Plenary Address: Research and Development in the Field of Polymer Foams Since 1995 Using the Example of "Polymer Engineering" at the Hamburg & Bayreuth, Germany Locations

Abstract: In the past 25 years, the economic importance of polymer foams has increased rapidly worldwide. The development is to be demonstrated using the example of the development of test facilities and research topics at a university chair and a state research facility in Bayreuth that cooperates closely with the chair. An outlook on the importance of polymer foams for solving  the microplastic problem should round off the topic.

Biography: After studying physics and completing his doctorate with Prof. Gottfried W. Ehrenstein at the Institute of Materials Technology in Kassel (1987), Volker Altstädt worked for eight years at BASF AG in Ludwigshafen in polymer research, most recently as a group leader in the Polymer Physics Department.

From 1995 he held a chair at the TU Hamburg-Harburg. In addition, from 1998 he took over the management of the Plastics & Composites division. In 2000, Volker Altstädt moved to the University of Bayreuth, where he took over the management of the Chair of Polymer Materials at the Faculty of Engineering.

Since 30 September 2020, he has been discharged as a university lecturer but continues to be associated with the University of Bayreuth via a service contract. Parallel to this function, Volker Altstädt is the sole managing director of Neue Materialien Bayreuth GmbH, a non-university state research institution of the Free State of Bavaria that deals with application-oriented material and process development for plastics, composites and metals.

Volker Altstädt's research work relates to scientific and application-oriented research and development in the field of polymeric materials with the aim of combining scientific findings with aspects of engineering. This is realized through close interdisciplinary cooperation between chemists and engineers.

View complete Curriculum Vitae for more information (German).