Mathematics, as the language of the sciences, has always played an important role in technology, and now is applied also to a variety of problems in commerce and the environment.

More and more companies recognize that computer simulations may replace experiments in their product design to give both reduced costs and flexibility. These simulations leading to the optimization of the manufacturing process itself, require mathematical skills if they are to be used effectively. They involve problem identification, a mathematical formulation, and mathematical as well as numerical analysis to reduce the problem to its simplest form for computation; a procedure called Mathematical Modelling.

These new demands on mathematics have stimulated academic interest in Industrial Mathematics and many mathematical groups world-wide are committed to interaction with industry as part of their research activities.

In Austria, already in 1988 a Chair for Industrial Mathematics has been set up at the Johannes Kepler Universität Linz. Since 1997 the chair for Industrial Mathematics is the head of an own Institute. Its founder and first head until 2007 was Prof. Heinz Engl, opens an external URL in a new window.