About Bavaria Makes e.V.
Bavaria Makes is a Bavarian high-tech alliance for the industrialization of additive manufacturing. The association brings together leading partners from academia, industry, and innovation support in order to accelerate the transfer of research into industrial applications, drive technological innovation, and strengthen Bavaria as an internationally visible location for advanced manufacturing.
As a non-profit-oriented association of leading stakeholders from academia, industry, and innovation support, Bavaria Makes aims to systematically expand the industrial use of additive technologies in Bavaria and to develop the region into an internationally visible center for advanced manufacturing.
Its main focus lies on the industrialization of additive processes, the transfer of research results into industrial applications, and the establishment of collaborative structures along the entire value chain. Bavaria Makes sees itself as a platform for joint research and development projects, technological integration, standardization, and qualification.
A central concern of the initiative is to bridge the gap between scientific knowledge and industrial implementation. Bavaria Makes therefore addresses precisely the phase in which many technologies, despite their strong innovative potential, fail due to limited scalability, high development risks, or insufficient market integration. Through targeted cooperation, application-oriented research, and the close involvement of industrial partners, the initiative aims to accelerate the transfer into market-ready solutions.
Vision
Bavaria Makes pursues the vision of developing Bavaria into a globally leading high-tech location for additive manufacturing. At its core is the creation of a strong, industry-oriented innovation ecosystem that combines technological excellence, economic competitiveness, sustainability, and qualification. Additive manufacturing is thus to be advanced not only as a key technology, but also established as a strategic lever for industrial transformation in Bavaria.
Mission
The mission of Bavaria Makes is to closely connect research, industrial application, and education in the field of additive manufacturing. The association particularly promotes translational and application-oriented research that enables new additive technologies to be transferred more rapidly into marketable industrial processes and products. At the same time, Bavaria Makes strengthens knowledge and technology transfer between academia, industry, start-ups, and public stakeholders, while contributing to the development of a qualified workforce for the future of manufacturing.
Bavaria Makes and MEP
Bavaria Makes and MEP
For the Munich Institute of Integrated Materials, Energy and Process Engineering (MEP), Bavaria Makes provides a highly relevant and compatible framework. Core topics of the institute — materials, energy, processes, simulation, digitalization, and industrial implementation — are closely connected to the future challenges of additive manufacturing.
The initiative offers ideal conditions for linking interdisciplinary research with concrete industrial applications and for actively shaping Bavaria as a technology location. In particular, the close integration of materials development, process understanding, simulation, data-driven models, and industrial implementation creates numerous points of connection for MEP. From the institute’s perspective, Bavaria Makes therefore represents a collaborative approach to the future of manufacturing: scientifically grounded, industry-driven, technologically integrative, and clearly focused on transfer, sustainability, and value creation in Bavaria.
Thematic Focus
For Bavaria Makes e.V. members at the Garching research campus, additive manufacturing is understood as a key technology for a digital, resilient, and sustainable industry. In terms of content, the focus of the TUM-Oerlikon Advanced Manufacturing Institute at the Technical University of Munich is particularly on metallic additive manufacturing processes, including Powder Bed Fusion (PBF) and Directed Energy Deposition (DED). At the same time, polymers and other material classes are also taken into account in order to ensure technological openness and long-term innovative capacity.
The initiative does not view additive manufacturing in isolation, but in close connection with:
materials and process development
simulation and data-driven models
digital twins
digital process chains and virtualization
process monitoring and quality control
standardization and industrialization
sustainable production and circular economy
In this way, Bavaria Makes positions itself not only as a technology initiative for new manufacturing processes, but also as a driver of broader industrial transformation.s Treiber einer umfassenden industriellen Transformation.
Bavaria Makes was founded in 2025, officially launched in April 2025 and in June 2025 the non-profit status was recognized. The founding members are the Technical University of Munich (TUM), Siemens AG, toolcraft AG, Concept Laser GmbH (Colibrium Additive), EOS GmbH, Bayern Innovativ GmbH, MTU Aero Engines AG, and Oerlikon AM Europe GmbH. Together, they laid the foundation for a joint network dedicated to strategically advancing additive manufacturing in Bavaria and accelerating its industrial application. A central Bavaria Makes center is planned in Garching, embedded in an environment of university research, industrial collaboration, and technological infrastructure.
For TUM, Bavaria Makes provides a strategic framework for linking cutting-edge research in additive manufacturing even more closely with industrial requirements. The university contributes scientific excellence, interdisciplinary research expertise, and strong transfer structures to the network.
The main areas of activity include the following:
Transfer of research into industrial application
Bavaria Makes aims to help transfer results from fundamental research, materials development, process modeling, simulation, and digitalization more rapidly into industrially usable processes and products.Development of integrative research approaches
Additive manufacturing is considered along the entire process chain — from material and process to simulation, digital twins, quality assurance, and industrial scaling. This creates new interfaces between research and industrial practice.[JF1]Integration of early-career researchers and students
A key objective is the qualification of future specialists. Doctoral researchers as well as students in bachelor’s and master’s programs are to be systematically integrated into research and development projects in order to build expertise in additive manufacturing at an early stage.Strengthening interdisciplinary collaboration
Bavaria Makes creates a framework for bringing together disciplines such as materials science, mechanical engineering, production engineering, energy technology, digitalization, and simulation within a common innovation-oriented environment.Creation of an industry-oriented innovation environment in Garching
In the long term, a Bavaria Makes center is to be established in Garching as an independent structure that remains closely connected to academia while bundling industrial projects, collaborations, and technological development.
For Bavaria as a whole, Bavaria Makes plays a strategic role in expanding a strong and internationally competitive ecosystem for additive manufacturing.
Its main tasks include:
Industrialization of additive technologies
Additive manufacturing is to be more strongly integrated into the industrial practice of Bavarian companies in order to improve product quality, resource efficiency, flexibility, and the pace of innovation.Strengthening research and development
Bavaria Makes initiates and supports research and development projects that address current technological challenges and open up new industrial applications.Promotion of education and training
A central field of action is the development of modern training and education formats in order to meet the growing demand for qualified specialists in additive manufacturing.Connecting companies, academia, and start-ups
The association follows an open ecosystem approach in which large companies, SMEs, start-ups, universities, and research institutions work together on integrated and scalable solutions.Support for entrepreneurship and innovation
New entrepreneurial initiatives and technology-oriented start-ups are an important part of the innovation ecosystem and contribute to the dynamism of Bavaria as a location for advanced manufacturing.Cooperation with additional hubs and networks
In the medium term, collaboration with other Bavarian and national institutions is to be expanded in order to strengthen Bavaria’s visibility as a connected location for additive manufacturing.
A central guiding idea of Bavaria Makes is that additive manufacturing not only enables new products, but also contributes to solving structural challenges. These include, among others:
greater flexibility in supply chains through decentralized and demand-oriented production
lower material consumption compared with subtractive manufacturing processes
repair and refurbishment of existing components
weight reduction and functional integration
improved adaptation to sector-specific requirements, for example in aerospace, energy, medical technology, and the automotive industry
progress toward a circular economy and sustainable manufacturing
Bavaria Makes is therefore also understood as a contribution to the resilience and future viability of Bavaria as an industrial location.