Press

The new Fraunhofer Project Center for Energy Storage and Systems ZESS was inaugurated today, February 7, 2019. Located at the Automotive Research Centre Niedersachsen (NFF) in Braunschweig, it is a joint initiative of the Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems IKTS, the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Advanced Materials IFAM, and the Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST – in close cooperation with the Technische Universität Braunschweig. The purpose of the new project center is to develop existing energy storage systems, both mobile and stationary, to the level of industrial maturity, and to demonstrate new solutions at a level of technological maturity of four to six.

On January 28th, 2019 in South Africa, Prof. Reimund Neugebauer, President of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, and Prof. Eugene Cloete, Vice Rector of Stellenbosch University, signed the contract for the implementation of an ICON project between the university and Fraunhofer. The participants are the Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST, the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE, the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB, and the Fraunhofer Institute of Optronics, System Technologies and Image Exploitation IOSB.

Over 100 million people in Southern Africa have no access to clean water – many sources in rural areas are contaminated. In the SafeWaterAfrica project, African and European partners are working closely together to develop a decentralized system solution for water purification that can be operated and maintained autonomously by rural inhabitants. The system covers the clean water needs of several hundred people. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST are coordinating the project.

A further step in growing the German-Taiwanese cooperation has been made: On 16 November 2018, the Feng Chia University and the Fraunhofer IST opened jointly the Institute of Plasma (IoP) in Taichung in Taiwan.

Cancerous tumors, infections or bad fractures can make it necessary to surgically remove bones and insert implants in their place. In collaboration with European partners, Fraunhofer researchers have now developed a technique with which bone implants that are precisely fitting, stable and variable in dimensions can be 3D-printed from a special plastic. The secret lies in the printing process, where the individual layers are treated with a cold plasma in order to improve the bonding of bone-forming cells.

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.