Who is part of the founding team and who is responsible for what tasks or has what set of skills?
Our team consists of Dominique Bergmann (aerospace engineering), Klaus Heudorfer (aerospace engineering) and myself, Mathias Engelfried (mechanical engineering), we are research associates at the Institute of Aircraft Design. We work in the research areas of aircraft design, lightweight construction and production engineering. We are also currently looking for someone to contribute business expertise to our EXIST projects. So if anyone is interested, please get in touch with me.
Dominique has been leading a research group at IFB for several years and is responsible for project management, but he is also setting up our plant control system. Klaus has a PhD in process development and optimization, which is exactly what he does in our team. He is currently developing our new production plant and ensures that our materials have a good environmental balance and are produced efficiently. I take care of our materials themselves and their further processing.
A brief description
We want to replace conventional, environmentally harmful lightweight materials with natural fiber-reinforced bioplastics. To this end, we have developed a particularly efficient manufacturing process that results in our tailored prepregs or finished components made from natural fibers and bioplastics. In principle, the material is suitable for many applications and industries, but we initially want to focus on the mobility sector.
Our products: tailored prepregs
Our services: Consulting when switching from classic lightweight materials to natural fiber-reinforced plastics, engineering and prototype construction
The background of the development
It all started with our research work at the institute. We developed a new manufacturing process for fiber composites made from flax fibers and bio-based resin systems. It turned out to be quite efficient and process-stable, which is why a colleague and I filed a patent application.
Compared to conventional manufacturing processes for fiber composite components, we have very short cycle times, a high potential for automation and a low material input, combined with very good component quality and high flexibility.
We all already had the idea of founding the company, but the actual impetus came from Jordi Mauri, a former coach at ENI and TRACES. He showed us the possibilities and ways in which it could work.
What was the biggest challenge for you last year?
That was certainly the application for the EXIST research transfer. Here you also need a business perspective, which we as researchers had previously had less contact with. Accordingly, the effort involved was very high, but it also gave us our first insights into the perspective of an entrepreneur. Some of the points that are important for the evaluation of an EXIST project application can hardly be influenced by yourself, so more effort is put into the other aspects.
Area of application
Lightweight construction and fiber composites with a focus on mobility, but also other sectors that require lightweight construction solutions, such as the energy and construction sectors, are of interest to us.
Contact
- behtec.de
- https://www.linkedin.com/company/behtec/
- Mathias Engelfried engelfried@ifb.uni-stuttgart.de
Do you also have an idea for a start-up? Then you can find all the information you need for the next steps here.
Contact
Hanna Dewes
Research Associate