BNC and SINE2020 WP4 partners team up with common booth and conference talks to participate the AUTOMOTIVE'16 EXPO, Hungary's biggest automotive event. Neutron scattering is a very powerful method to investigate materials. Especially when focusing on light atoms or magnetic properties, extended objects and deep penetration, neutron scattering is often the first-choice method and the key technology in materials science, however, these benefits have not been fully exploited for the industrial partners' sake. 

Providing over 10% of Hungary’s GDP, the automotive industry is a key sector in the Hungarian economy. 90% of the production is exported, 25 out of the 50 largest export companies in Hungary are tied to the automotive industry. The sector includes car manufacturers like Mercedes, Suzuki, Audi and Opel, Rába as a Bus & TIR designer and producer, Modulo a national company for electric mobility, as well as thousand+ suppliers of various sizes.

Hungary’s automotive industry has seen investment projects varying billions of Euros each year. These projects have offered further growth opportunities for international and domestic small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) alike. Experts say the future may bring the success of electric cars while traditional drive train systems may continue to play their significant role in the upcoming 20 years or so. In the future the electric mobility, digitalization and novel transport solutions are of utmost importance; while offering novel opportunities for car market players, they also require a labour force with different training and skills. At the same time, there is room for improvement in the productivity of the companies and the extent of added value. Especially, the research and development capability of the SME sector should be improved, and these companies need to learn global thinking. That’s what enables them to grow together with their foreign clients, so that long-term developing concepts could result in long-term contracts. All these facts made BNC & SINE2020 decide to participate AUTOMOTIVE'16 with a Common Booth and enter common conference workshop activities on this event.

                                                                                                               BNC flyer at the AUTOMOTIVE'16

Four talks were given on the 21^st of October:

"Neutrons for Technological Developments in the Transport Industry" – by Dr. László Rosta – Budapest Neutron Centre, HAS, Hungary
"How can the SINE2020 project help R&D in the automotive sector?" – by Dr. Caroline Boudou – ILL, France
"Element analysis and imaging with neutrons to solve engineering challenges" – by Dr. László Szentmiklósi – Budapest Neutron Centre, Hungary
"Complementary use of Neutron, Synchrotron & X-ray diffraction for Material Science" – by Dr. Mirko Boin – Helmholtz Zentrum, Berlin, Germany

A number of EXPO visitors registered to visit the Reactor and Instrument Hall on the official Open Days of BNC in November.

Various technical discussions were held with representatives of companies, including

• Musashi Hungary Kft,
• Kirchhoff Automotive Ltd.,Videoton
• ​VT Metal Kft, FÉMALK AG,
• TRIGO Precision Measurement, Quality and Technological Services,
• Bálind – precision part production and technology design,
• ZF Hungária Kft,
• Kontakt Elektro Kft,
• RÁBA Zrt – Bus and Camion manufacturer,
• Bebusch Kft – production support,
• BÍRÓ – Manufacturing and Tooling Ltd.,
• TOTAL – industrial lubricants,
• Budai Benefit Kft – Laser plant, etc.);

BNC was invited by the representatives of two Automotive Clusters (North Hungarian Automotive Cluster, Western – Pannonian Automotive and Mechatronics Centre Non-profit Ltd.) to present its activities and potential services for their members on the occasion of the clusters' society meetings.

AUTOPRO.hu – the major professional Magazine of the automitve sector published a report on BNC's activities (in Hungarian).