Munich Aerospace’s participation in the International Aerospace Exhibition (ILA) in Berlin once again proved highly valuable and rewarding. As part of the bavAIRia e.V. joint booth, we spent the three exhibition days (10–12 June) engaging in a wide range of discussions with representatives from industry, academia, and government, as well as with students and aviation and space enthusiasts from the general public.
We were particularly honoured to welcome Dorothee Bär to our booth as part of an official delegation and to have the opportunity to personally present our work to her. Our key messages to the Minister were clear: As a non-profit association funded by the Bavarian State Ministry of Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy and founded by the German Aerospace Center, Bundeswehr University Munich, Technical University of Munich, and Bauhaus Luftfahrt, we promote knowledge transfer and collaboration within Bavaria’s aerospace research landscape. We achieve this through initiatives such as research groups, a scholarship programme, and numerous networking events. At the same time, we strengthen connections between academia and industry, organize the annual Munich Space Summit together with DLR and Bundeswehr University Munich, and provide a platform for continuing education and professional networking – particularly for students – through the Forum Munich Aerospace lecture series.
The Minister also showed great interest in our new product, Aerospace Match, a platform that maps the entire aerospace ecosystem and enables stakeholders to identify relevant partners and connect more easily with one another.
We were equally delighted to welcome Florian Herrmann to our booth. During his visit, he emphasized Bavaria’s importance as a leading hub for aerospace and defence technologies: “With almost 100 exhibitors, Bavaria has the strongest presence of any German state at ILA. This reflects the strength of our location. With around 200 security and defence industry companies, 50,000 employees, and a gross value added of more than €9.5 billion, Bavaria is Germany’s leading defence technology hub. Through investments of around €6 billion under the Hightech Agenda Bavaria, we are strategically strengthening research, innovation, and technological sovereignty. As the only German state, Bavaria has introduced both its own Armed Forces Act and a law to promote the defence industry. Especially in times of global uncertainty, one thing is clear: defence capabilities and technological strength are inseparably linked. The message of ILA is clear: anyone talking about the future of aerospace cannot ignore Bavaria.”
