State Secretary Tobias Gotthardt visits CARISSMA

How can intelligent technology prevent road accidents or significantly mitigate their consequences? CARISSMA at Technische Hochschule Ingolstadt (THI), the nationwide scientific control centre for vehicle safety, is working on this question. Tobias Gotthardt, State Secretary in the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs, visited the C-ISAFE Institute to find out about current developments.

 

Impressed by the driving tests: State Secretary Tobias Gotthardt (2nd from right) with Professor Thomas Brandmeier (left) and THI President Professor Walter Schober (Photo: THI).

The focus was on the VORSAFE D project, which is being implemented jointly with BMW, Continental, and the medium-sized company ANAVS. It aims to develop new safety systems that recognise critical situations at an early stage and react automatically - for example, by predictively triggering restraint systems. The Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs is funding the project with 1.3 million euros out of a total volume of 2.27 million euros.

State Secretary Gotthardt had already handed over the funding certificate in February 2025 at the Continental company in Regensburg. On this occasion, Professor Thomas Brandmeier, Head of the CARISSMA Institute C-ISAFE, invited him to Ingolstadt. Gotthardt has now accepted this invitation.

"The CARISSMA research and test centre in Ingolstadt marks the gold standard of mobility research in Germany. It demonstrates how interdisciplinary research and practical applications can work together to make the mobility of the future safer. Where science and industry work so closely together, real innovations are created that save lives," said Gotthardt.

During his visit, the State Secretary learnt about the institute's research strategy and central test facilities. Among other things, crash tests, sensor solutions, and the digital test field for automated driving were presented during a tour.

‘CARISSMA is a driving force for practical innovations in vehicle safety - with high relevance for Bavaria as a business location,’ emphasised THI President Professor Walter Schober during the tour of CARISSMA.

Representatives of project partners and funding organisations also took part in the event, including Michael Feser and Andreas Forster (Continental) and Caroline Klinger (VDI/VDE).

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