TFB 61:  Neue Konzepte und Werkzeuge für die Verfahrenstechnik-Praxis

• Subject Area: Computer Science, Systems and Electrical Engineering ; Mechanical and Industrial Engineering ; Thermal Engineering/Process Engineering
• Term: from 2006 to 2009
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 19739291

The Collaborative Research Centre "Information Technology Support For Collaborative and Distributed Design Processes in Chemical Engineering (IMPROVE)" was financed by German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG) from mid 1997 to mid 2006 (see www-i3.informatik.rwth-aachen.de/sfb476). The global task was to improve the development processes in chemical engineering and plastics processing. This was studied taking the first phases of the development life cycle as example, called "Conceptual Design and Basic Engineering". Industrial development processes were analysed, new forms suggested, and evaluated from an engineering and a labour research perspective. Especially, novel tools were developed, supporting development processes, and mostly extending existing tools (using the experience of developers, assuring consistency between results of different developers, using direct and multimedial communication, applying reactive management). Tool integration was performed on top of an extended platform. An architectural framework for tool integration facilitated the integration approach. A book on the results of Collaborative Research Centre 476 is published by Springer-Verlag. Goal of the Transfer Unit, financed by DFG from mid 2006 to mid 2009, is the transfer of results developed in the context of the Collaborative Research Centre 476 into industrial practice. Five subprojects take methods, concepts, and tools of the Collaborative Research Centre and apply them to industrial problems. Seven industrial companies are involved, from chemical engineering, tool construction, but also from another domain (AMB Generali Informatik Services GmbH, Bayer Business Services AG, Bayer Technology Services AG, ConSense GmbH, Degussa AG Engineering, InfraServ GmbH & Co. Knapsack KG, innotec GmbH, Ontoprise GmbH). Nevertheless, the Transfer Unit does not only aim at the evaluation of the achieved results in collaboration with the industrial partners, but also at further research concerning ontology-based integration of design data, simulation-supported planning of development processes, incremental consistency management, dynamic management of development and business processes, or service-oriented architectures and application integration. Further projects are connected to the Transfer Unit.

• DFG Programme: CRC/Transfer Units

Completed projects

• T01 - Integrierte Informationsverwaltung im Lebenszyklus verfahrenstechnischer Anlagen (Project Head Marquardt, Wolfgang )
• T01 - Integrierte Informationsverwaltung im Lebenszyklus verfahrenstechnischer Anlagen (Project Head Marquardt, Wolfgang )
• T03 - Simulationsgestützte Optimierung der Ablauforganisation in der verfahrenstechnischen Prozessentwicklung (Project Heads Luczak, Holger ;  Schlick, Christopher Marc )
• T05 - Konsistenzsicherungswerkzeug für verfahrenstechnische Entwicklung (Project Head Nagl, Manfred )
• T06 - Dynamisches Prozessmanagement auf Basis bestehender Systeme (Project Head Nagl, Manfred )
• T07 - Service-orientierte Architekturen und Anwendungsinteragion (Project Head Nagl, Manfred )

• Applicant Institution: Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen
• Spokesperson: Professor Dr.-Ing. Manfred Nagl