RIGHTWEIGHT is an Interreg North-West Europe (NWE) project that will intensify the cooperation between the automotive and aerospace sectors for reaching environmental and affordability targets. The project will apply lightweight solutions to make transport greener. The environmental performance and affordability targets could be reached by leveraging the unique expertise of automotive and aerospace since each sector excels in one area where the other could learn from.

Cross-cutting areas within lightweight: 

For whom? 

In order for us to achieve our objectives, we want to involve two types of stakeholders:

• Challenge owners (Champions): If you are an OEM, Tier1 or Tier2 supplier working in the automotive or aerospace sector, you will have the opportunity to formulate your current / future technological needs within lightweight in form of a challenge. Check the "Challenges" tab of this website to submit your challenge and get connected to the right technological solutions.

• Solution providers (SMEs): SMEs will compete by proposing innovative and feasible solutions to the challenges of the champions. Selected SMEs will receive individual support to develop their solution and finally present it to the challenge owners to discuss future collaborations.

RIGHTWEIGHT will create value by directly supporting SMEs as well as indirectly developing technological solutions to the challenges the champions are facing.

What support is being provided to SMEs?

There will be two competition rounds and we will classify selected SMEs into two types of winners, entitled to different levels of support. In total, around 20 SMEs with the best scoring solutions will be selected, referred to as Trailblazer SMEs. The next best 30 SMEs will be selected referred to as Follower SMEs.

The two types of SMEs will receive the following levels of support:

• Voucher for Trailblazer SMEs (20): Technical support services and travel costs valued at 45,000 €, including the use of manufacturing field labs to improve the solutions. The support will be aimed at upgrading the TRL of the solution up to TRL7 and will include a route to market strategy study.

• Voucher for Follower SMEs (30): Technical support services and travel costs valued at 6,500 €, including technical advice and personalised support by RTOs. The support will be aimed at improving the solution’s TRL and will include a strategy to reach TRL7.

Our partners and field labs are located in different countries across North-West Europe and Italy. We combine the strengths of the regions in the automotive and/or aerospace sectors to offer the most relevant support to the SMEs admitted to the programme.

When?

• The second call for application is open from February 2022 to April 2022. 

• You can find the challenges for the second round here; if you want to keep updated please follow our Twitter and LinkedIn pages or express your interest at applications@rightweight.eu

Find out more about the RIGHTWEIGHT project here. 

Please directly contact our partners to receive help or to ask any of your questions:

• Netherlands: TPAC or AutomotiveNL 

• Germany: Karlsruher Institut für Technologie - Institut für Produktentwicklung (IPEK) or Cluster NanoMikroWerkstoffePhotonik. NRW c/o NMWP Management GmbH 

• Belgium: Flanders Make 

• France: POLYMERIS

• Italy: IMAST 

For more information please contact us at application@rightweight.eu

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