The European Regional Development Fund (EFRE) is a funding program of the European Union. In Rhineland-Palatinate, funding from the program is used for structural fund investments. Currently, the following projects are funded at Koblenz University:
Establishment of a competence center for additive manufacturing of inorganic non-metallic materials
The joint project will initially serve to develop an infrastructure for the additive manufacturing of inorganic non-metallic materials, which will lead to the first competence center for additive manufacturing of the aforementioned material group in RLP. Over a period of three years, the three project partners - the Research Institute for Inorganic Materials -Glass/Ceramics- GmbH, Koblenz University of Applied Sciences and the University of Koblenz-Landau - will pool their proven expertise in dealing with non-metallic-inorganic and, in particular, ceramic materials in order to better adapt existing printing processes to the wide range of material types. The aim is to identify economical processes which, taken together, overcome the obstacles of the state of the art. The manufacturing processes to be applied individually to the material must basically be considered holistically here, which takes into account the raw materials, the binder groups and the sintering just as much as the printing processes. Only in this way will it be possible to provide industry with a technology that is economical and thus forward-looking. The project is funded by the European Union from the European Regional Development Fund and the state of Rhineland-Palatinate as part of the development and expansion of technology-oriented fields of competence (P1-SZ2-3).
3D KI -Sustainable Additive Manufacturing of Ceramics
The 3DKI project—Sustainable Additive Manufacturing of Ceramics, funded by the ERDF—is driving the continued development of the 3DKeramik Competence Center. The focus is on integrating artificial intelligence (AI) and enhancing sustainability throughout the entire process chain of additive manufacturing for ceramic materials.
Founded in 2019, the 3DKeramik Competence Center is the first center for the additive manufacturing of inorganic, non-metallic materials in Rhineland-Palatinate. During the first funding phase, which ran through 2022, the Research Institute for Glass and Ceramics (FGK), Koblenz University of Applied Sciences, and the University of Koblenz established a high-performance infrastructure and developed comprehensive expertise in ceramic 3D printing. Building on this foundation, 3DKI is now setting new priorities.
The 3DKI project, launched in November 2025, will run for three years. The existing project consortium will be expanded to include the Birkenfeld Environmental Campus of Trier University of Applied Sciences and the Software Engineering Research Group at the University of Koblenz. Together, they will develop AI-supported methods for data management, process optimization, and testing procedures. The goal is to make manufacturing processes more efficient through data-driven approaches, thereby reducing material, energy, time, and labor costs. At the same time, existing printing processes will be further developed and additional technologies explored to expand the range of processable materials and improve the quality of additively manufactured components.
With its combined expertise in materials development, process development, 3D printing, and testing, 3DKeramik positions itself as a competent partner for companies and accelerates the transfer of innovative technologies into industrial applications. Its central location at the CeraTechCenter in Höhr-Grenzhausen offers a unique environment that brings together the ceramics industry, research, and technological development.
Development of a Technology Demonstrator for Hybrid Spectral Imaging – Rotifcam
The Rotifcam (Rotary Interference Filter Camera) project aims to further develop a novel hybrid camera system that, for the first time, combines the spectral precision of classical point spectrometers with the spatial resolution of multispectral cameras, thereby establishing a new product category in the spectral imaging systems market. Over the course of twelve months, the Application Center for Machine Learning and Sensor Technology (AMLS) at the Remagen Campus of Koblenz University of Applied Sciences, under the direction of Prof. Dr. Jens Bongartz, will pool its many years of expertise in remote sensing and the development of highly specialized camera systems to further develop the existing laboratory prototype into a validated technology demonstrator and future product. The goal is to resolve the previously unresolved trade-off between spatial and spectral resolution, which has thus far prevented the widespread use of imaging techniques to measure sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF)—a key parameter for the early detection of plant stress. The importance now attached to this signal is also evident at the European level: On September 15, 2026, FLEX (Fluorescence Explorer) will launch as the first ESA satellite mission designed to measure SIF globally from space in order to investigate the relationship between photosynthesis and the global carbon and water cycles.
The further development of the measurement system involves several aspects simultaneously: the hardware architecture, the calibration and image processing software, and validation under real-world field conditions. The future integration of the system onto UAV platforms is also being considered. Only in this way will it be possible to provide the land and agricultural sectors in Rhineland-Palatinate with a measurement system that is cost-effective and thus suitable for widespread practical use.