1. Romanian Partner Politehnica University of Timisoara Integrated Engineering Research Centre (CNCSIS 103/CC-C) Team: George Draghici (leader), George Belgiu, Anca Draghici, Ion Grozav, Tudor Iclanzan, Eugen Pamintas, Ioan Pircea, Cristian Turc Joint programme of activities Integrating Activities Jointly Research Activities Spreading of Excellence Activities Management Activities Potential impact in Romania National Research Network: Knowledge Management in Manufacturing Engineering - MaC-INFA (A_Consortium Project proposal, declared non-eligible by CNCSIS in the national competition 2005) Coordinator: Politehnica University of Timisoara Partners: Politehnica University of Bucharest Gh. Asachi Technical University of Iasi Transilvania University of Brasov Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu University of Oradea Network of Excellence Virtual Research Lab for a Knowledge Community in Production VRL KCiP Contract no: 507487; Start/Finish date: 1June 2004/30 May 2008; Project budget: 6,3 M Euros Scientific coordinator: Institut National Polytechnique de Grenoble Website: www.vrl-kcip.org Potential impact in Europe Participants Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations Paris Institut National Polytechnique de Grenoble University of Twente Fraunhofer – IPK Berlin ITIA-CNR Milano University of Bath Tekniker Eibar University of Patras Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan Stockholm Hungarian Academy of Sciences Budapest University of Ljubljana University of Stuttgart Institute Israel of Technology Haïfa Ecole Centrale Nantes Université Technologique de Troyes Politehnica University of Timisoara Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne University of Durham Delft University of Technology Eindhoven University of Technology Poznan University of Technology Pôle Productique Rhône-Alpes University of Stellenbosch Politechnico di Milano Abstract: The delocalisation of the production systems result in Europe losing its know-how in the technologies of production. However, high quality products at low costs, considering the sustainable development and quickly put on the market can only be obtained by integrating the production phase in the design stage. It has also been requested to integrate new technologies of production to design innovative products. This can be obtained by installing a virtual production system. Through the VRL-KCiP Network of Excellence, Europe will be able to federate many research teams in the field of design, production and innovation and thus preserve the common inheritance of manufacturing processes while carrying out a collaborative system of design integrating a module of virtual production. 25 research units, gathering 230 researchers, decided to work together in other to strongly integrate their teams and thus break the fragmentation of the European research and work more efficiently. A new organization of the research system must lead to a clearer vision of the research orientations, an improvement of the quality of research by using the complementarities and removing the doubled blooms, and finally a better impact on our companies for the good health of our society. Priority 3: Nanotechnology and nanosciences, knowledge based multifunctional materials, new production processes and devices – NMP Priority 3.4: Nanotechnologies and nanosciences Priority 3.4.3: New Production Processes and Devices Priority 3.4.3.1: Development of new processes and flexible, intelligent manufacturing systems Priority 3.4.3.1.c: Creation of a knowledge communities in production technologies