Audi 2006 Annual Report Download - page 140

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Research partnerships
Audi started to place its partnership with universities on a new footing in 2003. The first step
was the joint project INI.TUM between the Technical University of Munich, in which the city
of Ingolstadt is also involved. The purpose of this partnership is to foster the transfer of
knowledge between basic research and industrial application. Doctoral projects that closely
match the current research and development requirements of the Audi Group as an innova-
tive car manufacturer are chosen by a steering group in which each partner has equal repre-
sentation. The advantage for those involved is that the students gain an insight into the
world of industrial development and production, the universities secure outside funding for
their research, and Audi in return obtains ideas on how to solve topical problems in the
spheres of production technology, mechanical engineering and information technology.
Close contact between the researchers and the Audi locations is an essential aspect of the
partnerships. As well as practical application by the company remaining squarely in the
foreground, the participants are also able to become well acquainted with each other.
Following the successful example of INI.TUM, Audi has entered into other partnerships,
including the “Institute for Applied Research” with the Ingolstadt University of Applied Sci-
ence and the Neckarsulm Technical Institute (HIN) involving the Universities of Stuttgart and
Karlsruhe. These were followed in 2006 by agreements with the Friedrich Alexander Univer-
sity of Erlangen-Nuremberg (INI.FAU) and the Technical and Economics University of Buda-
pest (Audi Hungaria Institute AHI).
Two of the universities with which Audi is associated are in the cluster of excellence cre-
ated by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research: the University of Karlsruhe and the
Technical University of Munich. Within the Initiative for Excellence, Friedrich Alexander Uni-
versity, Erlangen, was declared a “Graduate School for the Furtherance of Junior Research-
ers”.
By the end of last year, Audi was sponsoring 54 doctoral projects from its partnerships
with German universities alone, seven projects with the Ingolstadt University of Applied
Science and a further seven in Hungary. The company has in addition filled around 30 doc-
toral projects internally.
Location-specific partnerships
Away from research projects, Audi maintains an in-depth partnership with the city of Ingol-
stadt in the areas of tourism and transport management. For example, the “Travolution”
project has the objective of developing an efficient, dynamic traffic control system using
complex computing methods in traffic light systems and vehicles.
An internet portal developed jointly by Audi, Ingolstadt Tourismus und Kongress GmbH
and other partners (www.living-ingolstadt.de) has been online since the start of 2006. Audi
attaches considerable importance to developing Ingolstadt as a tourist centre. In 2006
alone, around 40,000 new cars were collected from the Audi Forum Ingolstadt by visiting
customers. With an average of 2.5 visitors per vehicle, the brand with the four rings thus
brought around 100,000 people to Ingolstadt last year solely for that purpose.
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