State-of-the-art building technology, innovative room concepts and contemporary architecture: that’s what the new 40.50 and 40.51 buildings at Campus South have to offer, taking an important step towards creating an outstanding research and teaching infrastructure at KIT. On November 14, 2018, the official handover to KIT took place, attended by the Baden-Württemberg Finance Minister Edith Sitzmann, the Head of the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Science, Research, and the Arts Ulrich Steinbach and the President of KIT Professor Holger Hanselka.
The new buildings will be used by the Engler-Bunte Institute and its Fuel Chemistry and Technology (EBI ceb) division and the MINT-Kolleg Baden-Württemberg. The EBI ceb with its Chair of Fuel Process Engineering and Professorship for Chemical Conversion of Renewable Energies is a central research institution of KIT in energy and environmental technology. Scientists at EBI ceb are focusing in their research and teaching on the production and use of chemical energy sources and fuels for sustainable energy supply. The MINT-Kolleg is a joint institution of KIT and the University of Stuttgart. It supports prospective and current students of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) with additional courses during the introductory phase.
“Investment in researching sustainable energy and water supply is money well spent if the ideas developed here for implementing energy transformation bear fruit,” says the Head of the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Science, Research, and the Arts Ulrich Steinbach. “For energy transformation to succeed, we need everyone to cooperate: politicians who set the framework conditions, researchers who develop innovative concepts, and also society which needs to be open and accepting of these concepts.”
From left: Ulrich Steinbach (Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Science, Research, and the Arts), Edith Sitzmann (Baden-Württemberg Finance Minister), Ursula Orth (Senior Construction Director from the Karlsruhe office of Vermögen und Bau Baden-Württemberg), Holger Hanselka (President of KIT), Joachim Kößler (Member of the State Parliament), Gabriele Luczak-Schwarz (First Mayoress of Karlsruhe). Photo: Markus Breig, KIT
“The Engler-Bunte Institute for Fuel Chemistry and Technology makes an important contribution to research and teaching at KIT. It highlights options for energy supplies of the future and enables transfer to industry in this socially extremely important field,” says the President of KIT Professor Holger Hanselka. “I am pleased to see that with the new building the Engler-Bunte Institute now has excellent conditions in place to continue its responsible work in research, teaching and innovation to the best of its abilities. I am also pleased that we were able to create optimum conditions at KIT for the MINT-Kolleg which will allow us to prepare young people for the challenges of science and engineering training at a central location. I would very much like to thank the participating state ministries for their great support.”
Ursula Orth, Senior Construction Director from the Karlsruhe office of Vermögen und Bau Baden-Württemberg, welcomed everyone to the official opening. For the city of Karlsruhe, First Mayoress Gabriele Luczak-Schwarz gave a welcome speech.
From left: Holger Hanselka, Edith Sitzmann, Ursula Orth. Photo: Markus Breig, KIT
The Engler-Bunte Institute of KIT
The Engler-Bunte Institute of KIT includes the Fuel Chemistry and Technology (EBI ceb), Combustion Technology (EBI vbt), and Water Chemistry and Water Technology (EBI wct) divisions. The buildings of the institute are mainly from the 1960s and have severe weaknesses, in particular with regard to fire protection, energy efficiency and lab technology; modernization is no longer economically feasible. The new building that has now been officially handed over is the first stage made up of two phases in a restructuring project consisting of four construction stages.
Phase one – the new building for EBI ceb – houses fuel technology labs, offices for employees and a large testing hall on a floor space of 1,936 square meters. In the second phase, an auditorium, several large seminar rooms, the MINT-Kolleg offices and trainee rooms of EBI are accommodated on a floor space of 1,715 square meters. Some seminar rooms and the auditorium will be used by both the MINT-Kolleg and the EBI divisions.
The state of Baden-Württemberg is the contractor, represented by the Karlsruhe office of Vermögen und Bau Baden-Württemberg. Total construction costs were around 26 million euros. Now that the needs test for the Combustion Technology division is complete, the Ministry of Finance has recently given the go-ahead for the project development of the second construction stage.
Further information on the Engler-Bunte Institutes:
Fuel Chemistry and Technology (EBI ceb)
Combustion Technology (EBI vbt)
Water Chemistry and Water Technology (EBI wct)
Further information on the MINT-Kolleg:
MINT-Kolleg Baden-Württemberg at KIT
Being “The Research University in the Helmholtz Association”, KIT creates and imparts knowledge for the society and the environment. It is the objective to make significant contributions to the global challenges in the fields of energy, mobility, and information. For this, about 10,000 employees cooperate in a broad range of disciplines in natural sciences, engineering sciences, economics, and the humanities and social sciences. KIT prepares its 22,800 students for responsible tasks in society, industry, and science by offering research-based study programs. Innovation efforts at KIT build a bridge between important scientific findings and their application for the benefit of society, economic prosperity, and the preservation of our natural basis of life. KIT is one of the German universities of excellence.