The Centre for Logistics and Traffic (ZLV) dedicates itself to the interdisciplinary conception, management and transfer of scientific work in the areas of logistics, mobility and traffic. The ZLV is thereby geared towards long-term sustainable, economically beneficial, socially acceptable and ecologically reliable innovations.
What a success! After six weeks full of different speakers on different topics, intensive group works, and commitments the …
What a success! After six weeks full of different speakers on different topics, intensive group works, and commitments the postponed DAAD Virtual Summer School 2021 has come to an end on Friday, December 10, 2021. This year’s transnational summer school was sponsored by the German Academic Exchange Service („Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst“ and organized by the Centre for Logistics and Traffic at the University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany, together with the Center for Sustainable Urban Development, Earth Institute, of the Columbia University (CU) in New York. The key topic of the summer school was sustainable mobility in metropolitan regions.
Initially planned for holding the summer school in August at the CU, it was held from November 5 to December 10, 2021, online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The virtual format of the event made it easier for students, doctorate candidates, and post-docs from all over the world to participate. We could count 36 participants from 22 different countries!
Every Friday, there were many experts and speakers from science, industry, and the general public who gave talks about four different working fields and several case studies regarding
Urban freight systems and global supply chains Business model innovations in transport and mobility Sustainable cities: low-carbon urban mobility and logistics systems Role of new technologies: electrifications, big data, new modes
Overall, 23 speakers gave insights into the topic of sustainable mobility from different perspectives.
PD Dr. habil. Ani Melkonyan-Gottschalk who is the Executive Director of the Centre for Logistics and Traffic, took the active role of guiding the speakers and participants through all sessions with engaging questions and following up on group works. The lectures by the speakers were the basis and incentives for the participants to develop their own ideas in the working groups. Apart from that, the different academic backgrounds as well as the country of origin of the participants were a perfect basis for developing business model ideas for several countries such as Brazil, China, Ecuador, Germany, Ghana, Mexico, Singapore, and many others.
On the final day, every group presented their results. It was exciting to listen to the innovative ideas the groups came up with. However, at the end, the winner group was chosen by the jury with the focus on having the most interesting potential to be developed.
The organizers are excited about the fact which impact this summer school has had and which international networks could have been created by the participants within the six weeks. We are sure that these networks will be kept and consolidated in future projects. We wish the participants success for their future ideas which will have a positive impact on regional, national, or global level.
Watch the recorded sessions here: https://ecol-summerschool.net/programme-2021/
Follow the Centre for Logistics and Traffic on LinkedIN here: https://de.linkedin.com/company/zentrum-f%C3%BCr-logistik-und-verkehr
On November 5, 2021, the - delayed - Virtual Summer School 2021 finally started. Due to the high number of applicants …
On November 5, 2021, the - delayed - Virtual Summer School 2021 finally started. Due to the high number of applicants and the ongoing pandemic, the program had to be adjusted and postponed, so that the Summer School became a Winter School.
However, this does not dampen the content or the enthusiasm of the more than 45 international participants. Every Friday until December 10, 2021, the program will take place online, with presentations by many experts from business, the public, and lecturers from the UDE and the partner university Columbia University in New York, as well as other scientists from other universities. In addition, case studies will be examined in group work.
The program and further information can be found online at: https://ecol-summerschool.net/programme-2021/
Plenty of potential for modal shift does exist – but also for further optimization for IWT in northern and northeastern …
Plenty of potential for modal shift does exist – but also for further optimization for IWT in northern and northeastern Germany.
As part of the study "Inland Waterway Transportation in northern and northeastern Germany - Challenges and Opportunities" commissioned by Hafen Hamburg Marketing along with the Elbe Lateral Canal Alliance and the Elbe Alliance, the Development Centre for Ship Technology and Transport Systems (DST) has examined the inland waterway transportation (IWT) sector in the hinterland of the Port of Hamburg - together with the Institute of Shipping Economics and Logistics (ISL) and PLANCO Consulting. IWT plays a significant role for the economy in the German federal states along the northern and northeastern German waterways. In addition, the unused transport capacities on the waterways, the increasing pressure for greening, and the potential resulting from digitalization and automation offer new opportunities for IWT.
Being labelled the logistics world champion, Germany in general and North Rhine-Westphalia in particular are renowned …
Being labelled the logistics world champion, Germany in general and North Rhine-Westphalia in particular are renowned for the high efficiency levels in the logistics processes. This strongly linked with the dense network of highways, railway connections, waterways, and inland ports.
In order to sustain and expand this position, the transport ministry of the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) funds the establishment and launch of the so-called Port Research Lab (HaFoLa). HaFoLa is built by the Development Centre for Ship Technology and Transport Systems (DST) and the Department of Mechatronics of the University of Duisburg-Essen (UDE). With HaFoLa, the two partners are capable of developing new technologies from the level of fundamental research to proving the technical feasibility, which later are to be transferred into prototypes and solutions.
“Duisburg is a well-known location for its inland port, its logistics competence, and its inland navigation sector. This applies to the local industry as much as the research community in the city. The transport ministry acknowledges this and supports us actively”, says Cyril Alias, Department Head of Logistics & Transportation at DST, who has developed the idea and now acts as manager of the infrastructure project.
Apart from a test center, whose layout will resemble the one of a port including a port basin, quay walls, transshipment equipment as well as model inland vessels and containers, the research lab will include an experimental laboratory for future digitization projects. The Port Research Lab will enable DST and UDE to research on various port-related topics. such as berthing and mooring, loading and unloading, crane operations, and managing port resources.
From a mechatronics perspective, the possibilities opened up by advancing automation, machine learning, cyber-physical systems, and industry 4.0 in the realm of port and transshipment processes will belong to the core research fields. Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dieter Schramm, professor of mechatronics at UDE, sees huge potential in the gradual automation of the port, “It is inevitable in order to increase the efficiency and performance of German ports.”
The transport minister of NRW, Hendrik Wüst, welcomed the future-oriented efforts in Duisburg and personally handed over the grant approval to the consortium during a visit at DST. “Future mobility is digital, interconnected, and automated. We want Mobility 4.0 not only to be researched, developed, and tested in NRW, but also to be manufactured and applied early on.” Wüst explained. “Therefore, we will create excellent conditions for the development of autonomous inland navigation and fund the HaFoLa project” he added.
HaFoLa is not a single measure at all: The Test and Control Centre Autonomous Inland Shipping (VeLABi), which is also situated at DST, has already been funded a year ago and is now ready for opening. “With the two new test centers, VeLABi and HaFoLa, two major facets of the holistic development of the fully-automated operation of inland vessels will stand by” Prof. Dr.-Ing. Bettar Ould El Moctar, Scientific Director of DST and professor of ship technology at UDE, emphasizes. Minister Wüst has also visited VeLABi and inspected the new test center during his visit at DST. VeLABi will be formally opened on 22 October 2020 in the presence of representatives of the transport ministry of NRW.
For further information, please contact Cyril Alias Department Head of Logistics & Transportation DST – Development Centre for Ship Technology and Transport Systems Phone: + 49 – (0)203 – 99 369 52 Mail: alias@dst-org.de
Prof. El Moctar, Prof. Schramm, and Cyril Alias are members of the Centre of Logistics and Traffic (ZLV).
DST institute director appointed as member of the innovation commission of federal transport ministry Prof. Dr.-Ing. Bettar …
DST institute director appointed as member of the innovation commission of federal transport ministry Prof. Dr.-Ing. Bettar Ould El Moctar, ZLV member and institute director of DST – Development Center of Ship Technology and Transport Systems, has been appointed as one of 16 members of the innovation commission of the German federal ministry of transport and digital infrastructure (BMVI).
The innovation commission is coordinated by Mr. Steffen Bilger MdB, parliamentary undersecretary at BMVI and the German government's freight transport and logistics coordinator. The commission provides technical advice for the realization and further development of logistics innovation program 2030 and meets once or twice a year. As a means to safeguard Germany’s position as logistics world champion and innovation hub, the logistics innovation program 2030 encompasses ten areas with respective objectives and realization steps. The program contributes to ensuring the competitiveness and fostering climate protection. Apart from areas like “digital supply chain”, “future labor market”, and “innovative air freight”, the program presents objectives and measures for the area “innovative ports and waterways”, which again will be co-represented by Prof. Dr.-Ing. El Moctar.
