Goldschmidt Thermit Group held a large inauguration celebration for the Technology Innovation Center (TIC) of the company group in Leipzig. The leading global company for the continuous welding and repair and maintenance of rails will integrate its global R&D activities in the TIC. At the location, 18 highly qualified employees, including technicians and engineers, work to promote the development of new products and techniques. Speakers were chairman of the supervisory board of the Goldschmidt Thermit Group, Karl T. Goldschmidt, and the Lord Mayor of the city of Leipzig, Burkhard Jung.

The celebration also honoured the 120-year jubilee of the THERMIT® process patented by Prof. Hans Goldschmidt in 1895. On the basis of the patent, the Goldschmidt family built up a leading international family-owned company in the field of railway infrastructure.

"This strong innovative drive has always been an important growth engine for the Goldschmidt Thermit Group. With the founding of the Technology Innovation Center (TIC) last year in Leipzig we have sent a signal to our employees and customers that we intend to forge ahead with this successful development," explains Dr. Hans-Jürgen Mundinger, CEO of the Goldschmidt Thermit Group. "From a smartphone app for the control of our precision measuring equipment up to machines for rail construction and maintenance we arecontinually reinventing ourselves, to further expand our position as market leader in the infrastructure market. There is a boom in the global infrastructure market. "The company has a great potential in this market. And therefore we need innovative high-technology products from Leipzig."

"The TIC has allowed us to set new standards in the R&D activities of the group," emphasises Dr. Martin Niederkrüger, CTO of the Goldschmidt Thermit Group. "The thermite process is 120 years old. Today we continue to enjoy success because we have continually further developed and fine-tuned the process and developed new products for rail systems. The inventive spirit of the company founder lives on in the TIC."