HOCHSCHULE FUR ANGEWANDTE WISSENSCHAFTEN KEMPTEN

Their core work

Kempten University of Applied Sciences is a Bavarian engineering-focused institution whose H2020 work covers two distinct but connected domains: advanced mechatronics and control systems, and applied urban mobility. In the CLOVER project, they contributed expertise in hardware-in-the-loop simulation and robust control methods for electric and offshore mechatronic systems. In AiRMOUR, they shifted to the practical deployment side of urban air mobility — integrating drones into emergency and medical service operations within smart city frameworks, addressing both technical safety and societal acceptance. As an applied science university (Fachhochschule), their outputs tend to be engineering solutions and trained competencies rather than fundamental research publications.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Between 2017 and 2021, Kempten's H2020 work was firmly in core engineering: mechatronics, control algorithms, electric vehicles, and offshore systems — all grounded in physical simulation and hardware testing. By 2021–2023, the focus shifted markedly toward sociotechnical systems: urban air mobility, public acceptance, business models, and emergency service integration — disciplines that blend engineering with urban policy and market design. The trajectory is from component-level technical simulation toward system-level deployment in real urban environments, which is a meaningful maturation in scope.

Kempten appears to be moving toward applied urban mobility systems — particularly drone-based services — where their engineering foundation meets smart city and mobility planning domains, making them a useful bridge partner between technical developers and city-level implementers.

How they like to work

Kempten has participated exclusively as a consortium partner across both projects, never as coordinator, which suggests they contribute defined technical or educational work packages rather than leading project management. Their two projects collectively involved 26 unique partners across 11 countries, indicating they are comfortable operating inside large, internationally distributed consortia. This profile fits an institution that offers a specific engineering or applied-science expertise module rather than serving as a consortium anchor.

With 26 unique partners across 11 countries from just two projects, Kempten's network is broader than its project count suggests, spanning both technical research groups (CLOVER) and urban mobility practitioners (AiRMOUR). Their reach is solidly European, with no evidence of global partnerships.

What sets them apart

As a Fachhochschule (university of applied sciences) rather than a research university, Kempten occupies a distinct position: closer to industry practice than most academic partners, with hardware lab capabilities (HiL rigs) and a mission to produce job-ready engineers. This makes them a practical partner for consortia that need someone to bridge theoretical control systems work and real-world testing environments. Their dual presence in MSCA-RISE (researcher mobility/training) and RIA (applied research) also signals flexibility across funding instruments.

Highlights from their portfolio

• AiRMOUR
  The largest-funded project (EUR 285,000) and the most application-ready, targeting actual deployment of UAM for emergency services in European cities — a high-visibility domain with active regulatory and commercial momentum.
• CLOVER
  An MSCA-RISE project combining electric vehicle and offshore engineering under a unified mechatronics control framework, demonstrating cross-domain simulation expertise rarely combined in a single project.