Press | Media

Within the framework of this year’s general meeting, the Arbeitgeberverband der Deutschen Kautschukindustrie (ADK – employers’ association of the German rubber industry) honored Dr. Marvin Omelan as one of the best graduates of the year for his doctorate in the field of applied polymer chemistry at Leibniz University Hannover.

The SafeWaterAfrica project not only improves drinking-water supplies in South Africa and Mozambique and protects the environment: The technologies for water treatment are the responsibility of first and foremost African companies, which strengthen the economy and employment in these countries. For this both ecological and economic success, the project under the leadership of the Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST in Braunschweig has been awarded the Solar Impulse Efficient Solution label.

Architecture can prevent infections in hospitals. The walk-in model of a new type of patient room shows how this can be done. Developed by a team from the fields of architecture, medicine and molecular biology in the KARMIN research project. After the prototype was presented to the public last year on the grounds of the Charité in Berlin, the patient room is now to become an application-oriented research and study laboratory under the leadership of the Institute of Construction Design, Industrial and Health Care Building (IKE) of the TU Braunschweig, the Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST and the Braunschweig Municipal Hospital. The demonstrator will be built on an open area of the clinic at the site in Naumburgstraße.

Braunschweig continues to expand its strengths in the manufacture of individualized pharmaceutical products. For this purpose, the Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST and the Center of Pharmaceutical Engineering (PVZ) of the Technische Universität Braunschweig are cooperating for the first time.

Paper-based construction materials are an integral element of our everyday lives in the form of packaging materials. In order to make paper usable for these and new areas of application, the hydrophobic and antimicrobial properties of the material must be improved. In contrast to the processes currently employed for the modification of paper properties, plasma polymerization is to be used in the production process. This should enable low-molecular compounds of biogenic origin to be deposited on paper surfaces.

Olaf Lies, Minister for Energy and the Environment for Lower Saxony, visited the Wasserstoff Campus Salzgitter on the premises of Robert Bosch Elektronik GmbH in Salzgitter on May 21st, together with Stefan Klein (SPD), Member of the State Parliament for Salzgitter.

Lower Saxony’s Minister of Economics, Labor, Transport and Digitalization, Dr. Bernd Althusmann, visited the Wasserstoff Campus on the premises of Robert Bosch Elektronik GmbH in Salzgitter on the 4th of May, accompanied by Christoph Plett (CDU), Peine Member of the State Parliament, and Salzgitter’s Lord Mayor Frank Klingebiel. Prof. Dr.-Ing. Christoph Herrmann, Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST, introduced the visitors to the interdisciplinary project of research and industry addressing the use of green hydrogen.

The aim of the Fraunhofer High-Performance Centers is to speed up innovation transfer. In March 2021, the High-Performance Center Medical and Pharmaceutical Engineering was launched. With a focus on personalized implants and respiratory systems as well as individualized pharmaceutical production, the goal is to create a platform for research and the transfer of innovations into patient care.

Dr. Michael Thomas, Head of Department at the Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST, was appointed Honorary Professor for the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at the Technische Universität Braunschweig on 14 April 2021. With this appointment, the Faculty is acknowledging his commitment as a lecturer for the master’s lectures “Analytik und Prüfung in der Oberflächentechnik (APO)” (Analytics and testing in surface engineering), “Oberflächentechnik mit Atmosphärendruckplasma-Verfahren (OAP)” (Surface engineering with atmospheric pressure plasma processes) and “Ausgewählte Funktionsschichten (AFS)” (Selected functional coatings). His teaching activities strengthen the already intensive collaboration between the Fraunhofer IST and the research centers of the TU Braunschweig at the interface with applied research.

Everything spotless – almost without cleaning! Who would not want that? Particularly in the sanitary area, self-cleaning ceramics and tiles or glass for shower cubicles can not only make everyday tasks much easier but also prolong the service life of the products.