Saarland University of Applied Sciences (htw saar)

The Saarland University of Applied Sciences (htw saar) is one of the pioneers in German university of applied sciences research and has operated the Franco-German University Institute together with the Université de Lorraine since 1978. Recognizing that European prosperity is driven by value creation in manufacturing and services, htw saar’s research centers on robustness, efficiency, and sustainability of processes and interfaces through which technical and social systems exchange energy, materials, and information to enable interdisciplinary solutions.  

htw saar comprises four schools: Engineering; Architecture and Civil Engineering; Social Sciences; and Business. Within the Business School, the Institute of Industrial Engineering and Management (WI Institute) focuses on digitalization and automation in the economy, electromobility, energy efficiency, and the resulting structural transformation. These topics are addressed not in isolation but as interdisciplinary techno-economic systems. The institute’s activities span strategy development, design, analysis, simulation, evaluation, and optimization of such systems.

The time4.CE x ECO2 research group within the WI Institute, focuses on technologies, innovation processes and methods, and the engineering of novel value-creation systems. Particular emphases include the transformation of value creation in the context of Industry 4.0 (e.g., hybrid and data-driven value creation) and the circular economy (e.g., circular value creation).

In the UniGR-CIRKLA project, the time4.ce group is building an innovation community that transcends borders to advance the circular economy of metals and materials across the Greater Region. The team identifies and connects key stakeholders in the circular economy and, drawing on its expertise in innovation processes and novel value-creation systems, supports the development of new circular business models in the Greater Region.