History

The Department of Computer Integrated Design (DiK) was founded on April 1, 1993 as a department of the then Darmstadt University of Technology (now the Darmstadt University of Technology) under the direction of Prof. Dr.-Ing. Reiner Anderl. The task then, as now, was to firmly anchor information technology in mechanical engineering studies and to establish the training of students in the use of modern technologies and tools of computer-aided design.

Since the first lecture of the DiK in the subject “Fundamentals of Electronic Data Processing”, which was offered for the first time in 1994, the department has continuously developed its range of courses and has significantly contributed to the so-called “Darmstadt Way”, which is characterized by the introduction of students to the methods of 3-dimensional modeling with 3D CAD systems already from the 2nd semester in the Bachelor's program.

The DiK has also been involved in research through a variety of projects in its four research lines “Information Modeling”, “Virtual Product Creation”, “Distributed and Cooperative Work” and “Digital Factory” and has made many significant contributions. Thus, in the past almost thirty years, well over 500 scientific publications have been produced and a large number of scientific findings have flowed into industrial applications.

Since September 1, 2022, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Benjamin Schleich has headed the department, which was renamed Product Life Cycle Management as part of the new appointment. Building on the existing competencies of the department in the areas of virtual product creation and CAx process chains, Industry 4.0, additive manufacturing, and IT security and data sovereignty, the PLCM team conducts research in the areas of advanced systems engineering, digital twins, and sustainability assessment in the product life cycle.