On February 5, the Technologieförderverein Bautzen e. V. visited the Zittauer Kraftwerkslabor on the premises of Stadtwerke Zittau as part of its annual general meeting.

Industrial, trade and service companies in the region, research centers, high schools, study academies and universities - including the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences - are among the members of the association, which was founded in 1998 and has been a non-profit organization since 2007 and is based at .

Vice-Rector for Research Tobias Zschunke introduced the participants to the HSZG and the Institute for Process Engineering, Process Automation and Measurement Technology (IPM ).

During the exchange with the visitors, particular attention was drawn to the need to generate genuine enthusiasm in future specialists. The challenges that are foreseeable due to the impending shortage of skilled workers were also discussed and ways in which educational institutions can actively counteract this development were highlighted.

Thomas Gubsch (IPM) then guided the participants through the power plant laboratory's test facilities. The three large-scale test rigs - the thermochemical test field, the magnetic bearing test rig and the THERESA steam boiler system with a research focus on thermal energy storage - were presented. Other possible uses of the steam boiler system, which can be used to implement water-steam processes with a pressure of up to 55 bar and temperatures of up to 350 °C, were also discussed.

The intensive exchange between the members of the Technology Promotion Association and the HSZG scientists highlighted opportunities to strengthen the STEM sector in education, research and industry. It is planned to offer trainees at schools and academies an insight into the diverse and exciting research activities in the STEM sector at the HSCG in the form of guided tours, workshops and experiments.

Text: Thomas Gubsch