Press

Fraunhofer and Technische Universität Braunschweig intensify their cooperation: Professor Dr. Christoph Herrmann, dean of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, accepts the offer of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. Since 1st November 2018 he has been director at the Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST alongside with Professor Dr. Günter Bräuer . At the same time Prof. Herrmann will remain head of the TU Institute of Machine Tools and Production Technology IWF. Thus, the IST is now linked twice with the university, as the Fraunhofer Institute is already connected to the Institute of Surface Technology IOT at the TU Braunschweig via Professor Bräuer.

Finally the time has come: On October 20, 2018 at 3:45 CEST, the European-Japanese BepiColombo mission for the study of Mercury will start - including thin films produced at the Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST.

STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The Science Campus being held from September 24th to 26th at four Fraunhofer Institutes in Braunschweig and Hanover hopes to attract female students and graduates in the STEM subjects to work in applied research. Key content includes the diverse fields of application in surface engineering and thin films (IST), innovative materials made from renewable raw materials (WKI), pharmaceutical production and testing (ITEM), and wind energy systems (IWES).

In combination with the right materials, sunbeams can work wonders: they clean building facades and decompose pollutants from the air or in the water. The magic word is photocatalysis. In practice, though, the effectiveness of this ”miracle cure” fluctuates greatly, depending on the material used and the environmental factors. With a new measuring device, researchers now want to determine the photocatalytic effectiveness of surfaces more accurately and quickly, thereby increasing efficiency.

On June 1st, 2018 a Memorandum of Understanding was signed that sealed the partnership between Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST and Feng Chia University, that had already existed since 2014.

This year, the Fraunhofer IST once again opened its doors to inspire pupils of grades 5 to 7 for the ”Future Day for Girls and Boys” for science. A total of 22 young researchers – 11 girls and 11 boys – immersed themselves one day in the fascinating research routine of a Fraunhofer Institute.

Digitalization is a topic that affects and moves all industries. Thus, at this year’s Hanover Trade Fair from April 23 to 27, 2018 the Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Technology IST appears for the first time in the area of “Digital Factory” at the joint Fraunhofer booth “Digital Solutions & New Materials“ (hall 6, booth A30).

Human stem cells are considered a major new hope in the field of medicine. In the future, it is expected that they will make it possible to treat a wide range of ailments such as neurodegenerative diseases. With LabBag®, Fraunhofer researchers have developed an all-in-one system in the form of a transparent bag that provides a cheap, fast and sterile way for scientists to grow, differentiate and freeze stem cells. The cell models produced can be used for toxicity tests and drug development. Having successfully tested the system, researchers will present a prototype at the MEDICA trade fair in Düsseldorf, Germany, from November 13 to 16.

Prof. Dr. Günter Bräuer received the K-T Rie Award for his achievements in the field of applied plasma research at this year's Asian-European International Conference on Plasma Surface Engineering (AEPSE), which took place in Jeju, Korea, from 11 to 15 September 2017.

The prototype kilogram – to which all scales are calibrated to – is losing weight. International efforts are striving to redefine the base unit for measuring mass and, in future, redefine the kilogram on natural constants. For this purpose, the Avogadro experiment determines the number of atoms in almost perfect silicon spheres. Fraunhofer researchers have recently succeeded in homogeneously coating the spherical surfaces – the measurement uncertainty can be limited to a range below 10 micrograms.