As the planned official event had to be postponed due to the corona situation, the farewell ceremony took place on a small scale within the campus in a hybrid format. Günter Bräuer did not, however, have to forego a serenade: absolutely corona-compliant, this was compiled using individual photos of the employees.  Professor Herrmann and long-time companion and former curator Eckhard Dietrich paid tribute to Prof. Dr. Bräuer's achievements in the field of plasma technology and his 21 years of service to the Institute. Dr. Andreas Dietz, one of the very first employees of the Fraunhofer IST, shared a few inside stories.

In 1999, Günter Bräuer assumed management of the Fraunhofer IST in Braunschweig and, until 2008, also of the Fraunhofer Institute for Organic Electronics, Electron Beam and Plasma Technology FEP in Dresden. At that time, he was motivated by the fun of working together with students and the desire to share with Fraunhofer the benefit of the industrial experience which he had gained during his time at Leybold. In the same year, Prof. Dr. Bräuer was called to the Technische Universität Braunschweig. From 2003 onwards, Prof. Dr. Bräuer also led, in addition to the IST, the Institute for Surface Technology at the TU Braunschweig and over the years has supervised around 250 student projects. In 2013, he was appointed “Visiting Professor“ at Sheffield Hallam University in Great Britain.

Günter Bräuer has received numerous honors and awards for his scientific work and his commitment in the field of vacuum coating and plasma technology. Furthermore, in 2012 he was also awarded the Fraunhofer Medal for his exceptional services to the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. He already has many plans for his retirement. The fact that he has nevertheless declared his willingness to continue to support the IST henceforth in an advisory capacity is deeply appreciated by not only the Institute Director Professor Christoph Herrmann and the Deputy Institute Director Dr. Lothar Schäfer but also by the entire team. In the future, the Fraunhofer IST will concentrate more strongly on film and surface technology for the manufacture of innovative products and the associated production systems - subject to the proviso of sustainability and with a focus on future topics such as energy storage, closed-loop recycling management, Industry 4.0 and medical technology.