The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) is spearheading the "Circular Factory for the Eternal Product" initiative for a shift from the current linear economic approach of "take, make, use, dispose" to circular economic models and promoting a sustainable and innovative future. In the circular factory, used products are processed as automatically as possible so that they leave the factory as new products. The project is scheduled to run from April 2024 to December 2027, funded with approximately 11 million euros by the German Research Foundation (DFG), with active participation from key research institutions, including the Institute for Artificial Intelligence (AI) at the University of Stuttgart.
Led by Prof. Gisela Lanza, The interdisciplinary team, including Prof. Steffen Staab and Prof. Alina Roitberg, seeks to achieve a circular economy where products or their components can be utilized indefinitely. Prof. Staab's group will develop knowledge graphs to comprehensively store information about products and the circular factory's production process and allow for intelligent access to stored information, considering uncertainties. Prof. Roitberg's group will concentrate on understanding human movements and actions for efficient dismantling and repairing used products.
This strategic collaboration marks a significant step towards realizing a sustainable and innovative future in the circular economy. More detailed information about this project can be found here: https://www.kit.edu/kit/pi_2023_097_vision-des-ewigen-innovativen-produkts-kreislauffabrik-soll-produktion-revolutionieren.php
The Institute of Artificial Intelligence is looking for a Ph.D. student and a Postdoctoral researcher to work on this project. Information about these positions can be found here: https://careers.uni-stuttgart.de/job/Stuttgart-Open-Position-as-a-Postdoc-or-PhD-student-in-Ontology-engineering-and-uncertainty-reasoning/962321855/