Glocalized Solutions for Sustainability in Manufacturing

The 18th CIRP International Conference on Life Cycle Engineering (LCE) 2011 continues a long tradition of scientific meetings focusing on the exchange of industrial and academic knowledge and experiences in life cycle assessment, product development, sustainable manufacturing and end-of-life-management. The theme “Glocalized Solutions for Sustainability in Manufacturing” addresses the need for engineers to develop solutions which have the potential to address global challenges by providing products, services and processes taking into account local capabilities and constraints to achieve an economically, socially and environmentally sustainable society in a global perspective. Glocalized Solutions for Sustainability in Manufacturing do not only involve products or services that are changed for a local market by simple substitution or the omitting of functions. Products and services need to be addressed that ensure a high standard of living everywhere. Resources required for manufacturing and use of such products are limited and not evenly distributed in the world. Locally available resources, local capabilities as well as local constraints have to be drivers for product- and process innovations with respect to the entire life cycle. The 18th CIRP International Conference on Life Cycle Engineering (LCE) 2011 serves as a platform for the discussion of the resulting challenges and the collaborative development of new scientific ideas.

Professor Dr.-Ing. Dr. h.c. Jürgen Hesselbach is the President of the Technische Universität Braunschweig since January 2005 (re-elected in 2010) and the Head of the Institute of Machine Tools and Production Technology. In 2009 and 2010 he was the Chairman of the Presidential Committee of the Niedersächsische Technische Hochschule (NTH) and is now member of the Presidential committee. Additionally, he became the Head of the Landeshochschulkonferenz Niedersachsen (LHK) in 2011. His research activities are focussed on production automation, control systems and handling technology. He is member of CIRP, ACATECH , WGP, IFTOMM. PD Dr.-Ing. Christoph Herrmann is member of the board of the Institute of Machine Tools and Production Technology (IWF) at the Technische Universität Braunschweig, Germany, and head of the Product- and Life-Cycle-Management Research Group. He is one of the heads of the Joint German-Australian Research Group “Sustainable Production and Life Cycle Management” (www.sustainable-manufacturing.com). Since August 2009 he is also scientific director and member of the board of the NFF – Niedersächsisches Forschungszentrum Fahrzeugtechnik (Automotive Research Center Niedersachsen), Germany. From 2005 to 2008 he was head of science of the KERP Center of Excellence Electronics & Environment, Vienna, Austria.