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With the kick-off meeting of the “CleanGreen” joint research project in September 2026, partners from industry and research began working together on new approaches for more energy- and resource-efficient industrial compo-nent cleaning. The project’s goal is to develop methods that will allow the energy, water, and chemical consumption of aqueous cleaning systems to be better adapted to actual cleaning requirements in the future.

Christoph Herrmann, Professor of Sustainable Manufacturing and Life Cycle Engineering at TU Braunschweig and Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST, was appointed Distinguished Chair Professor at Feng Chia University (FCU) in Taiwan, effective 1 August 2026. The visiting appointment was formally presented during the Advanced Optics and Semiconductor Industry Forum held at FCU on 18 August 2026.

Lithium has become an indispensable part of our daily lives – it’s found in smartphones, e-bikes, power tools, and electric cars. At the same time, its extraction faces criticism because it harms the environment and local livelihoods. New technologies could bring about a decisive breakthrough. This is precisely where the German-Chilean research project “PaNaBat” comes in. PaNaBat aims to establish a long-term German–Chilean networking platform that promotes research collaboration, education, technology transfer, and industrial cooperation in sustainable battery raw materials, lithium extraction, and battery recycling. In addition, the project contributes to the diversification and regionalization of supply chains, thereby supporting a broader international presence in the export of lithium and other critical raw materials for battery cell production.

Whether in machines, vehicles, or production facilities, the performance of many technical systems is often determined by a layer just a few micrometers thick. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST are developing intelligent surfaces that reduce wear, prevent failures, and conserve resources.

Representatives from business, science, education, and public administration gathered yesterday in Salzgitter for the summer workshop of the Wasserstoff Campus Salzgitter e.V. The event focused on strengthening the network, shaping the future direction of the Wasserstoff Campus, and exchanging expertise on current developments in the hydrogen economy.

How can hydrogen contribute to the energy transition? What role does the circular economy play in a sustainable future? Students received answers to these and many other questions during the STEM Morning at the Wasserstoff Campus Salzgitter, which took place on June 29, 2026, as part of Germany’s nationwide Hydrogen Week.

On 26 June 2026, Technische Universität Braunschweig opened its redesigned Learning Factory. Spanning over 400 square metres, this modern learning and experimentation centre will teach new technologies for sustainable, digital and circular production in a practical manner using batteries and electric vehicles as examples. With a total investment of over five million euros, the learning factory combines modern production technology with digital learning environments and practice-oriented teaching formats. The aim is to prepare students, specialists and managers to design future industrial production systems that are resource-efficient, digital and circular.

The Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST has once again been awarded the “Zukunftgeber” employer seal by the Employers' Association for the Braunschweig Region (Arbeitgeberverband, AGV). Following its initial certification in 2022 and its first recertification in 2024, this latest award once again confirms the institute’s high appeal as an employer in the region.

Yasmine Hildebrand from the Fraunhofer IST was awarded the TUmorrow Award 2026 of the Technical University of Braunschweig in the category “Outstanding Bachelor’s Thesis.” The award recognizes academic work that makes a significant contribution to sustainable and future-oriented development.

Precision optical coatings are key technologies for modern optical systems. These complex coatings impose stringent requirements for uniformity, process stability and productivity on an industrial scale. Stefan Bruns, Philipp Farr and Michael Vergöhl from the Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST in Braunschweig have developed a unique coating technology for precision optics systems that meets these requirements and is already in use in industry. Their efforts have earned them the Joseph von Fraunhofer Prize for 2026.

When glowing-hot steel is forged or precision components with near-net-shape profiles are manufactured from high-temperature materials, tools are subjected to extreme stresses. High temperatures, wear, and aggressive media significantly determine their service life. Modern surface technologies therefore play a central role in efficient, cost-effective, and resource-conserving production processes. This is precisely where the Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST comes in. With an expanded infrastructure, the institute can now map the entire process chain for the development of boride-based high-performance surfaces at its own site.

A single drop of oil can contaminate up to 1,000 liters of groundwater. The Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST will demonstrate how industrial manufacturing processes can be made more resource-efficient at Lower Saxony Day 2026 on the Braunschweig Mile. The institute’s presentation will focus on the COAD® process, a plasma process developed at Fraunhofer IST for the controlled adjustment of adhesion properties on surfaces.

At the accompanying exhibition of the OptecNet Annual Conference 2026, the Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST will present new solutions for compact hyperspectral imaging systems that enable complex spectral analyses in extremely small spaces. This is based on integrable interference filters that can be embedded directly into CMOS image sensors, thereby opening up entirely new applications in environmental analysis, agriculture, and industrial quality assurance.

Employees of the Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST, as well as their industry partners Rohloff AG and Tantec A/S, were among the finalists at the award ceremony for the 2026 Technology Transfer Award of the Braunschweig Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK) on May 20, 2026. They were nominated for the transfer of the COAD® technology, which has been successfully implemented in bicycle component manufacturing. With their selection, the jury recognized the importance of the COAD® process for sustainable and efficient production methods.

On the initiative of the Fraunhofer Institute for Thin Film and Surface Technology IST, the existing partnership with Feng Chia University (FCU) is now being extended to Technische Universität Braunschweig. During a visit by a high-level delegation from FCU to Braunschweig, Professor Angela Ittel, President of TU Braunschweig, and Professor Wei Wang, President of FCU, signed the corresponding cooperation agreement on 18 May 2026.

How can high-current contacts be reliably monitored? The Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST will demonstrate a solution to this question from June 9 to 11, 2026, at Sensor+Test in Nuremberg. In the Condition Monitoring Area (Hall 1, Booth 1-551/2), the institute will present the latest developments in thin-film sensor technology, which enable direct, reliable temperature monitoring in heavily loaded electrical systems.

The Fraunhofer Center for Energy Storage and Systems ZESS present itself for the first time at Battery Show Europe 2026 from June 9 to 11, 2026. Together with other institutes, the center will be represented at the Fraunhofer Battery Alliance booth in Hall 1 (Booth 1-A47). The international trade fair is one of the key platforms for battery technologies, battery systems, and the industrial value chain surrounding energy storage in Europe.

The former Joint Campus Wolfsburg will henceforth be known as WeCampusWOB. With this rebranding, the partners – TU Braunschweig, Ostfalia University of Applied Sciences, the Fraunhofer Society, Volkswagen, Open Hybrid LabFactory and the City of Wolfsburg – are emphasising the collaborative approach to the campus’s further development into a flagship project for Wolfsburg as a centre of science.

Unplanned machine downtime, quality deviations, or wear-related failures rarely occur without warning signs, yet they often go undetected. The Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST makes exactly these hidden conditions visible: with integrated thin-film sensor technology that measures directly on the component surface. At Sensor+Test 2026 from June 9 to 11 in Nuremberg, the institute will demonstrate how condition monitoring can be fundamentally improved as a result.

The self-sufficient PreCare platform, mounted on a standard pickup truck, enables the deployment of medical care units in remote and hard-to-reach regions of southern Africa. For a further practical test, the mobile care unit was handed over to the N/a’an ku sê Foundation in December 2025 and tested during a field deployment in Namibia. This test deployment has now been successfully completed. The Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST and its spin-off S Mile Solutions report a thoroughly positive outcome.