The Fraunhofer Institute for Thin Films and Surface Engineering IST is set up in Brunswick.
In Munich, the Fraunhofer Management Gesellschaft mbH FhM is founded. It looks after application-oriented institutes that do not, or do not yet, form part of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft.
Fraunhofer President Max Syrbe announces the introduction of an appropriate HR strategy. Cooperative leadership style, involvement in the responsibility and development of perspectives for each employee are the goal. The key point is the so-called employee review, in which the situation, development opportunities and training measures are explored.
At the Fraunhofer Institute for Solid State Technology IFT, a micromembrane pump is being developed for the reliable and continuous transport of small quantities of liquid, which is patented in Germany, the USA and Japan. For this, Axel Richter receives the 120,000 Mark Philip Morris Research Prize of the Year 1991.
The award ceremony of the Joseph von Fraunhofer Prize 1990 takes place at the annual meeting in Bremen.
Winners of the Joseph von Fraunhofer Prize:
The year of integration: numerous research units in the new Länder are integrated in the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, initially on a short-term basis or as branch offices of existing institutes. They include the Fraunhofer establishments for:
In July, the Science Council presents its recommendations for the restructuring of non-academic research in the new German Länder. Special responsibilities are assigned to the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft.
The prize-giving ceremony of the Joseph-von-Fraunhofer Prize 1991 takes place at the annual convention in Saarbrücken.
Winners of the Joseph von Fraunhofer Prize:
The Fraunhofer Institute for Biomedical Engineering is set up at St. Ingbert in former East Germany.
The Working Group for High-Pressure Plasma Physics and Pulse Discharge Physics AGD in Erkrath is closed down.
Dr. Hermann Riedel from the Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials IWM in Freiburg receives the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize in 1991 for the research topic High-Temperature Fracture Mechanics.
A vision becomes reality: The first self-sufficient solar house goes into operation. The building, designed by the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE, uses solar technology and excellent insulation without external energy supply.
The research group for hydroacoustics in Ottobrunn FHAK concludes.
From this year onward, the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft is consistently the most successful applicant for patents among all state-financed research establishments in Germany.
Professor Dieter Seitzer, head of the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS in Erlangen, is awarded the Karl Beckurts Prize, the highest award for applied research in Germany, for his work on efficient data reduction of digital signals.
The award ceremony of the Joseph von Fraunhofer Prize 1992 takes place at the annual convention in Dresden.
Winners of the Joseph von Fraunhofer Prize:
The total financial volume of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft exceeds one billion marks for the first time.
The "Leitbild 2000" is published, in which the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft defines itself as a market and customer-oriented umbrella organization for applied research institutes, operating on a national and international basis. Criteria applying to institutes belonging to the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft are tightened, making tough demands even for those research establishments already integrated into the organization, which call for a strict focus on activities relevant to industry.
The award ceremony of the Joseph von Fraunhofer Prize 1993 takes place at the annual convention in Karlsruhe.
Winners of the Joseph von Fraunhofer Prize:
Hans-Jürgen Warnecke, until now head of the very successful Stuttgart-based Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA, takes over the post of president from Max Syrbe.
In order to meet the globalization of business and science, Fraunhofer is strengthening its international commitment. In August, Fraunhofer USA Inc. is founded at Rhode Island to manage the activities of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft in the USA. Two Fraunhofer Resource Centers start to operate under its auspices: the Fraunhofer Resource Center in Hartford, CT, for Production Technology, which one year later moves to Boston, MA; the Fraunhofer Resource Center in Ann Arbor, MI, for Laser Technology. All Fraunhofer USA Centers (so-called Resource Centers in the early years) cooperate with corresponding Fraunhofer Institutes in Germany.
After long discussions and changes to the original concept, the Fraunhofer Institute for Silicon Technology ISIT is set up at Itzehoe. It works in close cooperation with Daimler-Benz subsidiary TEMIC.
At the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB, a genetically engineered gamma-interferon is being developed that is more effective than the interferon found in the human body.
45 years after its foundation, the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft provides work for some 8,000 employees.
Its 47 institutes and the central administration produce revenue of around 1.15 billion marks.
The award ceremony of the Joseph von Fraunhofer Prize 1994 takes place at the annual conference in Potsdam.
Winners of the Joseph von Fraunhofer Prize:
A new instrument for know-how transfer is employed. Special branch attached to specific institutes, known as Fraunhofer application centers, are set up with the aim of intensifying contacts between research and industry. This year sees the establishment of the Fraunhofer Application Center for:
In November, the Federal Fiscal Court rules that contract research is a taxable commercial activity. Not until two years later does an amendment to the tax law remove the risk that cooperation with the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft could lose a great deal of attraction for industry.
The federal research ministry launches the PROFIL programme, which allows the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft to employ up to 5 per cent of its institutional funding for activities abroad.
In March, the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft launches a new regular event, the Fraunhofer Forum. The first forum is held in the Munich Residenz and is devoted to the topic "Communication without traffic." New information technologies provide mobility. The aim is to hold lectures and discussions by top-ranking experts on technological developments which will have a permanent effect on our economic and social life. The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft sees its role as a partner in this dialogue, and aims to provide support in the implementation of relevant technical options.
A corporate design is introduced to unify and improve the image of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft in the public sphere and at the same time to promote a sense of internal solidarity.
The federal ministry of research commissions a study entitled "2000plus". Led by the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO, 300 experts from the fields of economics, science and politics work for three years to draw up recommendations for action to strengthen the service sector in Germany.
In Hamburg, the Fraunhofer Working Group for Toxicology and Environmental Medicine ATU is constituted.
The prize-giving ceremony of the Joseph von Fraunhofer Prize 1995 takes place at the annual conference in Braunschweig.
Winners of the Joseph von Fraunhofer Prize:
The Fraunhofer Establishment for Experimental Software Engineering IESE is founded in Kaiserslautern.
The Working Group for Cordless Telecommunication and Multimedia Technology ADTM is set up in Erlangen.
It is particularly at the international level that the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft expands its activities and presence this year.
The project group for Switzerland takes up its work in Tägerwilen.
In the USA, Fraunhofer USA, Inc. adds the Fraunhofer Resource Center Delaware and the Fraunhofer Technology Center in Hialeah to its list of centers.
Other branch laboratories are founded in Asia, with Representative Offices in Malaysia, Singapore and China. The aim is to create and maintain contacts in economic regions of present and future importance.
The Fraunhofer Applications Center for Powder Metallurgy in Clausthal is closed down.
The award ceremony of the Joseph von Fraunhofer Awards 1996 takes place at the annual conference in Kiel.
Winners of the Joseph von Fraunhofer Prize:
New automatic systems come to the fore in security technology: the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Systems and Design Technology IPK develops image processing systems capable of verifying signatures and fingerprints. One year earlier, the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS had developed an opto-acoustic system which identifies individuals by their voice and lip movements.
The 1996 Philip Morris research prize is awarded to Dr. Rainer Hintsche of the Berlin Branch Laboratory of the Fraunhofer Institute for Silicon Technology ISIT for the development of a mobile miniature laboratory.
Six Fraunhofer Institutes join together in the Fraunhofer Group for Materials and Components – MATERIALS. A similar group for production technology is set up in the same year.
A new building is planned for central administration. The Executive Board approves plans by architect Gunter Henn; the construction is expected to be completed by the year 2002.
The award ceremony of the Joseph von Fraunhofer Awards 1997 takes place at the annual conference in Erfurt.
Winners of the Joseph von Fraunhofer Prize:
The Fraunhofer Applications Center for Logistics-Oriented Business Administration ALB is set up in Paderborn.
A liaison office for France is opened in Paris and a project group for Austria is set up in Villach.
To close the gap between research institutes and industry, innovation centers are set up as an experimental model. In this way, the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft expands its field of business to include the production of prototypes for commercial use and short-run manufacturing. The innovation centers are organized on the same principles as private industry, in line with the recommendations formulated by the Federal Government in its guidelines for the strategic orientation of the German research environment, published in the previous year.
The proportion of military research in the total budget of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft has meanwhile dropped to five per cent as a result of the steady expansion of contract research business.
The Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety and Energy Technology UMSICHT, based at Oberhausen, is integrated into the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft early in the year. This represents a strengthening of the organization's competence in the fields of process engineering and environmental engineering.
After two years of preparation, the Senate gives the go-ahead for the creation of a new department of the Fraunhofer Institute for Information and Data Processing IITB: the Institute for Transport and Infrastructure Systems IVI is to be set up in Dresden. It will incorporate the former IITB branch laboratory for process control. Transport technology is thus given greater emphasis in the research spectrum of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft.
To reinforce its competence in biotechnology, the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft decides to set up a new department for molecular biotechnology at the Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology IUCT. The aim is that it should develop into an independent institute within three years.
The latest US center is founded in February at College Park, MD: the Fraunhofer Center for Software Engineering.
The Vision Alliance, in which 16 Fraunhofer Institutes have joined together with the aim of coordinating their expertise in the field of automatic image processing systems, opens a joint liaison office in Erlangen, where customers can call and have their inquiries forwarded to the appropriate institute.
On behalf of the German government, an independent jury is asked to select the five best pilot projects from 271 draft proposals on the subject of "innovative products based on new technologies and the associated production processes". Fraunhofer Institutes play a major part in three of the selected projects:
The third Fraunhofer Forum deals with the topic of "Virtual reality and cyberspace - artificial world or a new media dimension?" The forum takes place in conjunction with the general assembly at the Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics Research IGD.
Four institutes join together in an group for surface technology, in order to consolidate their approach to the market. The members are the Fraunhofer Institutes for:
The award ceremony of the Joseph von Fraunhofer Awards 1998 takes place at the annual conference in Darmstadt.
Winners of the Joseph von Fraunhofer Prize:
Degussa launches the new dental product "Definite" on the market. Developed in collaboration with the Fraunhofer Institute for Silicate Research ISC, the filling material is intended to replace amalgam.
The Fraunhofer Institute for Silicon Technology ISIT develops a lithium battery based on fixed ion conductors: not only does it outperform existing lithium batteries, its special construction makes it completely environmentally safe.
Commercial breakthrough is achieved for audio encoding techniques developed by the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits, IIS, Applied Electronics Department. MPEG-2 Layer 3, the most successful, is to be employed by three satellites transmitting digital radio broadcasts to the southern hemisphere from 1999 onward. The same technique has become the de facto worldwide standard for music transmission on the Internet in the course of 1998.
By pooling their expertise, the Fraunhofer Institutes for Applied Solid State Physics IAF and for Thin Films and Surface Engineering IST, together with an industrial partner, succeed in gaining a place in the Frontier Carbon Technology research programme sponsored by the Japanese ministry of industry MITI. The group successfully competed against a number of national and international rivals.
50 years after its foundation: 9,300 employees working in 47 institutes and in central administration generate close to 1.4 billion marks in revenue for the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft.
The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft continues to exert vigorous efforts towards fulfilling its role as a driving force of innovation in the German economy. Market research and technological studies are used to identify the areas of research that will be of significance in the future, enabling the organization to provide relevant capacity as required. Ongoing expansion of international relations serves both to promote contact with industry and to provide Fraunhofer researchers with links to the international scientific community. A deliberate policy of customer orientation will contribute steadily towards increasing the proportion of industrial research in the overall budget of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. Internal cooperation will continue to be improved through further institute alliances for specific technologies and through virtual centers.
On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, the Bavarian State Government donates the Hugo Geiger Prize.
The namesake is Secretary of State Hugo Geiger, the patron of the founding meeting of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft on March 26, 1949. This prize honors outstanding application-oriented diploma theses or dissertations in the field of life sciences, which are directly related to a Fraunhofer Institute.
For the development of a CMOS camera with unprecedented brightness dynamics, the Fraunhofer researchers Michael Schanz, Christian Nitta and Thomas Eckart receive the Philip Morris Research Prize of 1999.
The Fraunhofer Institute for Solid State Technology IFT in Munich is being restructured. Parts of it go to the Fraunhofer Institute for Communication Systems ESK and the new Munich part of the Fraunhofer Institute for Reliability and Microintegration IZM.
The award ceremony of the Joseph von Fraunhofer Awards 1999 takes place at the annual conference in Munich.
Fraunhofer Jubilee Prize
On October 27, 1999, the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft awardes the jubilee prize of 1999 on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft for an outstanding achievement of the last decade in recognition of its contribution to the WorldSpace mission to Dipl.-Ing. Ernst Eberlein, Dipl.-Ing. Robert Friedrich and Dipl.-Ing. Stefan Meltzer from the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS on behalf of a team of 40 scientists. The successful launch of WorldSpace's AfriStar satellite and the inception of mass production of receivers mark an important section in the WorldSpace project.
Winners of the Joseph von Fraunhofer Prize:
Winners of the Hugo Geiger Prize for junior scientists
Thorsten Ulf Meyer from the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB, Kerstin Püllmann from the Fraunhofer Institute for Toxicology and Aerosol Research ITA, Angelika Spieth from the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB are honored for their outstanding application-oriented diploma theses or comparable achievements in the field of life sciences.
The integration of GMD Forschungszentrum Informationstechnik GmbH into the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft is decided.
Together with six relevant Fraunhofer Institutes, the eight new institutes from the GMD are to form the new Fraunhofer Information and Communication Technology Group. With 14 institutes and 2,500 employees, it is the largest European ICT research network.
For twenty years, the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft has maintained scientific contacts with the People's Republic of China. On May 25, 1999, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Hans-Jürgen Warnecke, President of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, opens the Fraunhofer Representative Office Beijing. It should intensify the technology transfer between Germany and the PRC. At the same time and in the same rooms, the Fraunhofer Liaison Office, funded by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, also starts work.
Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft