Schaeffler Supports Top Level Sports with Engineering Know-how

The Schaeffler Group is supporting top-level sport with its technological expertise. The Group is now sponsoring the Institute for Research and Development of Sports Equipment (FES) in Berlin, Germany.
The cooperation agreement, signed at the end of 2010, defines how Schaeffler and the FES will collaborate on future development projects for sports equipment and measurement systems for monitoring the activities of athletes.
The cooperation is not restricted to the development and supply of rolling and plain bearings. Both parties will work together on surface coatings for components, basic tribological investigations and on developing special materials. Both parties have already co-developed a new blade for ice skates, which was used during the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Schaeffler developed a special lightweight material for the blades using a high-tech steel that is normally used in Schaeffler’s rolling bearings for extreme environments.
“We are pleased that this collaboration has developed into a longer term cooperation. The Schaeffler Group’s technological expertise will provide us with several new sources of inspiration and therefore help our athletes to stay amongst the world’s top performers,” said Harald Schaale, Director of the FES.
Rolling and plain bearing solutions and linear guidance systems play an important role in many types of competitive sports and training equipment. Application examples include racing bikes, inline speed skates and summer bobsleighs.