On 28  October 2011 the new Scholarly Advisory Board of the Research and Test Center CARISSMA met for an inaugural session. The board will provide scientific support for the work of the Center of Automotive Research on Integrated Safety Systems and Measurement Areas (CARISSMA) in the following years. “High-flying experts hold seats on CARISSMA’s Scholarly Advisory Board”, stressed Prof. Dr. Thomas Brandmeier, CARISSMA's Scientific Director.

"Our members will actively support us in the process of defining the research agenda.”

The Scholarly Advisory Board comprises of the following representatives from academia, industry and administration:

• Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dr. h.c. Holm Altenbach, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg
• Dr. Andreas Brand, Continental Automotive GmbH, Executive Vice President- Business Unit Passive Safety & Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) Member of the Management Board, Division Chassis & Safety
• MDir Michael Harting, Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Development, Head of Department “Ground Tranport”
• Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Peter Hauptmann, Otto-von-Guericke-University Magdeburg, Institut für Mikro- und Sensorsysteme (IMOS)
• Heinz Peter Hollerweger, AUDI AG, Head of Department “Development Complete Vehicle“
• Prof. Dr.-Ing. Ulrich Jumar, Otto-von-Guericke-University Magdeburg, Director ifak - Institut für Automation und Kommunikation e.V. Magdeburg
• Dr.-Ing. Peter F. Tropschuh, Head of AutoUni, Volkswagen AG
• Markus Waidelich, MicroFuzzy GmbH, Managing Director

Besides, external representatives, the President, the Chairman of the Senate and the Scientific Director of CARISSMA of Ingolstadt University hold seats on the Scholarly Advisory Board.

The Research and Test Center CARISSMA - with a volume of approximately €28 million - was approved by the German Council of Science and Humanities (Wissenschaftsrat) in July 2011 and will be realised on the University’s campus in the following years. In particular, the main research will be on the integration of active and passive safety systems in vehicles. Interdisciplinary approaches will play an essential role, e.g. regarding interfaces between vehicle mechatronics and vehicle electronics. The research group at Ingolstadt University wants to make a substantial contribution towards the socio-political approach “Vision Zero“- the vision of zero road fatalities.

In order to achieve this goal the future tasks of the Scholarly Advisory Board include:

• support regarding the scientific progress and development of CARISSMA
• continuous evaluation of CARISSMA’s research agenda and advice regarding new or modified socio-political, technical and economic problems and basic conditions,
• establishment of contacts to national and international committees for the continuous extension of already existing research networks