Micha Clauß

Off on vacation! The Happier Camper HC1 is ready to start your next road trip. This lightweight caravan does not need a lot of horsepower to be pulled, which makes it accessible to any average person. Only thing you need is wanderlust. With a base price of $ 34,450, it is certainly not a bargain, but the caravan convinces with its modular concept. Thanks to the box system, the vehicle can be individually adapted to the wishes of the customer, both while configuring it and during its use.

As lightweight engineers our global goal is optimization and efficiency. In the end, it's not just about the kilograms saved. The optimization can also occur as a positive secondary effect, since innovative materials combine many positive material properties. An example of this are oxide-ceramic composite materials as used in the SHEFEX ("sharp edge flight experiment") project of the DLR in which a sharp-edged re-entry body was designed in three evolutionary phases. The first launch and re-entry of SHEFEX I was in 2005.

Since the mid 1970’s, the use of fiber reinforced composites is a well-known and often used technology in the construction of cladding and structural parts in civil aircrafts. Focusing on multiple positive lightweight effects, a pressure cap made of CFR was introduced to the public by Premium Aerotec at the 2018 ILA in Berlin.