In July 2008, "Advanced Materials Engineering" was established at University of Kaiserslautern as a major research focus by the Rhineland-Palatinate Ministry of Education, Science, Youth, and Culture. In addition to FBK, other institutes in the Departments of Mechanical Engineering and Computer Science and two affiliated "An-Institutes" at the University of Kaiserslautern are contributing to the major research activity.

The group of high and super high tensile steels, lightweight metal alloys, and hybrid materials like fiber-polymer composites or metal matrix composites are among the important materials in the area of lightweight construction. These material groups are key to the future of lightweight construction solutions, for example, in transportation engineering. A major prerequisite for the successful employment of these materials is a highly interconnected network of experiments, models, and simulations in the development of innovative products and the associated production processes. The aim of AME is the development of a combination of experiments, models, and simulations to enable the reliable and efficient operation of plants and systems as well as to facilitate innovative functional properties. During the funding term for the major research focus AME, an "Augmented Materials Laboratory (AML)" must be established where the experimental and model-based work of the working groups and research facilities can be combined and the experimental results validated. The planned activities provide an important contribution to innovative product development in the high-tech industries like the automobile, aircraft, and biomedical branches.