Newsletter of the Fraunhofer IST

Dear reader,

With this newsletter we would like to share with you the most important events and results of the last few months. As a new member of the Fraunhofer Group for Production, we are looking forward to complementing the Group's range of services with our competences and technologies and to making companies fit for the ”production of the future”.

A special highlight in the last quarter was certainly the award of the Solar Impulse Label to the ”SafeWaterAfrica” project. In the project under the leadership of the Fraunhofer IST two demonstrator plants were set up in South Africa and Mozambique, each of which produces 10,000 liters of drinking water a day from river water in a quality that meets the standard of the World Health Organization (WHO). In addition, we were able to further expand our network in the areas of medical and pharmaceutical process technology: We are working with the Institute of Construction Design, Industrial and Health Care Building (IKE) of the Technische Universität Braunschweig and the Braunschweig Municipal Hospital to optimize patient care. As part of our membership in the new Fraunhofer High-Performance Center Medical and Pharmaceutical Engineering, we are developing production processes for individualized medicines with the Center of Pharmaceutical Engineering (PVZ) of the Technische Universität Braunschweig.

We would like to draw your attention to two events in particular: The International Battery Production Conference IBPC will take place for the fourth time in Braunschweig from 1 – 3 November and is dedicated to the topics of battery production, recycling and circular economy as important components of the transformation of mobility. The Werkstoffsymposium (engl. materials symposium) on 29 and 30 November 2021 will highlight new or alternative drive and mobility concepts with their specific requirements for vehicle architecture and their effects on customers and society.

We hope you enjoy reading this issue and wish you a nice summer.

The editorial team

The project ”SafeWaterAfrica” was awarded the Solar Efficient Solution Label. The Fraunhofer IST is intensifying its activities and as a new member of the Fraunhofer Group for Production, we now complement the Group's range of services with our competences and technologies.

Solar water splitting for the production of green hydrogen directly from sunlight as well as work on the development of ultra-hard coatings and coating systems made of diamond for optical applications with high mechanical resistance and improved utility value are a selection of topics currently occupying us. Numerous other contributions on research activities and results of the Fraunhofer IST can be found in our Annual Report 2020.

During the next quarter, many Fraunhofer IST scientists will be present at conferences in order to present their research results to expert audiences. We give you an overview of the planned talks and posters below.

The Fraunhofer IST is a scientific partner of V2021 and IBPC2021 and is involved in the program committee of the Materials Symposium 2021 with our deputy institute director Dr. Lothar Schäfer.