What does the future of mechanical engineering look like when technology, markets and geopolitics are shifting all at once? This was the question at the heart of the 7th QESAR Symposium on 17 September 2026 at the Fassfabrik in Schw\u00e4bisch Hall. Under the motto “New opportunities in new worlds”, suppliers, partners and guests of the mechanical engineering network came together to deliberately look ahead. Among them: futurist Carina St\u00f6ttner, whose keynote set the tone for the day.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
The QESAR Symposium has established itself as a meeting point for decision-makers from mechanical engineering and its supplier ecosystem. This year, the focus was on what technological developments, economic change and geopolitical shifts actually mean for the industry \u2013 and what opportunities they hold. Host Petra Bindl guided the audience through the day, keeping the conversations together with clarity and plenty of energy.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
In her keynote, Carina St\u00f6ttner invited the audience to read today’s upheavals not as a threat but as a space of possibilities \u2013 and laid out three scenarios to do so. First, the question of how an increasingly protectionist environment would affect industry: what happens to export-driven business models when tariffs, trade barriers and geopolitical blocs become the new normal? Against this, she set a “Made in Europe” scenario that fully leverages the economies of scale of the European market. Her thesis: for this scenario to become reality, Europe needs a true economic area that goes well beyond today’s ties \u2013 with harmonised rules, shared infrastructure and industrial-policy cooperation instead of national go-it-alone solutions.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
As a third picture, she sketched a technology scenario centred on creative renewal: the deliberate build-up of industries that open up new growth opportunities \u2013 be it quantum computing, artificial intelligence, data centres, semiconductors or climate adaptation technologies. For mechanical engineering, this does not mean abandoning the existing business, but bringing its own expertise to bear where the factories, plants and components of these new industries are being built.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
What makes her perspective particularly valuable for an industry like mechanical engineering: as founder of the Futurewise Company, Carina St\u00f6ttner has spent years working with industrial companies on scenarios that don’t stop at trends, but prepare strategic decisions.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Following a second keynote by Julian Nuss, the panel discussion “Technology, markets, geopolitics: what matters now for mechanical engineering!” turned to practice. On stage, Andrea Conradty, Dr. Christoph M\u00fcller, Ralf Schubert and Alfons Riek debated with commitment and a close eye on the realities companies face.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
QESAR Managing Director Alexander Friton summed up the day by describing the mood as open, positive and full of good conversations \u2013 participants were taking home many perspectives, new contacts and a good dose of motivation. A conclusion that captures the atmosphere of the day well: in mechanical engineering, thinking about the future is no longer seen as optional, but as part of the strategic must-do.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
For Carina St\u00f6ttner, the QESAR Symposium was further proof of how great the need in industry is to translate uncertainty into concrete options for action. Anyone who wants to seize the opportunities in new worlds must first be able to see them \u2013 and that is exactly where futures research comes in.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n