The institute has a close research partnership with Wacker Neuson, one of Europe's largest manufacturers of construction machinery headquartered close to Linz.

In an effort to foster a good relationship, emphasize the importance of fluid power, strengthen research and education in this field, Wacker Neuson donated a new, 2.6 ton excavator to the institute. The formal handover was on July 8, 2020. Representatives from Wacker Neuson included Martin Lehner (CEO), Robert Finzel (R&D managing director), Christian Kröpl (drive technologies), Christian Löhr (technical contact person managing the donation), as well as Karolin Solly (head of product marketing).

Rector Meinhard Lukas and department head Rudolf Scheidl accepted the excavator, expressing their thanks and underlining the importance of the donation to support education and applied research, as well as serving as sign of optimism during the difficult times and the Coronavirus pandemic.

The excavator will be used to teach hydraulics and for research purposes. Future construction machinery will include mechatronic machines embedded into a cyber-physical environment. This type of research needs to involve all disciplines of mechatronics into R&D. The excavator will serve as motivator, test platform, and a playground this type of multi-disciplinary research.