BAM is making its first-ever appearance at the SME Innovation Day of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) as a project partner for companies.
Source: BAM
Many people are asking questions like "How can a tap water damage in the floor be detected without damaging the floor?" Small and medium-sized companies often develop innovative ideas to solve problems such as this. However, the capacities for their own research and development are limited. The Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung (BAM) therefore supports small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in technology transfer projects. BAM will be attending the SME Innovation Day as a scientific project partner for companies on Thursday, 7th June 2018.
Germany’s SMEs are the mainstay of German industry. Small and medium-sized enterprises generate more than one out of every two euros and provide well over half of all jobs in Germany. SMEs are the engine of the industry.
BAM supports innovation projects working closely together with small and medium-sized enterprises. The aim is to develop research and development results with high commercial application potential to market maturity. BAM has raised around 12 million euros in project funding for technology transfer between 2013 and 2018, about 8 million euros of which went to projects with SME participation.
Project example: non-destructive detection of floor damage caused by tap water
The following example from BAM's internal "People and ideas" programme that promotes the prospects of technology transfer illustrates how BAM cooperates with its project partners:
A Bavarian SME has been using neutron probes for several years to locate tap water damage in floors of residential and industrial buildings. However, the method does not entirely eliminate the need to take core samples from the floor. The SME's idea is to do away with exploratory drilling in future by the parallel use of the impulse radar method.
This is where BAM’s testing expertise comes into play: BAM scientists jointly investigate detection limits and probabilities of detection for the two methods in various common floor structures by systematic laboratory studies on modular reference specimens. The combined procedure is also tested on real damaged objects within the project in order to establish the method.
If the method proves itself in practice, a more precise damage identification can reduce the effort and costs of repairs.
BAM at the 2018 SME Innovation Day
BAM is making its first-ever appearance at the SME Innovation Day of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) as a project partner for companies.