Press Releases

A new project center for multidisciplinary work in the sector of microelectronic and optical systems for biomedical applications is being created in the German state of Thuringia. Three Fraunhofer Institutes, which cover the disciplines of biosciences, microelectronics, microsystems technology, optics and photonics, will be researching new biomedical applications in close collaboration with industry. In order to set up the project center, the state of Thuringia today signed a joint founding agreement with the Fraunhofer Society.

Prof. (Univ. Stellenbosch) Alfred Gossner, executive board member in charge of Finance, Controlling and IT, has informed Prof. Heinz Jörg Fuhrmann, chairman of the senate, that he wishes to step down from the board on December 31, 2017. This decision was made in consultation with Prof. Reimund Neugebauer, president of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. Prof. Gossner has proposed a flexible transition solution that meets the needs of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft.

The beverage market in the health, sports and wellness sector is continually coming up with new products. Now, researchers at Fraunhofer have developed a protein-rich drink based on sweet lupines, which tastes sour and refreshing at the same time. And the lupine drink can be produced at any brewery.

Particulate matter harms the heart and lungs. In the future, a smartphone with an inbuilt gas sensor could be used to warn of heavy exposure. To help the sensor respond quickly and provide accurate measurements, researchers at Fraunhofer have developed a powerful micro diaphragm pump for delivering ambient air to the sensor.

Uncontrollable flying objects in the Earth‘s orbit are an enormous risk for active satellites and for spacecraft in general. Since April 2012, the European environmental satellite ENVISAT has also been adrift in orbit. Now, the Fraun-hofer Institute for High Frequency Physics and Radar Techniques FHR has developed pioneering methods to precisely determine the attitude rotation of malfunctioning satellites and, thus, to support de-orbiting missions in the future.

Computer experts have always struggled to find solutions for protecting businesses and authorities from network breaches. This is because there are too many vague indicators of potential attacks. With PA-SIEM, IT managers have a solution that effectively protects their systems while exposing data thieves and criminal hackers more quickly than conventional software.

Reductions of 20 percent in paint use, 15 percent in energy consumption and 5 percent in production time – the SelfPaint automated painting system offers significant advantages compared to manual painting operations, which have previously been the preferred option. SelfPaint’s biggest advantage could well be that it is also suitable for painting individual pieces, known in industry as batch size 1.

German researchers are in the process of establishing the Industrial Data Space, a virtual construct for secure data sharing based on standardized communication interfaces. Its key feature is data sovereignty: it allows users to monitor and maintain control of their proprietary data, by enabling them to decide who has the right to access these data and for what purpose. The research project, for which the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research has granted funding of five million euros, is now moving on to its second phase, which aims to see this architecture adopted internationally.

During the forming process, sheet metal materials are often stressed to their limits. Computer simulations are used to test how far it is possible to go in production. However, the simulation is only ever as exact as the data on which it is based. Fraunhofer scientists have now developed a virtual test laboratory that allows them to examine different load states for metal materials and determine precise mechanical data.

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.