Prof. Dr. Martina Zimmermann, Fraunhofer-Institut für Werkstoff- und Strahltechnik IWS and Technische Universität Dresden & Prof. Dr. Gerhard Schneider, Hochschule Aalen

Dear DGM members,
Dear readers,

The last two years have shown how important an active involvement of science in society is. This communication, the processes of participation and exchange must continue to point the way for science, business, and society in the future. For this reason, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research has dedicated the year 2022 to the focus on participation, a topic that we will also be shaping together with you in the new year.

Since its founding in 1919, the DGM has made it its mission to bring scientists together. With the resulting technical-scientific joint work, the DGM has not only made a significant contribution to research activities in Germany, but at the same time, it has also enabled bridges to be built between science, industry, and society, then as now. When the pandemic subsides, central future issues such as climate change, regenerative energies, innovative mobility concepts and climate-neutral economies will increasingly come into focus. How can new materials be developed that can be produced more sustainably in the long term, thus making a significant contribution to environmental protection? How can material cycles be optimized and natural resources protected? What potential does the digitalization and networking of knowledge within our community offer for finding answers to the complex challenges of the future? ...

We are convinced that materials science, through its interdisciplinarity and versatility, is a key discipline pointing the way forward in the socio-political transformation process. For us in the DGM, too, the concept of participation is indispensable. The active collective participation of all contributors in communication and networking within the DGM can synergy effects be exploited and strategies developed to act upon them.

Let us continue to work together this year. Our constantly evolving event formats provide us with the necessary platform to do so. In 2022, we invite you to our professional events and workshops as well as further education in the digital and analog space. We are looking confidently toward the middle of the year, hoping that in this third year of the pandemic, the general assembly can finally take place in presence again.

In a quote from the Swiss dramatist and writer Friedrich Dürrenmatt, "What is reasonable about human beings are the insights they have. The unreasonable thing about them is that they do not act on them."

We, as DGM, have the experience, knowledge, and competence to act accordingly. Let's work together to shape the future.

In this spirit, we look forward to seeing you again soon and exchanging ideas and experiences in the new year.

Yours

Martina Zimmermann, Gerhard Schneider