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Designing, constructing and programming: that’s what the Smart Green Island Makeathon on Gran Canaria was all about. It was recently held for the sixth time, organised by ITQ GmbH. The prototyping event brings students, universities and companies from all over the world together to develop the innovative, sustainable technologies of tomorrow. The focus is on such topics as robotics and automation, smart and green energy and smart mobility. One of the event’s top sponsors is igus GmbH from Cologne, which supported the young talented people on site with expertise and low-cost robotics.
Every year, millions of tons of plastic end up in the oceans. More than 1,000 rivers wash most plastic from land into the sea. Organisations like Plastic Fischer are trying to counteract this pollution. Since 2021, the non-profit company has been collecting and processing plastic waste from rivers in India and Indonesia. The river-cleaning initiative is supported by such companies as igus GmbH in Cologne, which is financing the collection of altogether 10,000 kilogrammes of plastic waste.
Drilling 4,540 holes with precision: the trainees at SHW-Werkzeugmaschinen were faced with this task when building an air hockey table. For the mechanism of the special drilling machine, the prospective industrial mechanics and mechatronics technicians put their complete trust in the lubrication-free motion plastics from igus. Among other things, maintenance-free dryspin lead screws and the lubrication-free drylin W linear technology from igus are used.
Small, corrosion-free and made of plastic: the plain bearing. An unimposing machine element, it is rarely in the limelight, so a joint initiative started by igus, the motion plastics specialist, awards up to €5,000 to the most exciting and creative plain bearing projects every two years. This year, 480 entries were received from 36 countries.
A wide, angular frame made of plastic, black wheels with Y-spokes: The futuristic look of the bike designed by mtrl, a Dutch bicycle developer, with motion plastics from igus has won the prestigious German Design Award 2023. The award brings an important step in realising the sustainability vision of a bicycle production with post-consumer-waste recycled plastic for urban mobility.
Take a closer look at products from all sides with VR glasses. Work with engineers and materials experts in virtual reality to plan machines, plants and vehicles. Fast and location-independent. The iguverse is igus’s parallel digital universe that prepares sales and engineering for the metaverse.
The Internet of Things has growth potential of trillions of euros. But many industrial companies are having difficulty digitalizing their processes. As a new member of the Berlin-based IoT Use Case expert network, igus explains how to get started with IoT.
11/11 traditionally marks the start of Carnival in Cologne. There is twice as much reason to be happy this year because on 11/11/2022, igus, a Cologne-based industrial company and plastics specialist, reached the one billion mark in sales for the first time.
Digitalization, globalization, corona pandemic: As a business location, NRW is undergoing a process of transformation. igus is one of the companies that are particularly successful in managing this change. The Cologne-based plastics company was one of two companies to win the “Wirtschaft im Wandel” contest in the “SME & Group” category. igus was particularly honoured for the company’s strong digital orientation.
The British company, Mura Technology is starting a new chapter in modern plastic recycling in Saxony. The first plant in Germany for chemical recycling with a capacity of up to 120,000 tons per year is to be built in Böhlen. What is special about it? It transforms multi-layered mixed plastics, which were previously considered impossible to separate and ended up in the incinerator, into oil that can be used to make new products. This is an important step towards keeping valuable plastics in the circular economy and protecting the environment.