Press | Media

Together with the Open Hybrid LabFactory, the Ostfalia University of Applied Sciences and the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft as scientific partners, Technische Universität Braunschweig will develop a joint Campus Wolfsburg. The Campus is to become a regional and international flagship location in the automotive circular economy – with strong research expertise as well as study, further education and transfer programmes. The corresponding funding decision was presented at the international “Circularity Days” conference in Wolfsburg on 15 May 2024.

Within the framework of this year’s conference of the Society of Vacuum Coaters (SVC TechCon 2024), the two long-standing employees of the Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST, Dr. Ralf Bandorf and Dr. Volker Sittinger, were honored with the “Distinguished Presenter Award”, which was conferred for the very first time. The award honors individuals who have enriched the SVC technical program through sustainable contributions towards the advancement of vacuum coating, surface engineering and related technologies.

How can small and medium-sized companies efficiently develop and implement a sustainability strategy? What opportunities, challenges and risks are associated with this? Our experts will answer these and other questions in the next round of the online dialog format "TransferTalk" on 13 May 2024.

The measurement of pressure and temperature plays a crucial role in various technical applications from rolling bearings to gears and seals. In particular, there have been no solutions to date for measurements under mixed friction, i. e. the simultaneous occurrence of liquid and solid friction. At the Hannover Messe from April 22 – 26, 2024, the Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST will be presenting a newly developed thin-film multi-sensor that enables pressure and temperature measurements even under mixed friction and high loads.

The economical and ecological manufacturing of components using injection molding requires a high level of process reliability. This requires precise recording and monitoring of relevant parameters such as temperature and pressure curves. At Hannover Messe from April 22 – 26, 2024, the Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST will be presenting real-time data acquisition directly during the running process using integrated and wear-resistant thin-film sensors. The special feature here is that the tribologically resistant multifunctional sensor systems are deposited directly on the tool surface, enabling measurement in the main load zones.

The topics of sustainability and climate neutrality are becoming increasingly important in today's business world. In the wake of climate change and the growing awareness of our planet's limited resources, it is of great importance for companies to make their activities sustainable and minimize their environmental footprint. The demand for skilled professionals with expertise in sustainability and life cycle assessment (LCA), capable of effectively applying their knowledge within their respective companies, is constantly increasing, especially in areas such as purchasing or sales.

Prof. Dr. Stephan Krinke, Head of Sustainability Management and Life Cycle Engineering at the Fraunhofer IST, was appointed to the Advisory Board of the Association for European Sustainability and Eco-Management Professionals, VNU e. V. in December 2023. The Association is an independent collective that brings together industry, science and certification bodies and supports the practical implementation of sustainability and environmental management in companies. Furthermore, the VNU networks the stakeholders through conferences and regional meetings and helps to enable the implementation of the latest developments from science and standardization into practice.

No clean water, no functioning electricity grid, no primary healthcare – a scenario that is not uncommon in remote areas of the sub-Saharan region. The founding of “S Mile Solutions (Pty) Ltd”, a spin-off of the Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST and the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE, is seeking to change this. The start-up, based in Stellenbosch, Western Cape, South Africa, provides smart, small-scale and off-grid infrastructure solutions that are mounted on commercially available pick-up trucks, thereby enabling companies and institutions to access rural and remote communities with their services and products.

In the joint project “BALU - Production technology for battery cell concepts on the basis of aluminum-ion technology”, a consortium of research institutions and specialized industrial companies is further developing the aluminum-graphite dual-ion battery (AGDIB). As a result of its high power density, AGDIB technology has tremendous potential in the area of highly dynamic load requirements and could be an alternative to cost- and material-intensive lithium batteries. The project is pursuing the ambitious goal of transferring the production of AGDIB cells from laboratory scale to industry-compatible production conditions. In addition to the transfer of the new battery technology, explicit ecological considerations – such as environmentally friendly production, subsequent recycling, and the avoidance of critical raw materials – hereby play an important role. The BALU project is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) within the framework of the “Batterie2020Transfer” program.

South Africa could play an important role in the coming years as a reliable producer of green hydrogen – including as a supplier for Germany. However, the storage and distribution of this resource currently poses challenges. This is where the recently launched Fraunhofer joint research project HySecunda comes in, which is a cooperation between nine Fraunhofer institutes and the Fraunhofer Academy. The project aims to find optimized solutions for produc-ing, storing and certifying green hydrogen. In addition, the consortium is sup-porting efforts to build capacity in the region and in current projects on hy-drogen-based fuels for the aviation industry.