The southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg, well-known for its car industry, is the backbone of the German economy. Is it ready for the future? Nina Haase and Sumi Somaskanda went to find out.
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#Germanydecides: How ready is the German economy for the future?
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When it comes to the success of the German economy, there's no better place to start than Baden-Württemberg. It is the engine of Germany's powerful export industry and home to global household names like Bosch and Daimler-Mercedes Benz.
Stuttgart may be Germany's car capital, but the city itself isn't great at mobility. Traffic is thick and constant, with a sea of sleek, modern silver and black cars branded with that famous Mercedes-Benz star. Bicycle paths are few and far between, and many residents we spoke to complained of the concentration of fine dust particles in the city.
Despite the chaotic traffic, there’s no doubt about it: the economy around here is booming.
Baden-Württemberg boasts a deep and diverse manufacturing sector and leads all other states in exports. The Mittelstand, a term for small and mid-sized privately owned companies, make up the backbone of the state's success. More than 50 percent of the labor force works in a company with 250 or fewer employees. Unemployment, at 3.4 percent, is of the lowest in Germany. But we wanted to find out just how prepared Germany's strongest region is for the future.
We started with Daimler, one of the biggest companies and employers here. For Daimler, the future is electric. The company is investing 10 billion euros ($11.4 billion) in e-mobility and another billion euros in battery factories to power electric cars by 2025, according to Jürgen Schenk from the EQ, or intelligent electric mobility, division.
But Daimler is highly protective of its research and development. We did not receive permission to film or visit the inside of the company headquarters. Instead, we paid a visit to the Mercedes-Benz Museum. From the outside, the undulating glass and steel structure is certainly futuristic; inside, however, most of the eight floors are dedicated to the company's history. We went looking for the e-mobility section but found only a few electric cars and engines on display.
Schenk told us that Daimler is indeed planning for the next generation of mobility, but electric cars haven't taken off in Germany.
For Daimler's workers, meanwhile, the shift toward e-mobility has brought some uncertainty. We spoke to some employees as they arrived for their morning shifts in Untertürkheim, at the company headquarters. One man who works in engine development told us he's been with the company since 1985 and has seen the technology around him change rapidly in recent years, and he has scrambled to keep up.
German Future Prize 2016: the teams' inventions
The German Future Prize has declared the 2016 winner: It's carbon concrete. Other teams competed with a special cylinder coating for efficient car motors and laser high-beam headlights for cars.
Image: obs/Deutscher Zukunftspreis/Lukas Barth
A highly sought-after trophy
Since 1997, the German Future Prize nominates three teams per year for an inventors' award. But only one team was awarded this trophy on November 30th. It comes with 250,000 euros prize money ($264,000).
Image: Deutscher Zukunftspreis
The winner is team 1: High-Tech loom
This is a device for weaving fibres. But they are not common fibres. The carbon threads are supposed to be used as enforcement in buildings. It's no coincidence that the invention comes from Dresden University's Institute for Textile High Performance Material Technologies.
Image: Deutscher Zukunftspreis/Ansgar Pudenz
Steeled under red light
The carbon fabric is more flexible than traditional steel enforcement grates. Here the fibers are dried and welded together under red light. The reinforcing mats are high-strength quality.
Image: Deutscher Zukunftspreis/Ansgar Pudenz
Rolling it up
The fabric can contain fibers of different quality. Depending on the purpose and shape of the concrete, construction engineers can design the enforcement to exactly match their needs.
Image: Deutscher Zukunftspreis/Ansgar Pudenz
A very thin wall
Concrete walls with the new enforcement can be built to be just a few inches thin. This enables architects to design in a light style. Even furniture such as chairs, benches or tables can be made from carbon concrete.
Image: Deutscher Zukunftspreis/Ansgar Pudenz
Size comparison
The steel enforced concrete (left side) and the carbon concrete (right side) reach about the same strength. Carbon concrete enforcements have one huge advantage, though. If water seeps into the construction, carbon will not corrode and retains its stability. Bridges and other buildings are likely to last much longer.
Image: Deutscher Zukunftspreis/Ansgar Pudenz
And it's beautiful, too!
Who says concrete is ugly? An architect using carbon concrete might even go one step farther than in this example and just leave out the metal plating on the right side. Carbon concrete could thus lead to a revival of the architectural style of brutalism. The name derives from the French word for "raw concrete" ("béton brut") and describes buildings that do not hide what they are made of.
Image: Deutscher Zukunftspreis/Ansgar Pudenz
Team two: where nano particles come from
The inventors in the second team are using this special jet to apply a nano-particle coating to the interior surface of motor cylinders. The nanoscale surface creates microscopic reservoirs for lubricants, which enable the motor to run with almost no friction.
Image: Deutscher Zukunftspreis/Ansgar Pudenz
Evaporation within the electric arc
Two wires made out of an iron carbon alloy are used to generate an electric arc in the center of the motor's cylinder block. Tiny metal drops evaporate under a stream of nitrogen. The nanopraticles that emerge from the gas phase precipitate at the surface of the cylinder and form a solid film.
Image: Deutscher Zukunftspreis/Ansgar Pudenz
A clean solution
This is what a smooth motor cylinder looks like. The friction losses are low enough for the engine to save about three percent of fuel. The design and size of the motor can also be considerably smaller because additional construction elements aren't needed.
Image: Deutscher Zukunftspreis/Ansgar Pudenz
Team 3: Better light in the darkness
Researchers from BMW and Osram reinvented the car headlights. They are using laser as a light source. The problem: The laser is emitting blue light, but in order to see really well, humans need white light.
Image: Deutscher Zukunftspreis/Ansgar Pudenz
Blue becomes white
Special ceramics turn a part of the blue light into yellow light. Then the two light parts get mixed. The result: a pinpointed white light.
Image: Deutscher Zukunftspreis/Ansgar Pudenz
No blinding other drivers
This electronic device ensures that other drivers aren't being blinded by the bright high-beam lights. When other cars emerge in the light cone, the device dims the laser light. Pedestrians or deer, however, are out of look. The device doesn't recognize them, so they might have to squint.
Image: Deutscher Zukunftspreis/Ansgar Pudenz
Looking ahead, but how far?
The laser beam reaches up to 600 meters far. The inventors of this security feature made it safely to Berlin in a car like this. They did not win the prize. But we congratulate all three teams for their great inventions.
Image: Deutscher Zukunftspreis/Ansgar Pudenz
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"It's tough and it's only getting tougher with the move toward electric - that's a big focus here. That's a technical shift that’s got a lot of people worried. It's a huge task that I won't be around for - maybe in the next three to four years, but it's really for the next generation," he said.
Daimler isn't the only company thinking about the future: Baden-Württemberg invests 4.8 percent of its gross domestic product in R&D - compared to just 3 percent on the European Union level. That drive toward innovation is on display at ARENA 2036 in Stuttgart, one of Germany's largest research centers for future mobility. ARENA stands for "Active Research Environment for the Next Generation of Automobiles."
The white, brightly lit industrial hall stretches as long as a football field, and companies like Bosch, KUKA, and Daimler have brought the best and the brightest here to design the future of the auto industry. A lone car skeleton is parked on a pedestal at the far end of the building amid containers and robotic arms. We were asked not to take any photos, however, to protect sensitive research.
A lab for the future
Germany's Mittelstand is also learning to plan for the future here. The Fraunhofer Institute has rented 1,000 square meters (10,763 square feet) of hall space for its Future Work Lab. It is focused on Industry 4.0, an initiative meant to make Germany a lead provider and market for advanced manufacturing solutions.
Mobility Award for ten inventions that make travel safer
Ten teams have received German Mobility Awards. They have been rewarded for their inventions in the field of traffic safety by the "Germany - Land of ideas" initiative.
Image: Volkswagen
All kinds of obstacles in the air
Laymen may not recognize them at first glance, but the lower air space is full of obstacles. That's why Lufthansa has developed a database listing all known obstacles - worldwide. Pilots can see power lines, skyscrapers and windmills in real time. It's particularly useful for helicopter pilots in bad weather.
Image: Lufthansa Systems
Calling all pilots
Sensors can detect almost everything that can go wrong in an airplane. Only the pilot himself has not yet become the object of technological scrutiny. The A-PiMod cockpit is likely to change that. Developed by the German aerospace center DLR, it observes gestures, eye movements and the controls handled by the pilot and draws conclusions: Is the pilot awake, healthy and fit to do his job right?
Image: DLR
For cars too
Volkswagen's "Emergency Assist" system works in a similar fashion: It continually checks the activities of the driver and intervenes if necessary. It will reduce the gas, take over the steering to make sure the car stays in its lane and even hit the brakes if it's necessary to avoid a crash. In the case of dropping off at the wheel it can save lives.
Image: Volkswagen
Sending out an SOS - if the motorcyclist can't
This is another systems that intervenes when humans don't. The dguard eCall-system for motor cyclists will detect a severe crash and automatically send an emergency call to first responders. eCall already exists for cars. For new cars it will become mandatory in the EU in 2018. Motorcyclists, who are more endangered, are exempted from this rule. They have to buy it if they want the safety.
Image: digades GmbH
An emergency management system for public transport
Many people don't feel very secure in busses and trams - especially at night, when there aren't many people around. To make sure that help comes quickly in the case of medical emergencies, violence or crimes several transport agencies, universities and research institutes have joined forces and developed a digital emergency management system called InREAKT.
Image: STUVA e.V.
Ghostbuster against ghost drivers
Ghostbuster is the name of this gadget. It will detect ghost drivers at freeway exits - and alert them about their mistake. At the same time it will send out an emergency call and warn other drivers of the coming danger. Once installed, it will work for ages - powered by solar cells. The system was developed by Daniel Gillo, Julian Neu and Benjamin Kirsch from the university of Saarland.
Image: Julian Neu
Detecting wild beasts by mobile phone
wuidi is designed to avoid accidents with wild animals. In Germany alone, such an accident happens every two minutes. A driver entering a potentially dangerous area will receive a notice - on the mobile phone or the GPS device. The data is more up to date than a old fashion traffic sign. wuidi also takes into account past accidents, weather and the rutting season.
Image: wuidi GmbH
When the navigation device doesn't know further
Almost everybody who has eveb relied on a GPS device knows the situation: The device suggests an alternative route that's even more jammed than the freeway. PSIroads-MDS is designed to solve the problem. The traffic management system sends different drivers to a variety of different routes. That's good for the travellers and for the environment, since there are fewer traffic jams.
Image: Roman Hänsler
Where are the dangers on my way to school?
Traffic education is most effective when kids can relate to it. The Fraunhofer IVI, therefore, developed FAPS, a system that identifies the most dangerous spots around schools and neighborhoods - based on real accident data. Then, schools receive this information to prepare educational projects - based on real threats.
Image: Fraunhofer IVI
A new road, tram line or bus-lane?
HIGH-TOOL is designed to help politicians and planners in arriving at educated conclusions. The analytical tool can help estimate the aftereffects of today's decisions into the decades to come. It can process about 200 variables for urban planners. And it's not only made for politicians: Citizen initiatives and others can download and use the open source software - and develop their own ideas.
Image: KIT/HIGH-TOOL
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The lab works hand-in-hand with a government-led initiative to help small and mid-sized companies go digital, offering training, expertise and space to research. Jörg Castor heads up the initiative in Stuttgart. He said the biggest challenge is finding more skilled workers and retraining those already in the workforce.
"Technologies change so quickly. We have middle-aged workers who are fluent in conventional processes but are now facing digital technology," he said. "In my opinion, that means there has to be consistent advanced training on the job."
Castor said Germany's vaunted vocational training system - a bit of theory combined with a lot of practical training - will need an update too, to move away from manual tasks and skills and toward digital technology. Still, he is confident the country has the agility and strength to make the shift.
Not everyone is as confident, however. We spoke to Nikolai Ensslen, CEO of one of the region's most innovative startups, Synapticon. He told us that Germany needs a paradigm shift. Synapticon specializes in embedded robotic technology and has won clients across the world, especially in China, where the manufacturing industry sees the future in robots.
Ensslen said the future will depend on software rather than hardware. When it comes to innovation, he sees Silicon Valley and Tel Aviv as the leaders while Germany is a fast follower.
"The best explanation I've found for that lies in the things Germans like to do and do well: precision, reliability, efficiency. That's why we are so good in engineering and building cars. But those qualities play a much smaller role in virtual software," he said.
Politics and industry in Germany are starting to talk about innovation, said Ensslen, but he said that he believes they need to bring about a digital revolution to prepare for the future and that the country's economic success depends on it.
