Press / Newsroom

Wood, we come into close contact with it daily. Children play around on wood floors, and wood furniture plays an important role in our work and sleep habits as well. To keep this natural material from aging prematurely, it’s important to protect it effectively against ultraviolet (UV) radiation. At the same time, people want to retain the look and feel of natural wooden surfaces, but the transparent protective coatings that are currently widely commercially available often contain harmful chemical compounds. To avoid using these substances, the Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging IVV and Naturhaus Naturfarben GmbH are working together to develop a formula that provides harmless, transparent and 100 percent organic UV protection for wood.

Working together to expedite technological innovations in the fields of battery cell and semiconductor technology: That is the aim of a comprehensive international collaboration program funded by the Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE). The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, with eight of its institutes, is their partner in Germany. On Wednesday, the collaboration was sealed with a letter of agreement and the opening of a coordination hub.

In an effort to further develop the portfolio of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft in both subject-specific and commercial terms and ensure the research organization’s future viability, the executive board has adopted a package of measures involving the partial closure of the Fraunhofer Center for International Management and Knowledge Economy IMW and the elimination of the center’s independence. The remaining departments are to be integrated into the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI. In addition, the Fraunhofer Institute for Technological Trend Analysis INT is to be integrated into the Fraunhofer Institute for Communication, Information Processing and Ergonomics FKIE. These decisions are subject to the approval of the senate of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft.

Outer space has never before seemed so close, with spaceflight hovering within reach. To enhance the competitiveness of European space transportation systems, researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT are developing innovative manufacturing technologies for rocket components in the ENLIGHTEN project. The researchers will be presenting their results at the Hannover Messe (Hall 2, Booth B24) from April 22 to 26, 2024.

There is a high demand for AI solutions in industrial applications. These solutions need to be efficient, trustworthy and secure in order to be used in series production or quality control, for example. However, the new possibilities opened up by generative AI also raise questions. Can users rely on what a chatbot says? How can vulnerabilities in an AI model be detected early on during development? At the Hannover Messe 2024, the Fraunhofer Institute for Intelligent Analysis and Information Systems IAIS and the institutes of the Fraunhofer Big Data and Artificial Intelligence Alliance will be presenting two exhibits and several use cases centering on trustworthy AI solutions.

Allaying anxieties, emphasizing potential — with their KI-Studios (AI Studios), experts from the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO are bringing workplace artificial intelligence to life. Their KI-Infomobil (AI Infomobile) will be appearing at the Hannover Messe from April 22 to 26. Guests are welcome to visit Fraunhofer at Booth B24 in Hall 2 to learn how AI technologies work, where they can be used, and how they can make people’s work easier.

Climate-friendly fuel cell systems, which are set to power machines such as vehicles in the future, are still rare and expensive these days. There are several reasons for this, including the complex and costly process used to produce bipolar plates — a key component in electrolyzers and fuel cells, which are needed for many hydrogen systems. The Fraunhofer Institute for Machine Tools and Forming Technology IWU has now taken a major step toward lower costs and mass production of bipolar plates by introducing an innovative sys-tem for roll embossing: BPPflexRoll. The Fraunhofer researchers will be presenting one component of the system at the joint Fraunhofer booth in Hall 2, Booth B24, at Hannover Messe 2024 from April 22 to 26.

Change at the top of the Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics IML: As of April 1, Prof. Alice Kirchheim is taking over the Material Flow Systems department at Fraunhofer IML, along with the Chair of Material Handling and Warehousing at TU Dortmund University. Kirchheim, a scientist with outstanding experience in automation in intralogistics, will also be a valuable addition to the institute in Dortmund thanks to her expertise relating to the digital transformation and the use of AI in logistics. She is succeeding Prof. Michael ten Hompel, who is retiring after 24 years as the institute director at Fraunhofer IML and the holder of the same chair.

Fungal mycelium as a construction material, ecofriendly concrete and smart recycling solutions pave the way for climate neutrality.

The weapons available for fighting dangerous bacteria are losing their edge, and life-threatening infections are increasingly resistant to treatment. There are hardly any substitutes available so far, making it high time someone took action.

Fraunhofer-Forschende entwickeln Quantensysteme für verschiedene Anwendungen und Branchen, um damit Antworten auf die großen Herausforderungen unserer Zeit zu finden – ob Klima, Gesundheit, Verkehr oder Sicherheit.

The next stage in the evolution of technology is coming up: Artificial intelligence is poised to turn robots into all-around self-learners, helping out in industry, logistics, nursing, and private households. Will smart machines radically reshape our lives – and especially our working lives – not long from now?

The collapse of the Carola Bridge in Dresden has demonstrated how important it is to identify infrastructure weaknesses at an early stage. Indeed, roads and bridges, railways and power lines in Germany are showing their age, and some of them have significant structural defects. According to the latest condition survey from 2022, commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport (BMDV), 7,112 kilometers of highway, 8,000 highway bridges and 17,630 kilometers of rail are classified as in need of repair. Innovative Fraunhofer solutions can help simplify, expedite, and cut costs of maintenance, analysis and servicing work − an overview.

During this year of back-to-back elections, reality is catching up with the warnings experts have been making for years: deepfakes and disinformation have been supercharged by artificial intelligence. With fakes now so convincing, more and more people are asking themselves: Can I believe my eyes and ears?

Sometimes there’s too much, sometimes too little: Water, the most important factor in our survival, doesn’t make it easy for us. How can we ensure an adequate water supply even amid climate challenges?

Climate change is proceeding faster than expected, the energy transition more slowly than had been hoped. Referenzfabrik.H2 aims to accelerate the production of hydrogen systems and open up new business fields for industries such as the automotive sector, in a push Fraunhofer is calling “Fit4H2.”

Rehabilitating the prime suspect responsible for climate change: More and more technological innovations aim to harness CO2 as a sustainable source of carbon.

Hendrik Wüst, minister-president of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, is viewed as a potential candidate for chancellor. In this interview, the 48-year-old calls for reliable prospects for science, research, and industry.

Toxic PFAS are endangering our water. Now there are plans to ban them in Europe. This presents the industrial sector with major problems because these “forever chemicals” are essential to many products and processes.

The EU wants to establish its own satellite network by 2027, with the aim of increasing the resilience of the European communications infrastructure and gaining technological sovereignty in space. Achieving this will require novel solutions.

Raw materials are scarce. Time and again, shortages have forced companies to cut back on their production. The circular economy may be the solution — for far more than just the climate.

Fraunhofer’s expertise includes materials and systems and their production and use in the energy sector, in industry and in mobility as well as in interdisciplinary topics such as security and service life.

The Sodium Battery Symposium – SBS is the conference for scientific exchange on sodium batteries in Europe. The SBS6 will cover all aspects of Na-based batteries, from fundamental research up to systems, along with testing, markets and applications. It wants to strengthen the community around sodium batteries and intends to enable an open exchange of information on current scientific results, research interests, as well as market requirements.

The ECerS conference takes place every two years and is an important platform for the exchange of cutting-edge research and product development in various ceramics-related fields.

fleXstructures GmbH, IPS AB, the Fraunhofer-Chalmers Centre (FCC) and we are pleased to invite you to the sixth International IPS Cable Simulation Conference on June 25 and 26, 2025 in the hometown of fleXstructures Kaiserslautern. Many IPS Cable Simulation users from all over the world have already taken the opportunity to attend our conferences to learn more about the development of the software and new features and to share their own experiences with users from different fields and countries. With the sixth IPS Cable Simulation User Conference 2025, we want to continue this tradition and strengthen the international network of experts using cable simulation technology.

The VDE ITG MN 5.6 group cordially invites experts and newcomers to the field of semiconductor reliability to the 17th VDE ITG MN 5.6 symposium “f(ast)WLR, Wafer Level Reliability, Reliability Simulation & Qualification” at the Fraunhofer IKTS in Dresden – this year with the focus topic: “Chiplets & their usage in fWLR methodology”.