By using a signal flow model to simulate temperature curves in real time, the cycle time in die casting could be significantly reduced without the need for water spraying. New project proposals were also presented to the funding group: Nahom Berhane outlined investigations into the energy-efficient drying of inorganically bonded 3D-printed sand molds. Prafull Chandra presented a planned project on the fracture mechanical characterization of graphite surface layer degeneration in vermicular graphite casting. Finally, Niklas Schwenke spoke about the technological and economic potential of magnesium thixomolding for large-format structural components in the automotive sector.

The event also provided the setting for personnel announcements at the Center for Lightweight Casting and Design. Prof. Fehlbier acknowledged the successful completion of Dr. Stefan Gneiger's doctorate in the field of fire-resistant magnesium alloys. He also congratulated Paul Becker on his awards at Euroguss 2026 and at the S2P conference. To strengthen the chair, Frederic Sonne was welcomed as a new research assistant in the "Permanent Mold Casting" research group.