"Today’s official opening of the new building is an important milestone in IABG’s development", said CEO Prof. Rudolf Schwarz. "In these times where more and more jobs are being relocated, this new technology centre is a conscious sign of our commitment to Bavaria. We see Ottobrun as an excellent location for high-tech companies due to the good infrastructure and the proximity to important customers and cooperation partners, research institutes and universities."
The foundation of the new technology centre is IABG’s unique competence in the field of safety and security. This includes both the technical safety of products and homeland security.
As a market leader in simulation and testing, IABG qualifies new technical systems in terms of safety, mostly in the aeronautics and space area, as well as in automotive engineering. Significant examples of this are the fatigue test on the new Airbus A380 or the numerous qualification tests on satellites and launchers such as the Ariane 5 upper stage. In automotive engineering, IABG supports manufacturers and suppliers with mechatronic test stands, which connect driver assistance systems (ABS etc.) to mechanical components. In this way, IABG contributes greatly to the operational safety of complex technical systems.
In terms of the security of people and society, IABG supports both military users and authorities and organisations with security tasks. The new IABG technology centre will serve as a catalyst for the physical and virtual cooperation between industry and research.
With the transformation of the German Federal Armed Forces demanding new structures for cooperation between the military branches and multinational cooperation, IABG is taking advantage of the opportunity to extend its large modular simulation system for new war games and exercises. Current requirements for the simulation systems stem from the homeland security area (population protection, protection of critical infrastructures and large events). The infrastructure of the new centre meets the highest security requirements and is already used by the German Federal Armed Forces. Those parts of the centre for transformation of the Federal Armed Forces that are involved in modelling and simulation are already located in the IABG technology centre.
"With our new technology centre, we feel there is an excellent opportunity to pick up the idea of Bavarian "cluster" politics and to build up a "competence cluster security forces” at the Ottobrunn site. This would be in the unique position of consolidating the expertise and potential of defence and civil security forces and to create innovative solutions for German and international security forces", said Thomas Dittler, Managing Director of IABG.
Bavarian Minister-President Edmund Stoiber encouraged IABG in developing its direction. Today, IABG is involved in the "Aerospace" and "Satellite Navigation” clusters, where security issues play a significant role. "Bavaria’s cluster policy remains an open process. It must always respond to the latest developments. Other branches or fields of technology can always be incorporated", Stoiber said. In his speech, he recalled the roots of IABG, founded in 1961 at the instigation of the then German Minister of Defence Franz-Josef Strauß. Today, with almost 1000 highly qualified employees, IABG is a leading Bavarian high-tech company par excellence.
