Symposium on Innovation & Automation in Remanufacturing
The on-site format: two days on campus, with top speakers from industry and research, lab tours and an evening together.
Where the online series offers a regular update, re.fact brings the community together in person – at Umwelt-Campus Birkenfeld, in the middle of the labs where we work on disassembly, inspection and automation. Since 2019 the symposium has become the leading event on research and product development in the circular economy in the region. Talks are held in English.
Save the date
re.fact 27
15–16 September 2027
Two days of talks, lab tours and networking on 15 and 16 September 2027. Programme, registration and accommodation will be published here.
Would you like to speak, exhibit or sponsor? robotik@umwelt-campus.de
Looking back
Reviews
re.fact 25 · September 2025
Two days, fourteen talks, a panel, twelve exhibitors and around a hundred participants – together with the Interreg project PAE-e-green.
Review re.fact 25 →PAE-e-green Days · March 2026
Two days on sustainable electromobility at Umwelt-Campus Birkenfeld, with eleven speakers and seven exhibitors.
Review PAE-e-green Days →Symposium 2024 · February 2024
"Megatrends and future markets for a sustainable revolution": thirteen talks, a panel and two lab tours.
Review 2024 →Symposium 2019 · March 2019
The first on-site symposium on innovation and automation in remanufacturing – where it all began.
Review 2019 →History
On-site symposia so far
| Date | Event | Highlights |
|---|---|---|
| 20–21 March 2019 | 1st symposium | Talks by Gerke, Weiland, Steinhilper, Duc Pham, Ramsden, Maltoni, Jungbluth, Hague-Morgan and Briggs; panel with Hague-Morgan, Toft-Jensen and Steinhilper |
| 20–21 February 2024 | 2nd symposium | Thirteen talks, among them Rolf Steinhilper, Mike Hague-Morgan, Yaskawa, TRUMPF and IRS Robotics; panel with Fernand Weiland, Prof. Winifred Ijomah, Hanno Großeschmidt and Søren Toft-Jensen |
| 17–18 September 2025 | re.fact 25 | Fourteen talks with speakers from ZF, BPW, MTU Maintenance, Bosch Rexroth, Neura Robotics, Murata, FIR Aachen, Linköping University and others; panel discussion |
| 3–4 March 2026 | PAE-e-green Days | Interreg project PAE-e-green on campus: electromobility, carbon accounting, ecodesign and Re-X strategies |
Getting here
Arrival at Umwelt-Campus Birkenfeld
By train
The campus is about 200 m on foot from the station Neubrücke (Nahe), on the direct line between Frankfurt and Saarbrücken.
By car
Directly on the A 62 and the B 41: take exit 4 "Birkenfeld / Hoppstädten-Weiersbach" and follow the white signs to the "Fachhochschule".
Information on accommodation and a possible shuttle will be published with the programme of re.fact 27.