In the last week of September, the ForWind WindLab in Oldenburg hosted a delegation from the Volkswagen Foundation. Dr. Georg Schütte, Secretary General of the Volkswagen Foundation, and his team were welcomed by Prof. Ralph Bruder, President of the Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg. ForWind professors Kerstin Avila and Martin Kühn as well as Raimund Rolfes from the Institute of Statics and Dynamics at Leibniz Universität Hannover and EFZN board member Sebastian Lehnhoff also welcomed the guests.
The Managing Director of ForWind, Stephan Barth, gave an overview of the current status of wind energy research at ForWind. The importance of national and international cooperation, interdisciplinary approaches and the challenges in this area were emphasized.
One focus of the visit was the demonstration of the turbulent wind tunnel. The more than 80 members of the delegation had the opportunity to see first-hand how it works and the various experiments it enables, and to feel the power of the wind.
Researchers from the ForWind team presented ongoing projects and explained the methods and scientific basis of the various research initiatives.
This commitment underlines the importance of building a bridge between academic research and industrial players in order to achieve progress in wind energy. We are delighted by the Volkswagen Foundation’s interest and hope that our work will continue to overlap in the future.
Information on the Volkswagen Foundation: https://www.volkswagenstiftung.de/de
