Innovation engine for automotive and industry

TDK is strengthening its innovation power with an R&D center in Europe. The new TDK R&D Center Europe will be based in Munich, Germany, and Deutschlandsberg, Austria, and led by Dr. Georg Kuegerl, the CTO of TDK’s Piezo and Protection Devices Business Group. The R&D center will focus on application and system development for automotive and industrial electronics.

The proximity to the German automobile industry enables the team in Munich to focus on application-related pre-development activities especially for the automotive market. The situation is similar for industrial electronics topics.

The team of engineers located at the company’s factory in Deutschlandsberg, which has access to the extensive technology know-how and R&D infrastructure of the site's long-standing center of competence for ceramic components, will work on basic R&D themes. In the mid-term, it is anticipated that approximately 20 engineers will be working in the new R&D Center.

Networked know-how with a focus on forward integrated solutions

Dr. Georg Kuegerl

With the TDK R&D Center Europe the company is creating an information and collaboration platform that networks the development departments of all Business Groups in order to strengthen their communication and collaboration. “The key task of the two teams will be to identify essential technology trends early and create products and technologies for the needs of the markets and our customers in the middle and long term,” explains Kuegerl.

For this reason, one major objective of the R&D Center is to develop forward integrated solutions. Examples include the integration of passive components in power electronics applications or the development of systems for wireless charging. These developments require competence not only in the various electronic component technologies such as inductors, capacitors or sensors, but also demand know-how at the system level and for the necessary software.

Excellent conditions for innovation, competitive advantages for customers

The TDK R&D Center Europe has excellent starting conditions. The developers possess extensive applications know-how gained through close collaboration with lead automotive and industrial electronics customers in the European market. Moreover, the R&D Center Europe can draw on the cutting-edge materials and technologies of TDK's Japan-based Technology Headquarters and the global R&D network. “We therefore have everything in place to position our European R&D center as a further innovation engine for TDK,” says Kuegerl.

In the end, especially the customers will benefit. “Our aim is to offer technologically superior integrated solutions that give our customers real competitive advantages," says Georg Kuegerl. "To accomplish this, we will tap into the entire spectrum of product, software and prototype development resources from all of our design centers and manufacturing locations."