Press | Media

A number of companies and research institutions from South-East Lower Saxony are, within a joint consortium, pooling their expertise along the battery-recycling chain and thereby driving forward the circular economy in Lower Saxony.

Information for visitors, customers and partners of the Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST: The street Bienroder Weg has been renamed Riedenkamp by the City of Braunschweig. As a result, our address at the institute will also be changing.

The Fraunhofer Center for Energy Storage and Management Systems ZESS is centered around the development of system solutions for energy storage and hydrogen technologies. To achieve this, the three research partners — the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Advanced Materials IFAM, the Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST and the Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems IKTS — are being provided with a new institute building at the Braunschweig Research Airport. The groundbreaking ceremony on June 7, 2023 marked the start of construction on a research building comprising over 3,400 square meters of floor space. Among those who participated in the ceremony were the Minister for Science and Culture for Lower Saxony, Falko Mohrs; the mayor of Braunschweig, Dr. Thorsten Kornblum; and the vice-president for Technology Transfer and Innovation at the Technical University of Braunschweig, Prof. Arno Kwade.

The requirements placed upon production are increasing continuously. Products are becoming more complex and, at the same time, a larger quantity of variants is being demanded. In order to meet these challenges, manufacturing processes must be optimized. Quality assurance, process monitoring and control as well as automation thereby play a special role. At the Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST, systems for improved process control and the automated process management of coating processes are developed on the basis of a holistic understanding of the process. One example is the MOCCA^+® software, which will be demonstrated live at LASER 2023.

Dr. Andreas Pflug from the Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST was presented with the “Mentor Award” at this year’s conference of the Society of Vacuum Coaters (SVC TechCon 2023) in recognition of his outstanding achievements in the field of plasma-process simulation. With the award, which has been presented annually since 2001, the SVC acknowledges exceptional contributions towards the development of vacuum coating technology or services to society.

Autonomous, self-controlling production systems have tremendous potential in the transformation towards sustainability. At the Hannover Messe 2023, the Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST will be presenting innovative solutions for real-time data acquisition directly in the running process. Through the development of integrated and wear-resistant thin-film sensors, parameters such as force, temperature or wear can be recorded in the vicinity of highly stressed forming zones. As a result, the manufacturing process for high-quality cold-forged parts can be monitored and optimized from an ecological and economic point of view. This increases both process understanding and process reliability.

Whether drilling, turning or milling: In machining – as well as in primary forming and re-forming, die casting and many other applications – tools are of pivotal importance for industrial production. Their performance significantly influences both the quality and the cost of the manufactured product and, consequently, the economic and ecological sustainability of the production process. One objective of the work at the Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST in Braunschweig is the development of resilient and smart tools under the requirements of sustainability. The researchers thereby take the entire process chain into account - from tool design and material characterization, through pre-treatment, cleaning, and customized surface treatments and coatings, and on to testing and application.

In order to achieve optimum product quality, precise control of the production process is necessary. For this purpose, the relevant parameters must be continuously recorded. In this context, the Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST from Braunschweig will be presenting its most recent developments for the optimization of cotter rolling processes at this year’s Hannover Messe: Thin-film sensor inserts which enable precise in-situ detection of the temperature distribution on the tool surface.

With the aim of being able to ensure comprehensive preclinical care in even the most remote areas of Africa, researchers from the Fraunhofer institutes for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST and for Solar Energy Systems ISE, in collaboration with Stellenbosch University and South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) in South Africa, have developed a mobile care platform which, on 3rd March 2023, was handed over to the NGO Rhiza Babuyile during a ceremonial event. The non-profit organization has a number of locations in South Africa and will conduct the one-year test phase of the supply unit in the Mpumalanga region.

The Fraunhofer-Institute for Structural Durability and System Reliability LBF and the Fraunhofer-Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST jointly coordinates a Support and Coordinated Action aiming at defining and harmonising a commonly accepted and applied single Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach for zero-emission vehicles ZEV. Both institutes brought together 44 key stakeholders along the full value chain of zero-emission vehicles covering, among others, vehicle and battery manufactures, the supply industry, energy providers and recyclers. This unique initiative is supported by the European Commission under the Horizon Europe Framework Programme and had its kick-off meeting on February 1 in Brussels with about 60 attendees.