The TUM International ZD Nanjing Innovation Center was jointly founded by ZD Automotive and TUM International. It is located in Jiangning District, Nanjing, which is one of the districts with the fastest economic development in Nanjing. Jiangning is an advanced manufacturing base, logistics hub and airport hub in eastern China. Colleges and universities gather in the area and possess important talents and search resources.
Relying on the scientific research background of the world-class university TUM, the Innovation Center introduced a new kind of cooperation between university and industry. We are dedicated to transforming theory into practice and promoting the international knowledge transfer between China and Germany. With TUM International together, ZD will create a vibrant innovation ecosystem searching on topics such as autonomous driving, V2X, smart city, new materials, smart devices and new logistics.
Scientific research is the driving force of innovation. Relying on the excellence of TUM in research and teaching, TUM International ZD Nanjing Innovation Center establishes a professional team and platform to promote the projects of cutting-edge technology with high potential. As a scientific and technological innovation platform, the Innovation Center focuses on the research and development of key technologies and products with wide application prospects. We connect resources with demand, strengthen R&D capabilities and accelerates the construction of an industrial system led by scientific and technological innovation.
Business incubation is a necessary stage to extend scientific research to competitive application, It is one of the important forms of technology transfer and achievement transformation and therefore one of the core tasks of the Innovation Center.
The Innovation Center will support growth-oriented startups with focus on cross-field technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and communications. With our partner network, we are committed to build an innovative and sustainable ecosystem to bring research and industry together.
One of the important focuses of Innovation Center is innovation and intellectual property. We create a platform that gathers scientific and technological talents to promote innovation and transform high-technology achievements.
The Innovation Center strengthens the management of intellectual property in key areas to systematically increase the innovation returns. In our IP management, we will integrate the concept in all processes from R&D to marketing and after-sales. This centralized process is essential to protect the unique selling point legally and thus sustainable.
Big Data is a new generation of information technology that collects, stores and correlates and analyzes data with large capacity and high complexity. It has been developed into a useful technology for discovering new knowledge and creating new values.
A technology that cannot be separated from big data is Artificial Intelligence, which refers to the science of machine simulation of certain human thought processes and intelligent behavior. In recent years, deep learning has made significant breakthroughs and has achieved great success in the fields of speech recognition, natural language processing, computer vision, image and video analysis etc.
TUM has outstanding technical and resource advantages in the field of big data and AI that support the Innovation Center strongly. We will focus on investigating the value chain of big data in general and adapt the outcome to different branches and levels.
Cybersecurity is essential for system stability in all kinds of network from IT, Internet of things /Vehicles. With the increasing complexity and reliance on informational system, new challenges rise with significant speed. A generally applicable security system is now an urgent need.
Geo-information technology grows rapidly in recent years together with the development of IT technology. A typical application is the visualization of geospatial data. Together with other data sources, the digital dashboard can present information directly on the intuitive 3D model.
V2X enables the communication from Vehicle to Everything and becomes an essential part in the road map of autonomous driving. The Innovation Center will promote research on V2X technology, accelerate wireless communication between vehicle-to-vehicle, vehicle-to-infrastructure, and vehicles-to-pedestrian, fully facilitating the development of autonomous driving.
Simulation Technology using computer-aided method to perform virtual experiment instead of convectional ones, which integrates computer technology, network technology, graphic image technology, multimedia technology, software engineering technology, information processing technology, and automatic control technology etc. Therefore, it can get results more quickly, easily repeatable and more economical. Especially in the areas of aviation, power grid and autonomous driving, the simulation technology gains more focus recently.
In the context of the new scientific, technological and industrial revolution, the global new materials industry has maintained a rapid growth trend. The rapid development of new industries such as information technology, new energy, intelligent manufacturing, etc., has put forward higher requirements for materials.
The new materials industry is developing in the direction of low carbon, refinement and saving. In the automotive industry, for example, the trends in electrification, intelligence, light weight, green and so on will have a profound impact on the corresponding new materials market.
Electrification: electrochemical batteries and hydrogen fuel cells as power sources will replace internal combustion engines and fossil fuel power systems.
Intelligent: Under the general trend of autonomous driving in vehicle network, new semiconductor materials, magnetic core materials, sensitive materials (sensors), gallium nitride and copper clad (for 5G communication), quartz (fiber optic cable), superconducting materials (for computers) and other research and development have become a trend.
Lightweight: lightweight can bring better performance, safety and comfort. The automotive industry has become the fastest growing field of modified plastics demand, more aerospace materials will be more widely used in the automotive field.
The Innovation Center will carry out the research on new materials and new structures, promoting their usages in various industries like automotive. we are committed to upgrade traditional industry in a sustainable way, especially in the fields of logistics and packaging. Our goal is to upgrade traditional industries to low-emission, lightweight, refined, and economical ones.
Smart city is an advanced stage of digital city development based on digital city network and geospatial digital technology. With the rapid iteration of Artificial Intelligence, big data, Internet of Things as well as urbanization, a large number of business applications and innovations have emerged, e. g. “smart traffic” “smart security” “smart community “. The Innovation Center will give full play to TUM’s rich experience in smart city to promote its construction in China.
Logistics system is an important part of the modern industrial system, closely linking producers and consumers. With the rapid development of computer and communication technology, modern logistics has also been gradually improved and progressed. Warehousing, transportation and distribution have been integrated with cutting-edge technology, which has improved the efficiency and service quality of logistics.
The Innovation Center will promote the implementation of new logistics technologies, such as self-driving loading and unloading transportation system, unmanned receiving and storage. Through applied research on new logistics technologies and the integration of research results from various interdisciplinary disciplines, we provide technical support for a smart new logistics architecture.