Creative Prototyping

The teaching philosophy of Creative Prototyping by Prof. Dr. Michael Walter aims to provide students with both the technical competencies and the craft skills to take a product from the initial idea to a fully functional real prototype. The philosophy thus moves consistently from virtual product development to real prototyping and thus significantly further than the previously established design training.

The laboratory offers outstanding working conditions for this purpose. CAD workstations are available for conceptual design and all design tasks. A large number of the software tools used are already based on cloud-based open source solutions, thus enabling the entire team of students and teachers to work in a network. First resilient individualized prototypes can be produced with the lab's own 3D printers. In addition, an extensive machine park (lathe, etc.) - especially for the post-processing of the 3D-printed components - complements the possibilities for creating real prototypes for the students. Other technologies such as 2.5D CNC-controlled machining of wood and soft metals are currently under development.

We are also happy to devote ourselves to development tasks from industrial practice. If you have interesting tasks for research and teaching, please contact us!