Press | Media

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.

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.