Press / Newsroom

In a landmark collaboration underscoring 60 years of diplomatic relations between Israel and Germany, the Israel Innovation Authority and Germany's Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e.V. have signed a joint declaration to advance technological innovation. This partnership aims to foster cooperation in key technological sectors, promoting joint research and development initiatives that will benefit both nations.

To unlock the potential of digital solutions for uses in healthcare, the solutions need to be suitable for real-world practice and fit seamlessly into existing processes and workflows. That is the only way they can ease the burden on healthcare workers. At the same time, the field needs trustworthy AI systems that ensure secure exchanges of sensitive health data — across different sectors, without data protection and privacy risks and with full control for patients. Eight Fraunhofer institutes will be jointly presenting solutions to these challenges at the DMEA 2025 trade show, held in Berlin from April 8 to 10, 2025. The researchers will be present at Booth D-109 in Hall 2.2, where they will use exhibits and demonstrators to provide exciting glimpses of the health IT of the future and will also be available to talk with attendees.

The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft will be represented at the world’s largest industrial trade show with a joint booth (March 31–April 4, Hall 2, Booth B24). Fraunhofer institutes, groups and alliances will be showcasing 38 exhibits featuring technological highlights from the fields of production, energy, artificial intelligence, and digital transformation. The exhibits all reflect Fraunhofer's mission — to promote applied and demand-driven innovations that support the competitiveness of the industrial and business sectors.

Rapid developments in recent years have shown that companies must keep up with technology to remain competitive. In doing so, they need to implement the European AI Act as efficiently as possible while harnessing the new possibilities of AI to find innovative business models. At the Bitkom TRANSFORM conference on March 19 and 20, 2025, at STATION Berlin, seven Fraunhofer institutes under the umbrella of the Fraunhofer ICT Group will show how they can support companies with solutions in the fields of the internet of things, industrial metaverse and artificial intelligence.

The European electricity supply system is currently in flux as a result of the energy transition. An increasing number of plants and systems are feeding into the decentralized power grid through power electronics. In the future, hybrid power grids will incorporate sections with alternating and direct current lines. The partners in the InterSCADA EU project are developing a modular SCADA platform intended to help grid operators throughout Europe to maintain system stability in increasingly hybrid AC/DC power grids. In this interview, Robin Patrick Williams, a research scientist at the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technology FIT, explains why a SCADA platform is necessary in order to automate future transmission and distribution grids. Williams and Prof. Antonello Monti, a group manager at Fraunhofer FIT, are jointly responsible for coordinating the project.

In the EcoHub research project, researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA have teamed up with partners to develop a service-oriented platform designed to collect and process sustainability data on a centralized basis. The platform makes it easier for manufacturing companies to draft environmental reports and apply for certification.

Applications such as self-driving vehicles, 6G mobile communications and quantum communications are pushing fiber optic networks to their limits. Fraunhofer researchers have joined forces with partners to devise clever ways to optimize data transmission. Optical switches with liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS) mirrors shrink data packets down to size so the network can carry more data, while signals are distributed across different fiber strands to create more flexibility.

If detected early, the prognosis for skin cancer is excellent. An innovative full-body scanner linked to an AI diagnostic platform is set to help with early detection of melanoma. In just six minutes, it automatically scans a patient’s entire body, providing a risk assessment for each anomalous change found in the skin. Twenty partners are working together to develop the diagnostic system as part of the EU-funded iToBoS project. To ensure that the AI they are using works reliably and safely, researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications, Heinrich-Hertz-Institut, HHI are incorporating explainable AI (XAI) technologies into the AI tools used.

Fraunhofer researchers have developed sensor systems and measuring equipment that detect leaks in hydrogen lines and tanks. Applications for the new technology include continuous monitoring of hydrogen shipments and facilities in the chemical industry. The researchers use multiple sensor technologies to provide safety equipment covering as many scenarios of the future hydrogen economy as possible.

A delegation consisting of representatives from the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft and from Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY) signed a strategic collaboration agreement in Munich today. Their groundbreaking collaboration aims to pool expertise, infrastructure and knowledge across individual research institutions to open up new paths for the commercialization of technology in industry and society.

On February 19, the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy (StMWi) and the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft awarded the Hugo Geiger Prize for the best dissertations in applied research. Three next-generation researchers, one each from Freising, Munich and Aachen, were chosen as the winners for their innovative ideas and applied doctoral work completed in close collaboration with a Fraunhofer institute. The Fraunhofer Founder Award was also presented for a spin-off with an active, successful market presence.

A concrete solution for pressing challenges: In the CYCLOMETRIC project, researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO have devised a solution that allows companies to incorporate sustainability assessments and circular economy concepts into the early phases of development processes — right where there is the most leverage for ecofriendly design.

Researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT have teamed up with project partners to develop an AI module to help with laser material deposition. This technique is used to repair worn bucket teeth and other tools used in mining. The project partners include research organizations and companies from Canada. The Fraunhofer researchers will be presenting their solution at the Hannover Messe Preview on February 19, 2025.

On February 17, 2025, Constantin Häfner will take up his new position as Fraunhofer’s executive vice president of Research and Transfer. The Fraunhofer senate elected him to the board at its meeting on June 12, 2024. The renowned laser physicist has been the executive director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT in Aachen since 2019. With Häfner taking office, the executive board of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft will be complete.

A new UN report finds that more and more electronic waste, or e-waste, is being produced worldwide—recycling efforts are not keeping pace, though. Valuable raw materials are not being recovered and recycled. Research scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Factory Operation and Automation IFF are tackling this issue. In the iDEAR project, they are developing solutions for automated, nondestructive robotic disassembly of electronics for remanufacturing and material recycling that will help establish an advanced circular economy.

“Fume events” occur when fluids such as engine oil or hydraulic fluid contaminate the air inside an airplane cabin via the “bleed air” used for air supply and conditioning. Measurements taken in flight do not allow for determination of whether the air quality on board is negatively affected as a result. With the Bleed Air Contamination Simulator (BACS), researchers at the Fraun-hofer Institute for Building Physics IBP can artificially simulate fume events on the ground, deliberately contaminating the air inside the testing unit with oils and deicing fluids and then studying the polluted air. The results can be used to make inferences about potential health risks.

From immersive exhibitions to shows and gaming, experiences that involve all five senses and offer audiences an escape into a whole different reality are all the rage right now. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications, Heinrich-Hertz-Institut, HHI are currently developing DOMEconnect, a platform that makes it possible to produce high-resolution immersive content and live-stream it to planetariums. This creates entirely new event formats spanning interconnected venues. Avatars also give attendees opportunities for interaction.

Microlenses applied to eyeglasses can help reduce growth-related worsening of nearsightedness (myopia), preventing potential long-term consequences. Microlenses also offer highly promising possibilities for intraocular lenses or compact microscopes. The Fraunhofer Institute for Microstructure of Materials and Systems IMWS has developed a new method known as laser swelling that can be used to produce these kinds of lenses individually and at low cost.

Creating a digital twin of a machine is already a highly complex undertaking. So how difficult must it be to do that with a human organism? Researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Experimental Software Engineering IESE are working on the possibilities, challenges and potential of digital patient twins. They aim to test medications on a digital “replica” in the future before a person ever takes their first pill. In this interview, Dr. Theresa Ahrens and Dr. Jonas Marcello, who jointly lead the Digital Health Engineering department at Fraunhofer IESE, explain the benefits and added value of digital patient twins.

The Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO in Stuttgart was the target of a ransomware attack on December 27, 2024, resulting in the impairment of certain systems and data. It is not currently possible to determine the precise extent of the damage.