MatchMyScience: Progress in product development through innovative technologies

On 13 February 2025, the MatchMyScience event took place at SmartFactoryOWL, which focused on pioneering technologies under the motto "Impulses for the products of tomorrow". Experts from business, science and technology came together to discuss innovative and practical approaches to accelerate product development in mechanical engineering and to network. The Institute Industrial IT (inIT) of the Technische Hochschule Ostwestfalen-Lippe (TH OWL) actively contributed to this event as a driving force.

Interactive keynote speeches and demonstrators by inIT employees

The event provided an ideal platform for the exchange of innovative technologies and methods. Short keynote speeches, followed by interactive sessions at the demonstrators, provided insights into current research at inIT and its practical application. inIT employees Julian Bültemeier, Jörn Tebbe, André Mankowski, Philip Sehr and Niels Hendrik Fliedner shared exciting findings from their respective research areas with the plenum:

Julian Bültemeier (Image Processing and Pattern Recognition, Sensor and Information Fusion research group) presented the topic "Scarce data, lots of insight: developing AI applications for small data". He demonstrated how small data sets are used effectively to optimise processes and retain expert knowledge, which is particularly relevant for SMEs.

Jörn Tebbe (Mathematics and Data Science research group) discussed in his presentation "Safe active learning in product development: Automated test planning for the development of technical systems", how machine learning algorithms are applied to shorten development times and achieve cost savings.

André Mankowski (Interconnected Automation Systems research group) discussed object-oriented and skill-based machine architectures as well as interoperability through OPC UA Field eXchange, with reference to the inIT research projects DEVEKOS and PHARE.

Philip Sehr (Interconnected Automation Systems research group) explained the digital product passport in the context of the supply chain, illustrated by the example of coffee production, and referred to the DiPP project for the CinITo coffee bar.

Niels Hendrik Fliedner (Interconnected Automation Systems research group) spoke about secure, resilient, and reliable data transmission using 5G in private wireless networks, which is essential for IIoT scenarios such as interference-free video streams for remote maintenance. He focussed on the 5G campus network in the SmartFactoryOWL with reference to the DeSiRe-NG project.

Intensive discussions and valuable input

The event facilitated intensive dialogue and impressively demonstrated how new innovation potential can be tapped into through the close networking of science and practice. "The insights from the field have shown how valuable such events and the dialogue are for both sides," the inIT employees involved agree.

The positive feedback from industry and research emphasises the relevance of the event. Further key topics have already been proposed for future MatchMyScience events in order to further strengthen the bridge between research and application. inIT is looking forward to deepening the knowledge gained and helping to organise future events.