Connecting rural areas: Start-up launches app for the majority of Germans 5 2 | 1 We’re on the Move Industry and the Research Sector: Energy for Our Future Violetta Schumm, Fraunhofer IGCV “Fraunhofer thinks about transfer from the start.” Interview with Minister- President Daniel Günther Small Quanta, Big Impact How new computing unlocks new solutions

1 | 25 Fraunhofer magazine Editorial At a Crossroads: The Choice Is Ours By Prof. Holger Hanselka Germany stands at a crossroads. You will have heard and read that same sentiment over and over in recent weeks — probably generally in a context that didn’t exactly set your mind at ease. I’d like to take this as an opportunity to shine a more positive light on this crossroads we’ve been hearing so much about. A crossroads presents a choice. So let’s make that choice, embarking down the path that leads to a better future for Germany and Europe as a whole. We haven’t forgotten the numbers. The last quarter of 2024 saw an overall decline of 2.5 percent, marking the sixth quarter in a row with a negative revenue trend for German industry. Chemical production decreased by four percent in the final quarter of the year. Revenue at Germany’s 22,300 industrial firms was down by nearly four percent in 2024. Germany’s key industries – automotive, metal, elec- trical engineering — were especially hard hit. But that is old news. Now that we are standing at this crossroads, let’s set off down the path to the future. What makes me confident? The innovative strength I see each and every day right here at the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. Directly translating inventiveness into economic prosperity is our core area of expertise. It is what makes Fraunhofer so unique among research organizations. To remind ourselves of this unique position and of our goal of bringing research into application as a daily challenge, we have given ourselves a motto for every one of the 365 days in this year. That motto is: Fraunhofer — Transfer for Our Future We are not looking naively to that future. Research needs certain things if it is to be a success. Dependability is one of them. Clarity is another. This is where policymakers come in. A transfer freedom law that applies to the entire innovation system could modernize the legal framework and create greater freedom and flexibility for knowledge and technology transfer in Germany. Coordinated inno- vation policy would streamline bureaucratic structures and help bring ideas into industrial application. Incen- tives for innovation can reward businesses — especially medium-sized ones — for having the courage to adopt technologies early on. Prof. Holger Hanselka Although I am appealing to policymakers in general here, I do know many of our politicians are already well aware of the importance of innovation. Daniel Günther, minis- ter-president of the state of Schleswig-Holstein, calls research one of our country’s most important raw materi- als in an interview in this very issue. He also adds, “It’s just that sometimes, we need to make transferring those find- ings more effective and dynamic. And Fraunhofer is exem- plary in that respect.” At Fraunhofer, we believe it is important to cultivate a significantly more nuanced under- standing of the term “transfer” than before. Fraunhofer’s strength lies in three transfer paths: contract research, licensing and start-ups. Once again, the HANNOVER MESSE, which has brought key innovation stakeholders together for more than seven decades now, demonstrates just how much power lies in the innovative strength unleashed in this way. Let us come together to expand and establish our strengths, advantages and unique character- istics as a hub of science, research and industry and make Germany a true beacon with international appeal. Sincerely Prof. Holger Hanselka President of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft — Digital transformation made in Germany — innovation partnerships between science, research and industry, keynote at TRANSFORM, Berlin back to page 1 3 r e i e m r e b O n a f e t S / r e f o h n u a r F : o t o h P

1 | 25 Fraunhofer magazine 30 Constant Contact for NATO In-band full-duplex technology will allow both sides of a radio connection to transmit and receive simultaneously 36 Small Quanta, Big Impact A status report from quantum physics, where tiny particles are already achieving great things 48 A Super-Powered Computer More technological sovereignty: Fraunhofer is among those work- ing on Germany’s first quantum computer 50 A Twin for Everyone An ounce of prevention: Digital patient twins could revolutionize medicine 53 Individualized Implants A bio-ink developed at Fraunhofer IAP can alleviate joint pain. 76 Energy of the Future Nuclear fusion research is driven by the idea of sustainable energy production. 50 Digital Doppelgängers Will we one day use artificial intelligence to detect disease before symptoms even arise? 53 3D Printing Helps Strengthen 74 Photo & Fraunhofer Knee Joints Using innovative biopolymers to fight arthritis of the joints 54 Get Well Sooner AI and miniature organs grown in a Petri dish are accelerating drug development 58 Help for the Helpers Algorithms help to save time: A Fraunhofer spin-off supports home health services in planning their routes 60 Fraunhofer Worldwide 62 Passing the Swim Test Solar energy is being collected on the surface of a lake in eastern Germany that was once an open-pit mine 68 Hugo Geiger Prizes Three Fraunhofer researchers honored for outstanding doctoral work back to page 1 An innovative method of fighting wildfires packs a bigger punch 76 Modeled on the Sun Crucial advances toward fusion power plants 79 Fraunhofer on the Road 25,033 patent applications in 2024: That figure puts Germany at the top of the Patent Index rankings for Europe for 2024; worldwide, only the United States submitted more applications. In a global comparison of research institutions, the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft (517 applications) came in second behind France’s CEA. ; a p d / s u i s i r a h C n a i t s i r h C , t l r A n a i t s a b e S , d a r n o K n a m r o N : s o t o h p r e v o c k c a b d n a t n o r F y r o t a r o b a L l a n o i t a N e r o m r e v i L e c n e r w a L , o t o h p k c o t s i / s a t o n r e B s i t y R , f r 3 2 1 / l i v e d k c o t S , d a r n o K n a m r o N , t l r A n a i t s a b e S , a p d / s u i s i r a h C n a i t s i r h C : s o t o h p t n e t n o C 5

1 | 25 Fraunhofer magazine Innovative Laser Technology Helps Nearsighted Children Microlenses in eyeglasses impede the worsen- ing of nearsightedness that often accompanies children’s growth. Researchers at the Fraun- hofer Institute for Microstructures of Mate- rials and Systems IMWS have devised a new method of producing these corrective lenses at lower cost and on an individualized basis. In their innovative method, known as laser swelling, a focused infrared laser is beamed at plastics used for eyeglasses. “The laser beam can be positioned with great accuracy on sur- faces, so we can produce significantly smaller microlenses than is possible with previously existing methods,” explains Prof. Thomas Höche, head of the Optical Materials and Tech- nologies business unit at Fraunhofer IMWS. “And that means the microlenses can be arranged with great flexibility on eyeglasses, so they can also be tailored individually to younger glasses wearers.” A superimposed focal point on the periph- ery allows the microlenses to slow the elonga- tion of the eyeball that causes the progression Strong Under Water of nearsightedness, also known as myopia. This can also help prevent potential consequences of this condition such as retinal detachment, cataracts or macular degeneration. Microlenses can help kids pass their next vision check. Currently, density sensors collect information on the electrical conductivity of the seawater, which is then used to determine its density. However, this process is based on reference values that vary around the world. Direct, purely optical measurement using the new sensor concept would enable considerably higher resolution, along with standardization of the measurement results. The innovative sensor is just one of several novel types of sensors the Fraunhofer IZM research team is developing in tandem with partners as part of the 3DGlassGuard project. The consortium’s goal is to significantly improve the measurement quality of sensors used for research and industry by means of waveguides integrated into glass. The research scientists are currently working to implement demonstrators, which will then undergo func- tional testing. Waveguides incorpo- rated into glass to conduct light can significantly improve the quality of sensor measurements. Researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Reliability and Microintegration IZM are working on a sensor to measure the density of seawater. This could help generate signifi- cantly better and more consistent climate models. The innovative sensor relies on the principle of an interferometer, which mea- sures the superimposition of light waves. back to page 1 7 l a c i r e m u L s y s n A g n i s u d e t a r e n e g , M Z I r e f o h n u a r F , a p d / R E K O R B e g a m i / r e i e m h c a B n a i r o l F , o t o h p k c o t s i h t o b / e p p o n e r a k l , i i i a n h e n S a n o A l : s o t o h P

Editorial notes Fraunhofer. The magazine for research, technology and innovation ISSN 1868-3428 (print edition) ISSN 1868-3436 (online edition) Published by: Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft Hansastrasse 27c, 80686 Munich, Germany Editorial address as above Phone +49 89 1205-1301 magazin@zv.fraunhofer.de https://s.fhg.de/magazine-en Free subscription: Phone +49 89 1205-1301 publikationen@fraunhofer.de Editorial team: Monika Landgraf (responsible for con- tent), Josef Oskar Seitz (editor-in-chief), Dr. Sonja Endres, Beate Strobel Editorial assistants: Dr. Janine van Ackeren, Mandy Bartel, Meike Grewe, Sirka Henning, Andrea Kaufmann, Michael Krapp, Manuel Montefalcone, Dr. Monika Offen- berger, Laura Rottensteiner-Wick, Mehmet Toprak, Yvonne Weiß Layout and lithography: Vierthaler & Braun Cover image and cover story photography: Norman Konrad Quantum photography: Sebastian Arlt Printed by: be1druckt GmbH, Nuremberg © Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft e.V. München 2025 Find Fraunhofer on social media: @Fraunhofer www.facebook.com/ fraunhoferde www.instagram.com/ fraunhofergesellschaft www.linkedin.com/company/ fraunhofer-gesellschaft www.youtube.com/ fraunhofer 1 | 25 Fraunhofer magazine The number of people diagnosed with melanoma more than doubled between 2005 and 2023. AI Scanner Quickly and Reliably Detects Melanoma If detected early, the prognosis for skin cancer is excellent. An AI-based full-body scanner is poised to accelerate and improve the diagnostic process in the future. I n just six minutes, the innova- tive scanner uses a cognitive AI assistant to scan a patient’s entire body and supply 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. A research team from the Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications, Heinrich-Hertz-In- stitut, HHI, ensures that the AI systems used are reliable and secure. To that end, the researchers use XAI methods that make the AI forecasts explainable. The scanner is the centerpiece of the cloud-based AI diagnostic platform also devel- oped in the project, which combines health data from various sources, such as patient files, genomic data and in vivo imaging. The scanner’s high-resolution cameras are equipped with liquid lenses that mimic the structure of the human eye. Based on two immiscible liquids with different refractive indices, they produce images of unprecedented quality. For highly person- alized diagnosis, machine learning is used to integrate the scans together with all available patient data (information on UV damage, risk group and other factors) into the AI diagnostic platform with the cog- nitive AI assistant tool. The high speed at which the scanner operates makes it possible to examine many patients in just a short time; and moreover, the scans can also be repeated often over a longer period, so they can be compared for effective monitoring of skin changes. back to page 1 9 o t o h p k c o t s i m o r f s o t o h p l l i a / s o d u t S d e l i F t h g i L , r u o F y t n e v e S , p a C r o t k V i : s o t o h P

1 | 25 Fraunhofer magazine Unleashing superpowers: Michael Fritz focuses on dynamic data transfer at Fraunhofer CCIT. back to page 1 11

1 | 25 Fraunhofer magazine Picking up the pace: Holger Hillig accelerates laser material deposition at Fraunhofer IWS. back to page 1 13

1 | 25 Fraunhofer magazine Making innovative leaps: Violetta Schumm finds new options for wetlaid nonwoven technology at Fraunhofer IGCV. back to page 1 15

1 | 25 Fraunhofer magazine P r o d uc t s f r om G e r m a ny ’s factories enjoy an excellent reputation. In 2017, the “Made in Germany” label was ranked first in a study by statistics portal and market research firm Dalia Research. A recent study by entrepreneurship platform Meisterkreis, transformation research agency Sturm und Drang and agency group Serviceplan Group found that 25 percent of consumers in Europe, China and the United States favor German brands. Or rather, they still do. There is a trend toward domestic products, notably driven by U.S. President Donald Trump and his “America First” policy. And, as the study also reveals, German products have a worsening image here in their home country. Some 42 percent of German par- ticipants indicated that their reputation has declined. So how is the German art of engineer- ing doing? Which technologies and meth- ods might help to secure a competitive edge internationally? And how can the research sector support industry? 3D printing: fast, faster, fastest One major trend in this regard is additive manufacturing, which is among the big growth fields in the world of production. Experts forecast average annual growth of about 20 percent across all industrial sectors in the next five years. So far, though, cost-effectiveness has been an issue: “Long production times and costly starting materials stand in the way of us- ing 3D printing for production, especially when it comes to larger components,” says Dr. Martin Kausch, a department head at the Fraunhofer Institute for Machine Tools and Forming Technology IWU in Chemnitz. The researchers at Fraunhofer IWU have set out to change that, devel- oping a new method known as screw extrusion additive manufacturing, or SEAM for short. Instead of using plastic filaments, which cost anywhere from 30 to 100 euros per kilogram, they rely on granulated plastic as a base — for just six euros per kilogram in the case of car- bon fiber-reinforced polypropylene and sometimes more for specialty plastics. The team has also optimized the processing of these materials. Typically, the plastic filament is passed through a heated cyl- inder, much like in a hot glue gun, where it melts and is then pushed out through a nozzle. About 200 grams of plastic per hour can be processed into components this way. “Instead of that, we use a small extruder screw that moves the granulate through and plastifies it along multiple heat zones. The maximum throughput is 15 kilograms per hour, or 75 times higher than usual,” Kausch says, outlining the details. To market the print head used in this method, Fraunhofer IWU spun off a company called 1A-Technologies in 2020 — with success. But 1A-Technologies and the Fraun- hofer researchers have even more tricks up their sleeve: “With other approaches, the flow of materials can’t be stopped, so it’s only possible to print endless structures, like the classic puzzle where you have to draw a house without lifting your pen off the paper. However, we’ve patented a controllable bypass nozzle that lets us regulate the melt flow from zero to one hundred percent,” Kausch explains. The method is already in use: MOSOLF Special Vehicles GmbH is using it to produce car- go systems for police vehicles that weigh only about half as much as conventional models and can be printed in about 12 hours. Production using conventional 3D printing would take several weeks. Kaus- ch is confident as he looks ahead: “Through greater process efficiency and cheaper starting materials, we’re steadily lowering the break-even point where 3D printing starts to make economic sense. While injection molding has almost reached full maturity, further leaps in development should be expected for additive manufac- turing.” Electronic products, printed Instead of having products made in low- wage countries and then carting them halfway around the world, 3D printing could make it worthwhile to bring the entire production chain back to Germa- ny in the future. This would mean faster production with less climate impact, but that is not all. It would also eliminate the need for fragile global supply chains. “Our goal is to make it possible to print complex products at the push of a button — locally, right where they are needed,” says Kaus- ch’s colleague Lukas Boxberger, who also heads a department at Fraunhofer IWU. Just feed the data into the machine, and it instantly goes to work producing a coffee maker, Bluetooth speaker or robot vacu- um right near the customer. “This kind of machine essentially has to handle four subprocesses: holding non-printable things like textiles, film or wood veneers in place, setting up struc- tures, integrating wiring and cords for electronic products and inserting other elements, like motors or displays,” Box- berger explains. The researchers achieved this with different tool heads that can be swapped out as needed to allow the ma- chine to handle the next task. A prototype version called multi-material additive manufacturing, or MMAM, already exists. It's not only the machine itself that marks a big step forward in production. In particular, the ability to integrate wires opens up a range of new options. That is because the design freedom famously afforded by traditional additive manufac- turing has only applied to plastic compo- nents so far. “Our system adds maximum functional flexibility to 3D printing. We can incorporate electrical properties and data lines along with antenna functions or thermal features,” Boxberger says. The print head they developed puts the wire and plastic together. It can combine any kind of metal wire — copper, constantan, nickel titanium — in various diameters with all kinds of thermoplastics, thereby realizing any desired function. The ma- chine has already automatically printed its first product without any human par- ticipation at all: inserting the film, wind- ing a spool, placing magnets and a circuit board. The outcome was a speaker, ready to use. back to page 1 17

suction up the unused powder and then start the same process with the second material.” to four times more productive in terms of the melt rate,” says Dr. Elena Lopez, a department head at Fraunhofer IWS. The specially developed welding head also allows the team to incorporate up to four wires and four streams of powder into the process. “By using different met- als in a single work step, we can create coatings out of in-situ alloys. The starting materials aren’t mixed together until during the coating process,” explains Holger Hillig, a project manager and col- league of Lopez’s. This means desired properties can be introduced into the coating on a localized basis without any “By using different metals in a single work step, we can create coatings out of in-situ alloys.” Holger Hillig, Fraunhofer IWS FIDENTIS, a spin-off, plans to use this method to produce telescopic crowns for dental prostheses. Producing crowns like these has previously involved a lot of manual work, which makes them expen- sive and tends to put them within reach only for those with private insurance. The new method could change that, with the first few patients receiving this form of care as early as at the end of April. Schlick also sees a wealth of potential for other appli- cations, especially where thermal and mechanical stresses coincide. “We can use this method to improve the functionality of a component such as a tool, thereby lowering the costs of the finished product,” he explains. “Hopefully, this will be one way we can bring manufacturing back to Europe from Asia.” Wire-based laser cladding times eight Instead of using lasers to liquefy powder, the material that is to be melted can also be used in wire form. Unlike in a stream of powder, one hundred percent of the wire fed into the system in this method ends up in the weld pool. So far, the process has been too slow for high-performance industrial coatings. In the future, though, it could come to seriously compete with powder-based laser material deposition, also known as cladding. This develop- ment is being spurred by a method called COAXquattro, which was developed by researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology IWS. There are several things that set it apart. While it is customary to feed the metal wire through the center of the machine’s head and melt it with laser beams from the sides, the team simply flipped the setup around. Now the laser is in the middle, and multiple wires are fed in from the outside. “This lets us use standard lenses, which are currently usable up to 20 kilowatts of laser power. Compared to previous laser welding heads, the system is three 1 | 25 Fraunhofer magazine additional processes, achieving aspects such as locally higher hardness or thermal conductivity or a particular coefficient of expansion. COAXquattro moves wire-based laser cladding into an economically effi- cient range, even for very large components such as planetary gear mechanisms — with laser-coated sliding bearings — for wind turbines or to armor-plate extruders for tire manufacturing to guard against wear. The method is opening up new poten- tial applications in additive manufacturing: “The side surface of a train used by Deut- sche Bahn used to take seven different production steps. We can take that down to three,” Lopez points out. Because addi- tive manufacturing makes different ge- ometries possible, the researchers are fo- cusing on a bionically inspired structure similar to the veins in a leaf as a way to stabilize the side portion. This makes the component 30 percent lighter. In the long term, COAXquattro may also replace ma- terials affected by resource shortages by allowing manufacturers to achieve the same properties through alloys. How ex- actly to do that is being explored by the researchers involved in ORCHESTER, a Fraunhofer flagship project. Replacing critical substances Another laser method from Fraunhofer ILT that has become an industry standard is extreme high-speed laser material deposition (EHLA). In this process, the powder is melted directly in the laser beam before it makes contact with the component. This allows for thin coatings and makes it possible to coat large areas in a short time. “EHLA is especially at- tractive when high process speeds, thin coatings and sustainable material use are needed,” says Dr. Thomas Schopphoven, a department head at Fraunhofer ILT. EHLA is already an established alternative to hexavalent chromium coatings, which are harmful to the environment, and going forward, it could also substitute for crit- ical per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). The technology also promises to help with meeting the Euro 7 emission back to page 1 19

Their key idea is to combine edge and cloud computing to create an end-to-end data space. Once that is done, computations will be performed where it is more efficient and cost-effective to do so. The “edge” in this scenario means the area where the data is first collected or generated — local sensors, machines or devices. Especially for processes that need to be concluded in split seconds, there is a need to use the computing power and storage space avail- able in this edge. Other tasks that are lengthy and compute-intensive — training an artificial intelligence, for example, or performing simulations — take place in the cloud. In order to transfer data dynam- ically between the edge and the cloud, it is crucial to connect them with what are known as data space connectors. Their importance became apparent in the Cat- ena-X project, an initiative of the German automotive industry that aimed to create a shared data infrastructure for the entire value chain. “A bunch of different tech- nologies were developed as part of Cate- na-X. But the main takeaway from the companies was: We need a connector that can be used in industry,” Fritz recalls. Based on the IDSC connector, which Fraunhofer developed years ago, experts from Fraun- hofer and industry created the Eclipse Dataspace Connector, or EDC. “The EDC is now on its way to becoming the industry standard,” Fritz says. The data space is created once a con- nector is in place. To fill it, the researchers developed various sensors and combined sensors together to generate true added value. They tackled three generic applica- tions in the process. First was adaptive gear grinding, which is needed during produc- tion of gears. A structure-borne sound sensor was incorporated into the grinder for this; where previously, it was necessary to wait until after the finished gear was installed inside a gearing mechanism to see whether the process had gone well, the process can now be evaluated right while the work is in progress. The second sensor solves a similar problem with forming and pressing: Controlling the pressure exerted during pressing significantly reduces waste “Our job is to combine existing approaches in effective ways and turn all those individual solutions into one big harmonious whole.” Michael Fritz, Fraunhofer Cluster of Excellence Cognitive Internet Technologies CCIT and shortens retooling time. The third sensor monitors the drilling and milling process. It is an ideal way to retrofit old machines and incorporate them into digitalized value creation. To expand on the value added by the sensor data, this information is analyzed locally in an edge cloud, together with the machine data, and then transferred via EDC to the cloud, where it is used to train an artificial intel- 1 | 25 Fraunhofer magazine ligence. The entire processing chain is structured much like an MLOps pipeline to develop and operate powerful and scalable AI/ML solutions. Security is pro- vided by a tool called Clouditor, which was developed at the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied and Integrated Security AISEC. Fritz explains: “We’ve already implement- ed the entire approach as proof of concept for the grinding process. It is beneficial in all forms of production where milling, forming, drilling and grinding take place, regardless of the industry, plus it is espe- cially suitable for retrofitting existing machines.” Matrix Production Instead of Line-Based Methods Traditional line-based production is high- ly efficient, but it doesn’t have much to offer in terms of flexibility. “If there are multiple production lines, even machines that don’t see much use have to be avail- able for all production lines, which creates redundancies,” says Dr. Simon Harst, head of a business unit at Fraunhofer IWU. He and his colleagues from Fraunhofer IWU and Fraunhofer IPA hope to replace this rigid system with what they are calling a matrix production. Instead of traditional lines, they create islands. The product makes its own way through the produc- tion area, carried by driverless transpor- tation systems. “You only need one of the machines that aren’t used often, and capacity utilization is much more efficient as well,” explains Dr. Marcel Todtermus- chke, also the head of a business unit at Fraunhofer IWU. The production architecture that con- trols how a product moves around was created in the Fraunhofer flagship project SWAP. Some of it is available in an open source version. The matrix approach to production is now being further developed in the Robotics Engineering Application Lab for Matrix Production (REAL-M) re- search platform with the ultimate goal of “first time right” production that generates no waste or scrap at all. Infineon was able to use the matrix approach to reduce back to page 1 21

1 | 25 Fraunhofer magazine Preventing losses: Daniel Umgelter from Fraunhofer IPA supports industry with smart detection of leaks. back to page 1 23

1 | 25 Fraunhofer magazine Mr. Günther, speaking candidly, what does it feel like to present a funding notification for 23.8 million euros? It’s definitely something special; it’s not something you do every day. And it’s one part of my job as min- ister-president that I really enjoy. Especially with tension swirling around the budget as it is now, big funding amounts like these are fairly unusual. So I’m even happier that we’re once again supporting first-class applied research with these funds. Visions of the future of medicine that will benefit our econ- omy in Schleswig-Holstein, in Germany and across the whole of Europe are coming to fruition in Lü- beck right now. And since this case involves a joint research project with industry, the groundwork to transfer these ideas into products and services has even already been laid. Plus, the move will allow Fraunhofer IMTE to grow from a research institu- tion into an institute in its own right. You visited the Fraunhofer Research Institution for Individualized and Cell-Based Medical Engineering IMTE in Lübeck. What was your impression afterward? What Fraunhofer IMTE is doing in Lübeck in the field of AI-supported medical technology is impres- sive, and it’s a good example of why Fraunhofer has been such a success story in Schleswig-Holstein and across Germany in general. Fraunhofer IMTE attracts top research scientists and many others who want to help drive advances in research and science. The research institution networks extensively with higher education institutions in the area, along with both small and medium-sized enterprises and big companies. The outcome is that highly innovative technological platforms that can make concrete, extremely effective improvements in our healthcare when applied in medicine are developed at Fraunhofer IMTE . I got to see that for myself based on the new methods in imaging and operating room robotics, for example. Seeing that work is being done on solutions that will make diagnosis and even procedures more accurate, safer and less invasive going forward left me feeling really optimistic. Why is research so important to Germany? Research lays the foundations of innovation. It’s one of the most important raw materials in Germany when it comes to continuing to lead both technologically and economically. And by the way, you’ll notice I say “continuing” there, because I re- ally think there’s too much doom and gloom about Germany sometimes. The research done at German universities and within the big research organiza- “Not everyone has transfer ingrained into their DNA like Fraunhofer.” Daniel Günther tions is top-notch. It’s just that sometimes, we need to make transferring those findings more effective and dynamic. And Fraunhofer is exemplary in that respect. Fraunhofer does basic research at the very highest level worldwide while at the same time considering possible applications, so there’s already a path forward for transfer purposes. That should set the tone for German research policy, too. Where do you see deficits in funding policy? For one thing, I think we should give innovations better chances of actually catching on — and by that, I mean the government-funded research sec- tor first and foremost, of course. I think we could use more entrepreneurship and idea management there. After all, ideas — including ideas for major innovations that will bring structural change — don’t always come from the biggest research units. They can also be proposed by individual research- ers or small groups. I’m not at all sure every good idea automatically ends up becoming a reality. A system of simple micro-grants could help with that, for example. And for another thing, we should incorporate funds for transfer into even large research projects and impose more conditions on funding recipients in that regard. Not everyone has transfer ingrained into their DNA like Fraunhofer. There’s a lot of uncertainty across society right now, with the impression that there are more and more problems all around. Can applied research also help stabilize things there, giving people confidence and a sense of moving toward brighter days ahead? Yes, I firmly believe that. But the research sector needs to connect publicly even more than be- fore and show how much it can contribute, for example for greater societal resilience, better back to page 1 25 a p d / s u i s i r a h C n a i t s i r h C : o t o h P

F D Z / n n a m h e L a i l e n r o C , a p d m o r f l l “We can no longer afford to skimp on our defense spending. And the same is true of research.” Daniel Günther a / h c i r t t i D n a i t s i r h C - e k u a H , ) 2 ( t d n a r B s u c r a M , i a d e M B M H / r e k c e B n e i l u J , s r e t u e R / r e m m B n a b a F i i , s s e r p o t o F - r e l s i e G / n r e K c i r e d e r F , r e d h e R n e t s r a C , s u i s i r a h C n a i t s i r h C : s o t o h P And then to make matters worse, Bavaria under minister-president Markus Söder, of all places, came in ahead of you in second place. How are you coping? Now, just a minute — Bavaria and Schleswig-Holstein are tied for second place! And it’s actually awesome news that our two great states have something in common. We usually think of them as polar opposites: the mountains versus the coast, sausage versus fish sandwiches, Markus Söder and me... I’ve heard you say with pride, “I’ve been a north German my whole life.” Can you explain what the difference is between north and south in terms of hearts and minds and access to government? It’s true — I’ve never lived anywhere but Schleswig-Holstein, and I love northern Ger- many. But I also really like to go on vacation in the mountains. I think it’s a wonderful change of pace from back home. I do usually look to Austria for that, but I also really like southern Germany. As for how people there think, I think my colleagues Winfried Kretschmann and Markus Söder would do a better job of explain- ing that. Up here in the north, I really like that people are so down-to-earth and open and that we really don’t get fazed by much. You can see it all over our state and our communities. We just don’t get worked up that easily, and there’s always a hint of optimism in what we do. Forming a government has gotten harder and harder in democratic societies. Do you secretly admire monarchy? At least, you seem enthusiastic about the office of the Oldenburg Kale King, which you were appointed to on March 10. You’re right, I’m delighted to have ascended the Oldenburg kale throne, and during my term, I plan to do as much as I can for the kale coalition between Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein. But seriously, we border Scandinavia here, with its royal houses, and so in Schleswig-Holstein we have a certain understanding, and in some cases even an affinity for it. We saw that last fall, when the king and queen of Denmark paid us a visit and got a really warm reception. A monarchy can definitely contribute to identifi- cation and cohesion in a society. Even so, I think there’s no doubt that parliamentary de- mocracy is the best form of government of them all, and it’s a huge gift that the Allies gave us af- ter the Second World War. We need to preserve it, now more than ever. back to page 1 1 | 25 Fraunhofer magazine A good defense The minister-president has called for defensive readiness — including on a defense industry visit in Schleswig- Holstein. That was close A sigh of relief on the Sunday of the German Bundestag elections: The CDU/CSU has enough seats for a governing coalition with the SPD. Giving up insults for Lent Günther is close friends with his party colleague Markus Söder. For Lent this year, he suggested his CSU counterpart give up something dear to his heart: insulting the Greens. King for a day Günther is the newly crowned Kale King, having robbed the SPD’s Boris Pistorius of his throne. Predecessors have reached the highest echelons of German politics: Helmut Schmidt, Helmut Kohl and Angela Merkel. 27

1 | 25 Fraunhofer magazine These days, there are nearly 300,000 users of the services across 12 states in Germany. talk about upcoming events or just connect. The app also gives users a direct line to local government. Users can easily report issues like broken playground equipment, and the local authorities can send out important information via push notifications to reach the village community quickly. Content can also be shared automatically now, which makes local government’s work easier. One key technical challenge of getting the sys- tem up and running was incorporating the digital services that already existed in rural areas into the Digital Villages platform. “What really sets our platform apart is that it focuses on local communication,” explains Dominik Magin, Smart City Business Area Manager at Fraunhofer IESE. “Local residents can decide for themselves the radius they want to connect in, and then all of the relevant information for that area is served to them all in one place.” The project was launched ten years ago with three test municipalities in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate; these days, there are nearly 300,000 users of the services across 12 states in Germany. Berg says the focus on local communication is a key factor in bringing older people on board as active users as well. It fosters trust when a person already knows the majority of other users. On top of that, the app is free to use and has no ads, plus it has a strict privacy policy and is operated exclusively in Germany. Berg, Magin and Hess are delighted at their platform’s success. “I thought it was awesome to visit the test locations during the project and see how well the Digital Villages idea was received by the commu- nity,” says Hess, the head of the Digital Innovation & Smart City division at Fraun- hofer IESE. “Older people in particular were often so grateful that the platform makes their day-to-day lives easier. Those were real highlights of the project for me.” a p d / k e h t o t o h p / r e n t r e a G n a i r o l F : o t o h P back to page 1 29

1 | 25 Fraunhofer magazine The award-win- ning radio technology can also be used to defend against drones or booby traps. person’s voice, clearly audible.” In this way, in-band full-duplex technology makes possible for the first time something that previously seemed impossi- ble: transmitting and receiving simultaneously on the same frequency. Guarding against drones and booby traps The primary applications the researchers are envisaging are those associated with the Bundes- wehr’s core mission of defending the German nation and its alliance partners — detecting drones and disrupting their control signals, for example. This technology can specifically be used to simultaneously receive and disrupt or neutralize the radio signals used to control indi- vidual drones: drone defense in real time without constant interruptions caused by having to switch back and forth between transmit and receive mode as previously required. The radio technology can also be used to protect vehicles, which in war zones are often attacked using radio-triggered booby traps. The in-band full-duplex technology makes it possible to identify life-threatening radio signals on an ongoing basis and take countermeasures without losing any time. Another fundamental advantage is apparent anywhere that there is a lot of radio communica- tion. With transmission and receiving taking place on the same channel at the same time, duplex radio doubles the data throughput. Adrat com- ments: “From satellite communications to com- munication by aircraft or integration of self-driv- ing cars into traffic, frequencies are in short supply. In-band full-duplex makes it possible to utilize this scarce resource more effectively.” Tschauner praises the collaboration with the working groups from the various countries: “It was fun. The working relationship with our col- leagues from Belgium was especially fruitful. Their job was to further develop the signal processing in the software, while ours was to construct the right circuit boards and antennas.” The Fraunhofer researchers have now received a significant award for their work: Prof. Adrat, his department head Dr. Markus Antweiler and Tschauner have been recognized with the NATO Information Systems Technology (IST) Panel Team Excellence Award. Experts are certain this tech- nology will catch on in use by NATO, in civil defense and in other scenarios in just the next few years. And when that happens, it will be time for tradi- tional radio technology to say “Over and out.” a p d / t d r a h n e R i l i e n a D : o t o h P Problem-free communica- tions in the field: In-band full-duplex technology opens up new possibilities in radio communications. back to page 1 31

1 | 25 Fraunhofer magazine Seldom is an environmental crime so clear-cut: A river in Argentina turned blood-red in February, making headlines worldwide. also helping to regenerate peatlands and other ecosystems.” This is exactly where the strengths of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft lie. The or- ganization’s expertise ranges from smart farming and life sciences to biomaterials and bioprocess engineering and beyond to new recycling technologies. “Over half of our 75 institutes have been working on bioeconomy-related topics for de- cades now,” Böker notes. “More than 200 research and industry projects have been realized since 2016 alone. We’ve come up with potential solutions for global a p d / P A / d b A o g i r d o R : o t o h P “Over half of our 75 institutes have been working on bioeconomy-rela- ted topics for decades now.” Prof. Alexander Böker, Fraunhofer IAP challenges in this field and are providing valuable impetus to strengthen Germany as a hub of business and commerce.” The recipe for success hinges on synergy, both between and among Fraunhofer institutes and with external partners in Germany and internationally. The VITAL project is a prime example. Under Finnish leadership, it involves three Fraunhofer institutes and 11 other orga- nizations from seven EU countries. These joint efforts are aimed at innovative meth- ods of processing foamed bio-based ther- moplastics, a type of plastic that can be shaped using heat. In addition to back to page 1 33

1 | 25 Fraunhofer magazine How can we ensure food security in the future? Humble seaweed is one option. Culti- vating algae can be very resource- efficient, and their nutritional value is high. They contain fiber, nutrients and miner- als, along with a number of healthy sub- stances, so they are suitable raw materials for nutritional supplements and foods. Growing seaweed is extremely sustain- able, explains Elke Böhme, who leads the FunSea project at the Fraunhofer Institute for Individualized and Cell-Based Med- ical Engineering IMTE in Lübeck: “The seaweed grows in the sea, so it doesn’t need fresh water, land or fertilizer. Actu- ally, they even absorb some of the excess nutrients that wash into the sea with agricultural runoff and pollute marine ecosystems.” In cooperation with a Nor- wegian seaweed farming company, Ber- lin-based start-up wunderfish and other partners, Fraunhofer IMTE is working to improve the nutritional quality, safety and functional properties of cultivated brown and green algae as food ingredients. Which institutions are also working on the use of seaweed, oilseed and bio- based polymers? In which states of Ger- many or neighboring countries are similar pilot plants being operated to upscale innovative methods? Are there funds available from the German federal gov- ernment or the EU to support these efforts? The ShapingBio project is asking these kinds of big-picture questions, as project manager Dr. Sven Wydra from the Fraun- hofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI explains: “Our goal is to bolster the innovative potential of the bioeconomy by identifying existing gaps, coming up with prospective solutions and then using that information to create proposals for policymakers. After all, bioeconomy is heavily influenced by overall policy conditions, which can apply at the European, national and/or regional levels. In many cases, different government agencies such as agriculture, research, economics and environment ministries are involved. So we look for ways to im- prove coordination between and within those levels.” Another equally important factor is dia- logue among the stakeholders involved, Wydra, who has a degree in economics, says: “We worked with our ten European project partners to organize 48 work- shops, some online and some in person. These events are opportunities to bring a wide range of players together, including political decision makers from various EU Member States, who meet with re- searchers, industry representatives, investors and even NGOs.” The third EU Bioeconomy Strategy is currently being worked on in Brussels with the goal of advancing implementation on the market. The ShapingBio team’s expertise is called on for this as well. The project is receiving four million euros in funding from the EU. “That shows just how much interest there is in our work,” Wydra notes. n u a r B & r e l a h t r e V i : o t o h P back to page 1 35

1 | 25 Fraunhofer magazine Quantum technologies Small Quanta, Big Impact The tiniest parts of matter provide insight into big contexts. Sunlight, magnetism and molecular interactions are just some of the things that cannot be explained conclusively without them. As a basis for advanced technologies, quantum physics is set to achieve great things across a range of different areas. What is the current status of advances in quantum computing, communications, imaging and sensors? By Mandy Bartel; photographer: Sebastian Arlt back to page 1 37

1 | 25 Fraunhofer magazine How can the power grid be stabilized? Dr. Jeanette Lorenz does research at Fraunhofer IKS on concrete use cases for quantum computers. back to page 1 39

“To be able to solve a certain issue, the first thing we need to understand is which algorithm fits which hardware.” Dr. Jeanette Lorenz, Fraunhofer IKS also for the quantum community itself when it comes to knowing what direction to go in for aspects like further developing software.” Error-tolerant and application-friendly software Quantum software is the research area of Jeanette Lorenz and her team. While work is ongoing to make the qubits themselves less error-prone, they are striving to adjust the algorithms to cope with hard- ware errors. Together with five partners from industry and the research sector, they are work- ing on a project called QUAST, which aims to make quantum computing easily accessible to companies. The researchers are focusing on industrial opti- mization issues that do not yet have a perfect solution today. “To be able to solve a certain issue, the first thing we need to understand is which algorithm fits which hardware, meaning how a specific industrial opti- mization problem can be import- ed into a quantum computer in the first place,” Lorenz says, outlining the challenge. One crucial factor in this is the software stack, meaning the layered structure of all components that are necessary to the development, op- eration and use of quantum computers. The relevant use case is visualized at the uppermost level of the stack. The lower levels are where the connection to the relevant hardware is made. To date, the assumption has been that different hardware, with its specific pros and cons, will be suitable for different use cases. This is also why the researchers are working with different hardware provid- ers. “We know, for example, that ion traps are slower than superconducting qubits, which is why they tend to be a better fit for questions where we can afford for the machine to compute more slowly in exchange for greater accuracy.” Lorenz points to simulation of molecules as one example. One of the many applications her research team has explored as part of the QUAST project is optimization of power grids. The goal here is to strike a balance among different distributed energy sources with high volatility. The question that traditional computers become less and less able to answer as complexity increases is when pow- er sources should be brought online or taken offline to stabilize the grid. Quantum computers may be able to 1 | 25 Fraunhofer magazine help with these kinds of combinatorial optimization problems — but not on their own. “People are increasing- ly realizing that quantum processors will be more of a new processing unit rather than an independent system in their own right,” Lorenz says. “In the future, they will probably be operated in tandem with a traditional high-performance system. That’s why the connection is so important, so people can switch back and forth de- pending on the issue.” One of the results of QUAST is a detailed and specific decision tree with solution paths for these kinds of optimization problems. It lets companies put together their own quantum-supported solution from various compo- nents to solve their application problem automatically. “They don’t need any quantum experts of their own. Instead, they are guided through the entire pro- cess, so they know which algo- rithm fits which issue,” Lorenz explains. This is of interest both to industrial firms, which want to use the new methods to op- timize their own processes in fields such as the automotive industry, and software providers, which are looking to incorporate these advances into their software tools. Teaming up with Thales: identifying optimum drone paths through space and time The Thales Group was among those wanting to know how quantum computers could get their new business models off the ground. Thales air traffic management systems ensure safe and efficient movement of aircraft through all phases of operation. But aside from planes, more and more drones will be in the sky in the future. From flying taxis to monitoring and delivery drones that supply ur- gently needed medications, the potential is huge. Thales plans to expand its business model so it can keep track of these newer flying objects as well. But previously proven systems are not up to the new challenges: In addition to optimum flight routes, no-fly zones and times must be factored in, and collisions must be avoided — all for a large number of drones. This means new methods are needed. With this in mind, Thales contacted the team headed by Dr. Nico Piatkowski at the Fraunhofer Institute for Intelligent Analysis and Information Systems IAIS in Sankt Augustin, near Bonn. back to page 1 41

1 | 25 Fraunhofer magazine “It is crucial for us to keep the conversation about standardization of interfaces in the European context going.” Dr. Thorsten Goebel, Fraunhofer IOF Thorsten Goebel, who brings together the QuNET activ- ities at Fraunhofer IOF in the role of group manager. The research team started out four years ago with a simple point-to-point connection between two buildings in Bonn. Last year, a pathbreaking experiment in the Berlin area demonstrated that it is possible to use quantum security to encrypt official communica- tions in a complex urban net- work w ith multiple users. To achieve this, six network nodes at locations operated by Fraunhofer HHI, Deutsche Telekom and Bundesdruckerei, the entity that produces German banknotes and secure docu- ments such as IDs, were linked together with 125 kilometers of optical fiber and additional free- space link connections. Trans- mission of sample ID data be- tween different government agencies and residents was used as a practical use case with re- al-world application. “We were able to show that our systems work stably together with- in heterogeneous network structures and that critical interfaces work to encrypt the exchange of personal data with photons,” Goebel says. Interfaces are the biggest challenge, both between free space and fiber and between systems. “It is crucial for us to keep the conversation about standardization of interfaces in the European context going.” In the next key experiment, the team plans to demon- strate how a quantum-secured communication connec- tion between a flying airplane and a mobile ground station can be established and ultimately linked to a fiber optic network. In the long run, the flying photons are additionally to be transmitted to an ion trap that serves as stationary quantum memory. The researchers hope this will allow them to expand the range of fiber-bound quantum communication in the future without there being any need to read out the data at interim stops, which could prove to be an issue in terms of security. A mobile setup could be used to close gaps in fiber networks in the future, for example guarding security-relevant events such as a G7 summit in the Alps against eavesdropping with an ad hoc free-space connection. The mobile ground station, which is the size of a small shipping container, uses a periscope to capture the signals from the quantum source on the plane. A telescope stabilizes and combines them so they can be forwarded. Instead of a plane, a satellite could cover even longer distances down the road. Fraunhofer IOF is now building an optical ground station on top of its new building in Jena to help with future research on satellite connections for quantum communication. The station is to house a stationary receiving telescope. This will enable in-house tele- scope development and function as one element in a global quan- tum network. But investment by the research sector alone will not be enough: “To advance quantum communication, we need to move things through to applica- tion quickly,” Goebel says. “Fed- eral agencies could not only provide funding to support this but also lead by example as early adopters.” Time is pressing, since the potential threat posed by cyberattacks and eavesdrop- ping is growing with advances in technology, including quan- tum computers. And much like quantum computers, quantum encryption is also unlikely to be used on its own in the future: “To achieve maximum security and make systems more resilient, it is a good idea to pursue hybrid approach- es in data encryption and combine quantum key distri- bution with post-quantum cryptography.” Quantum imaging: using quantum tricks to identify tumor tissue Goebel’s colleague at Fraunhofer IOF, Dr. Karin Burger, is also working on entangled light particles with her project team. Instead of working on improving secu- rity against eavesdropping, though, she is focusing on medical diagnostics. During an operation, the surgeon often does not know whether the entire tumor has in fact been removed. A sample taken from the tissue at the margin is sent to the lab, where lengthy contrast methods are combined with optical microscopy to tell diseased and healthy cells apart. This takes time and can result in a need for follow-up procedures. “Newer digital microscopes with infrared detectors don’t need additional fluorescent markers, but their limited signal- to-noise ratio means they can quickly reach their limits. And higher-resolution systems are very large and require additional cooling,” Burger explains. This is why medical centers such as Jena University Hospital are looking for faster, more efficient methods. back to page 1 43

1 | 25 Fraunhofer magazine Quantum optics could offer an alternative. In the QUANCER project, which is receiving funding from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), nine project partners from industry and the research sector are working together with Fraunhofer IOF on a scanning microscope that uses “undetected” light. The first step is to generate pairs of correlated light par- ticles in a photon source. These particles are complemen- tary in their quantum mechanical properties, like twins. The researchers assign them two different tasks: While “Our goal is a compact system for quantum imaging about the size of a shoe box, ideally compatible with a standard microscope.” Dr. Karin Burger, Fraunhofer IOF one beam of light is aimed at the tissue sample, the other is captured with a camera. Because of the correlation between the particles’ frequencies, the information from the photon that has reached the sample is transferred to the other at the camera, where it is visualized — without the second photon ever coming into contact with the tissue at all. One feature in particular makes this method special: “The photons of the two light beams can even have very different wavelengths, unlocking wavelength ranges that are difficult to access,” Burger explains. “For example, one light beam in the invisible infrared range can read out specific information from the sample, such as chemical composition or changes in tissue morpholo- gy, while the other light beam lies in the visible range and can be read out by a conventional low-noise detector.” This trick could allow quantum optics to overcome the previous limits of infrared microscopy, a time-consuming and involved process. “Our goal is a compact system for quantum imaging about the size of a shoe box, ideally compatible with back to page 1 45

1 | 25 Fraunhofer magazine How’s it flowing? Leonhard Schmieder developed a method based on quantum sensors at Fraunhofer IPM to measure flow inside pipes. back to page 1 47

1 | 25 Fraunhofer magazine “Essentially, what we’re trying to do is bring together the CMOS chips, which have a warmer operating temperature, and the quantum proces- sors, which require cryogenic conditions of neg- ative 273.15 degrees Celsius, in a single system,” Wislicenus explains. “A flex module based on something called interposer technology and ad- vanced packaging allow us to decouple these components in such a way that the necessary electrical impulses are transmitted but not the thermal fluctuations.” This interdisciplinary ap- proach requires that experts in physics and engi- neering work together closely, but that is not all. It is also a challenge to design the interfaces for compatibility, since there are multiple partners and systems and different standards involved. “Together with our partners in Dresden, we worked out the design for the co-integration of CMOS and quantum chips and identified suitable materials for temperature management,” Wislicenus notes, outlining the subproject’s progress so far. “A first-generation interposer based on this has al- ready been produced and successfully tested under cryogenic conditions. This also includes demonstrating the superconducting properties of the materials used. Besides that, the tests were also successful for cryogenic characterization of the CMOS chips from GlobalFoundries.” The ten-qubit prototype is only an interme- diate step on the way to higher scale. By the time the project ends in December 2026, plans call for the system to have reached the point that it can control 30 qubits with maximum error correction. Although there has been widespread talk of a “quantum winter” due to slower progress in tech- nological development in the wake of major buzz about quantum computing in recent years, Wis- licenus is optimistic: “We’re increasingly moving from research into practice, especially due to the European Chips Act. Distributed European pilot lines are currently being set up in this context to produce quantum chips at production scale. This will not only further increase the maturity of the technology but also give many more established companies and start-ups access to it.” 49 All in one: Integration of components with different operating temperatures reduces susceptibility to errors in quantum computers. back to page 1

1 | 25 Fraunhofer magazine o t o h p k c o t s i / s a t o n r e B s i t y R : o t o h P Smart approach: A virtual likeness made up of health data could accelerate the shift toward preventive medicine. back to page 1 51

1 | 25 Fraunhofer magazine 3D Printing Helps Strengthen Knee Joints Sports and exercise are good for people’s health. But too much or the wrong kind of strain can harm the cartilage in the joints. Left untreated, that can lead to arthritis, a disease for which there is no effective solution. Not yet, at any rate. By Manuel Montefalcone T here are an estimated five million peo- ple in Germany living with arthritis, a painful and currently incurable condition involving swelling and inflammation in the joints as cartilage breaks down. Once it is destroyed, cartilage simply does not regrow in the same way as before. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Research IAP in Potsdam and Brandenburg Uni- versity of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg (BTU) are now working on a potential solution in the BioPol-3D project. The goal is to develop individ- ualized cartilage cell implants produced using 3D printing. The four-year project, which started in January 2024, is receiving two million euros in funding from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). 3D-printed cartilage cells “For a long time now, we’ve been researching polymers that are biofunctional, meaning they in- teract with cells and tissues,” explains Prof. Ruben R. Rosencrantz, the project’s manager, who is also the director of the Life Science and Bioprocesses division at Fraunhofer IAP. “For BioPol-3D, we are developing and optimizing special polymers that complement and stabilize the cartilage cells,” he explains. These innovative biopolymers form the basis for cartilage cell implants created using 3D printing. A regular office printer needs ink or toner. But what about printing cartilage cell implants? A special bio-ink is used for this. It consists of the biofunctional polymers developed at Fraunhofer IAP, which take the form of hydrogels, along with other elements that imitate the natural cell envi- ronment found inside the body. The “ink” also contains living cartilage cells taken from the in- f r 3 2 1 / l i v e d k c o t S : o t o h P The human skeleton comprises some 360 joints. Cartilage is what keeps them working smoothly. dividual patient. These hydrogels, polymers and the body’s own cells combine to form a viscous mass with a honey-like texture, aligned precisely to the needs of the cartilage cells. Bio-ink with revolutionary potential The researchers at Fraunhofer IAP are on the verge of successfully 3D printing cartilage cell implants: “We test the bio-ink in vitro first with human cell cultures to confirm that it is biocom- patible and functional,” Rosencrantz explains. “The ink needs to be strong enough to generate the desired form during the printing process while at the same time creating an environment suitable for cartilage cells.” The printed cartilage cell implants have the potential to revolutionize not only healthcare, but also the field of additive manufacturing of similar molded shapes. If these 3D bioprinting materials and methods prove successful, they could also be used in other areas such as sensors and cosmetics. “Printing customized implants will improve the available treatments for cartilage problems. And that considerably reduces the likelihood of developing arthritis later on,” Rosen- crantz says. “I have family members with arthri- tis, so I’m even more driven to develop something that really helps with this issue.” “For a long time now, we’ve been researching polymers that are biofunctional, meaning they interact with cells and tissues.” Prof. Ruben R. Rosencrantz, Fraunhofer IAP back to page 1 53

1 | 25 Fraunhofer magazine Plants and medicinal herbs used to be the main remedies available. These days, pharmacy shelves are stocked with high-tech drugs. P rof. Carsten Claussen has been on the hunt for more than 25 years now. “The one drug that makes it to your local pharmacy is like the proverbial needle in a haystack,” explains Claussen, head of the Hamburg office of the Fraunhofer Institute for Translational Medicine and Pharmacology ITMP. He almost made it once, he recalls. But then the drug, a candidate for treating Alzheimer’s disease, turned out to have no effect in humans. “My wife was thinking we were about to strike it rich. I was sorry to disappoint her,” he says. “I ended up having to stay at Fraunhofer — which is great, actually!” Claussen and his team put vast stamina and expertise into combing through libraries of substances, often comprising hundreds of thou- sands of molecules or even more, searching for a “hit.” That is what experts call a promising candidate that can address a pre-identified ther- apeutic “target” in the body and, for example, block the growth of tumor cells. The team per- forms “high-throughput” screenings that auto- matically test the molecules to see whether they interact with the target, and if so, how. “We don’t just test any random molecules, of course. We try to select the ones with the greatest possible relevance in advance,” Claussen explains. To back to page 1 55 a p d / B Z / d o h f u a K d r a h n e R i l : o t o h P

1 | 25 Fraunhofer magazine At least 20 % of all clinical trials fail because not enough candidates can be found. Model hearts contract like the real thing It takes three to six weeks for human test models to be ready to use. “For cardiomyocytes, or heart muscle cells, we have little clusters that beat and contract just like tiny hearts after only seven days,” Neubauer explains. They mature after that and are cultured under specific conditions to produce three-dimensional tissue, forming what are known as organoids. These model hearts, about the size of the head of a pin, can be used to test aspects such as how innovative cardiac medications affect the heart’s contractile force or rhythm. Different active ingredients can also be tested in series or in combination on the same model with no problems. “With our skin models, which are about the size of a fingernail, you can even use a cotton swab to massage in a formulation like a cream,” Groeber-Becker says. The models can be used for about one to two weeks. After that, the cells grow too old and gradually lose their functionality. Animal test- ing still cannot be fully eliminated from drug development, Groeber-Becker explains. “But we’re working on making the occasions when it is needed rarer and rarer.” There is a lot of interest in the tissue models and organoids, she notes. This is because they have one crucial added advantage: “They save considerable time and cost because our human models increase predictability. This allows us to predict with much greater accuracy how the drug will behave in the human body and whether clinical trials would be worthwhile.” But even with bright prospects, only some of the most promising drug candidates ulti- mately end up treating patients. One of the biggest hurdles in drug research comes during these later stages of the process: recruiting participants for clinical trials. So far, subjects are mainly sought manually. Healthcare professionals review their patient bases and compare them against the relevant trial’s list of requirements — a laborious and time-consuming process that often does not produce the desired results. At least 20 percent of all clinical trials fail because not enough candidates can be found. A new AI-based solution developed at the Fraunhofer Institute for Intelligent Analysis and Information Systems IAIS in Sankt Augustin, near Bonn, is helping with this. It allows rele- vant information to be simply extracted from running text, such as medical histories or doctor’s notes, and then compared to the inclu- sion and exclusion criteria for clinical trials. This makes it possible to scan a hospital or clinic’s entire database in seconds, for example. It does not even matter which file format was used to store the information. “Advanced AI models can deal with multimodal data, includ- ing pictures of text or tables. We’re working to integrate these kinds of models into our solu- tions,” explains Sina Mackay, a data scientist at Fraunhofer IAIS. The process of comparing records against the requirements listed for current trials, which are published on central- ized websites such as the EU Clinical Trials Register, could take place automatically. App makes it faster to find study participants But the search is not a one-sided one. Even as the drug industry looks for subjects for its tri- als, many patients are also on the lookout for studies that might work for them. Motivations include gaining access to innovative treat- ments or simply supporting medical research to help others with similar conditions. To meet this need, the Fraunhofer IAIS team worked with partners to create a prototype version of an app that could compare personal data from a person’s electronic patient record to the trial requirements published online. “The likelihood of a match increases if both parties are actively looking, by which I mean both the drug developer and patients,” Mackay explains. This could make the process of recruiting participants for clinical studies much faster, more efficient and more suc- cessful. But before the app, called DATACARE, can access people’s electronic patient records, there are still some points to clear up, including legal questions and the issue of ensuring privacy. “Aside from that, of course, all the relevant documents should be present in the electronic patient record, and at this point, we can’t yet assume that to be the case,” Mackay says. Even so, she is confident: “We’re on our way.” back to page 1 57

1 | 25 Fraunhofer magazine Algorithms from adiutaByte are designed to give home health aides more time for the more meaning- ful parts of the job. be accepted in day-to-day home health practice,” Feld says. But adiutaByte’s opti- mization solutions were impressive because they quickly and noticeably eased the strain on home health aides. “Even small home health care services typically have one person working half-time to full-time just on figuring out the routes. And then there’s also preparing the staff scheduling and documentation,” Feld explains. “Our algorithms save the planners several hours a day that they would otherwise have to invest in time-consuming tasks such as route planning and juggling schedules. And that means they can get back to using that time for actual patient care.” MEDIFOX DAN acquired all of the shares in adiutaByte for 2.4 million euros in December 2021. Then, in November 2022, San Diego, California-based ResMed pur- chased the MEDIFOX DAN Group for one billion U.S. dollars. “ResMed treats us like one of the crown jewels in the group of companies,” says Feld, who works as the company’s managing director. The opti- mization methods developed in Sankt Augustin have the potential to significantly improve ResMed’s own software solutions. This is because adiutaByte offers more than just algorithms for route planning and scheduling. The team has also programmed AI modules that take emotional and empa- thy-related aspects into account when planning patient care and services. Pattern recognition and machine learning are used e t y B a t u d a i , o t o h p k c o t s i / t u n o c o c a m i : s o t o h P to analyze health aides’ relationships with clients, among other things. This makes it possible to identify a “preferred aide” for patients, for example, and automatically adjust the route planning to take that into account. And that is more than just a nice “Our algorithms save home health services several hours a day that they would otherwise have to invest in time-consuming tasks such as route planning and juggling schedules.” Dr. Dustin Feld, Co-Founder adiutaByte GmbH The founding team at adiutaByte: Dr. Dustin Feld, Vanessa Wolff and Eric Schricker (from left) extra feature, Feld points out: “Optimum route planning isn’t much use if an older lady won’t open the door because she doesn’t recognize the health care provider standing there.” Putting time to better use ResMed’s software solutions are on the market in the United States and many other countries, so the adiutaByte tech- nology will soon be available for home health and inpatient healthcare services around the world to use. It’s a huge suc- cess for a spin-off that is just five years old. The company has come a long way from its first year’s annual revenue of 30,000 euros. Now with a team of about 20, adiutaByte expects to post about two million euros in revenue for 2025. More than 700 home health services in Germany use the software, which helped them to redirect more than half a million working hours to patient care in 2023. At adiutaByte, there is a strong believe that high-tech for this segment will come to play a central role in fighting the current shortage. “Fewer and fewer people are going into nursing or allied health professions, even as demand is rising steadily,” Feld says, outlining the issue. Ultimately, num- bers and algorithms can help to save healthcare professionals time — and make the job more attractive, too. “It’s worth putting our best efforts into this.” back to page 1 59

1 | 25 Fraunhofer magazine 1.5 million kilometers away from the Earth, Gaia surveyed the Milky Way. EUROPE Galactic Archeology With unique data from about two billion stars, the Gaia space telescope has made it possible to survey the Milky Way with pinpoint accuracy in recent years. Re- searchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engi- neering IOF developed a special transmis- sion grating for the radial velocity spec- trometer used in the telescope, which captures the movements of heavenly bodies based on changes in the light spectrum. The grating allows for precise measurements of the phenomenon known as redshift, even under the ex- treme conditions found in space. The component’s grating structure is a meta- surface, meaning it consists of tiny pat- terns, on a scale smaller than the wave- lengths of light, that are created using high-resolution electron beam lithogra- phy. This nanostructure splits the star- light into its individual spectral compo- nents, making it possible to calculate the exact direction of movement and veloci- ty of the stars relative to the Earth. Elev- en years after it was launched, the Gaia space probe is now being sent into its final orbit. EUROPE Intelligent Steel Production To shrink the European steel industry’s environmental footprint, 11 partners from industry and the research sector are working together on the DiGreeS EU project, under the leadership of the Fraunhofer Institute for Nondestructive Testing IZFP and with funding from the European Union, with the goal of devel- oping a smart platform for connected steel production. By bringing together key technologies, including digital twins, artificial intelligence and high-precision soft sensors, the platform achieves con- tinuous improvement in the use of cen- tral process data. Simulations, precision forecasts and predictive process adjust- ments also enable resource-conserving control in real time, along with optimized energy use and production speed along the entire value chain, while making last- Steel production is responsible for about 28 percent of all industrial emissions in Germany. ing improvements in product quality. The goal is to lower the European steel industry’s carbon emissions by as much as six million metric tons a year and elim- inate up to 800 million euros in costs. EUROPE Fraunhofer App Visualizes Air Quality The Fraunhofer Heinrich-Hertz-Insti- tut, HHI, has developed a free aug- mented reality app called DEVA (Dynamic Exposure Visualization App) to visualize air pollution in real time. It displays harmful substances such as CO₂, NO₂ and particulates as particles floating in 3D around the user’s posi- tion — a visualization intended to raise awareness of local environmen- tal conditions. Particulate matter causes long-term damage to the airways and the nervous and cardio- vascular systems. To do this, DEVA accesses data sources such as Sensor.Community, a global sensor network, and Telraam’s collection of traffic data. A supplemen- tary Google service supplies model values for regions without measuring stations of their own. Alongside the visualization, DEVA offers the option to record routes to measure air quality along the way. The app was created as part of the EU project H2020 COMPAIR with the aim of assessing how traf- fic-calming zones affect air quality. Its modular structure means that addi- tional environmental measurement data can be integrated and visualized with relative ease, opening up poten- tial for both individual behavior and political decision-making processes. The app is available from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. back to page 1 61 o h n i t i o M . A : t n e m g d e w o n k c A l . O G I . 0 3 A S - Y B C C ; C A P D / a i a G / A S E , o t o h p k c o t s i l l a / u o y 4 e u b p e e d l , r k n o m i s , t j a , 9 h c i v c o r t e P : s o t o h P

1 | 25 Fraunhofer magazine Soaking up the sun: The floating solar installation on the Cottbuser Ostsee lake is currently the largest of its kind in Germany. back to page 1 63 e k n a r F s a e r d n A : o t o F

would bring the potential to 14 gigawatts at peak, notes Dr. Karolina Baltins, who is in charge of solar power plants at Fraunhofer ISE. But that is not all. “If 35 per- cent coverage were allowed, the technical potential would rise to as much as 45 gigawatts-peak,” Baltins says — a respectable amount that could definitely help Germany reach its goal of producing about 600 ter- awatt-hours of electricity from renewable sources each year by 2030. To achieve that, plans call for actions including installing solar panels with combined electrical output of 215 gigawatts. What happens in the shadow of the PV modules? With all this in mind, one of the key research ques- tions in the PV2Float project is how scientifically jus- tified the strict installation rules that apply to floating solar panels are. “When it comes to regulating new technologies, Germany typically chooses the path of caution and doesn’t relax the rules until later, when there is enough data,” Wieland explains. Although many other countries operate differently in this re- gard, a more cautious ecological approach definitely makes sense in some ways. For example, a floating solar array blocks the sunlight to the part of the lake underneath it while also changing wind conditions at the surface. Both can affect how the water mixes in the lake, which in turn can alter nutrient concentra- tions. And that ultimately affects the flora and fauna found in the lake ecosystem, from microorganisms to fish. Brandenburg University of Technology Cott- bus-Senftenberg is tasked with investigating these kinds of ecosystem impacts as part of the PV2Float project. At the same time, the research project also plans to use computer simulations to further scale the size of the solar installation and find out how much of the lake’s surface can be covered before the ecosys- tem is expected to reach a tipping point. “Our research is completely open to any outcome,” Wieland says. “If the project finds that there is already an unfavorable impact on the ecosystem when the existing laws are obeyed, we’ll publish that, too.” But there are also some indications that floating PV could even have a positive effect on the lake eco- system. The shadow on the surface means that less of the lake’s water evaporates, which can be beneficial in Lusatia’s relatively dry climate. At the same time, the water does not heat up as much, which is a definite plus amid climate change, as less heating means less algal growth. E S I r e f o h n u a r F : o t o h P 1 | 25 Fraunhofer magazine A bureaucratic odyssey Floating photovoltaics is booming: Total installed capacity worldwide rose from about ten megawatts in 2014 to more than two gigawatts in 2021. How- ever, to better harness the possibilities for energy production and climate action associated with this technology in Germany, the approval process needs to be streamlined, Wieland says. Researchers from Fraunhofer ISE conducted interviews on this point with government agencies and project operators in Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, North Rhine-Westpha- lia, Brandenburg and Rhineland-Palatinate as part of the PV2Float project. Based on these conversations, they developed a step-by-step schema for approval processes that looks a bit like a subway map for a major city at first glance. Depending on the location and type of lake, the lengthy process of starting construction of an FPV installation can involve nature conservation authorities, mining agencies, the construction office and municipal coun- cil, water authorities, forestry agencies and other entities charged with safeguarding the public interest. “Even for our little research array in the Mortkasee lake, it wasn’t exactly easy to get a permit to operate,” Wieland recalls. One factor that made things more difficult was that the lake bed is particularly slippery, so the floating panels had to be anchored with concrete blocks — and that, of course, required further expert reports. Wieland’s outlook has remained positive in spite of the long permit process: “Since we succeeded in installing a floating solar array here on the Mort- kasee lake, we know for a fact that it’s possible to do the same at many other artificial lakes.” Floating photovoltaics is booming: Total installed capacity worldwide rose from about ten megawatts in 2014 to more than two gigawatts in 2021. back to page 1 65

1 | 25 Fraunhofer magazine W hen Alexander Pamler, a research scientist from Graz, takes the Fraunhofer Austria AI mobile out on the road, he always brings some chocolate cookies along. They’re not just a snack, either. Instead, they illustrate a surprising phe- nomenon: Pamler uses the cookies and a demonstrator called Optical Quality Con- trol with AI to bring home to organiza- tions and their employees as convincingly as possible how artificial intelligence can become a driver of innovation in indus- trial manufacturing. “Just take a bite or break off a piece,” Pamler typically tells the audience. The cookie’s surface is then photographed from above using an industrial camera, and the image is forwarded to a computer. The AI compares the cookie’s appearance to how it should look and immediately flags the discrepancy. For a cookie with a healthy bite taken out of it, the same result could probably be achieved even without AI. But what about minimal deviations from the norm, for instance if just a tiny corner has crum- bled off or there is a hairline crack on the surface? Or what if the subject isn’t a chocolatey treat at all but detecting anom- alies in production of ultra-precise micro- electronic chips as quickly as possible and with maximum reliability? Efficient even with little data For an AI model to succeed at telling nonconforming items apart from those that pass inspection, it first has to learn what the norm is and when a deviation is considered to constitute a flaw. In the traditional approach, the artificial intel- ligence is trained using huge volumes of data: pictures of perfect products and all the conceivable ways a flaw can look. However, not only does that take a long time, but in some cases it is not even pos- sible — for example because a particular production line experiences anomalies so rarely that there just isn’t enough image material available. o t o h p k c o t s i / 3 8 c r i t : o t o h P In the ImageCop project, Fraunhofer Austria teamed up with semiconductor manufacturer Infineon Technologies Austria to devise a new approach: “In the absence of a statistically representative number of defective chips, we used the known data for the many good examples to have the AI learn a model of normalcy — the model of a perfect chip, that is,” explains project manager Dr. Ulrich Krispel from Fraunhofer Austria. “So then, any deviation from the normal model is detected as a mistake.” “Viewed overall, the machine delivers better results.” Alexander Pamler, Fraunhofer Austria One especially challenging aspect for training purposes was the fact that even the microchips that pass inspection do not all look identical. Instead, there is a certain amount of visual variance among them, caused by factors such as tiny pieces of lint on the surface that do not affect function- ality. The model created by the Fraunhofer researchers for the ImageCop project ended up learning how to deal with these toler- able deviations from perfection. “Our AI software has a success rate just a little below that of a very well trained and moti- vated person with outstanding concentra- tion,” Pamler explains. But what human employee maintains that level of focused, motivated attention to their work from the first minute on the job to the last? AI, by contrast, can work 24/7, and it does not get tired or distracted. Ultimately, all that means it does have an advantage over human detection capability. “Viewed overall, the machine delivers better results,” Pamler says. Saving money, saving lives Separating the wheat from the chaff: AI-based anomaly recognition not only offers exciting options for industrial monitoring but could also be used in other industries such as finance or cybersecu- rity or for detecting fraud based on anom- alous events or behaviors. Beyond that, Fraunhofer Austria and the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology IPT have joined forces in the KI4Med project to further develop AI-based anomaly detec- tion for use in medicine. The researchers are focusing on tissue samples taken during surgery on patients with malig- nancies. The current practice is to have the samples examined by cancer specialists. “On average, the process takes anywhere from 20 to 40 minutes, and that’s precious time while the patient has to stay under anesthesia,” Pamler says, describing the situation. “Not only do these kinds of waits increase the risk of complications, but they also produce huge costs, burdening the healthcare system unnecessarily.” The goal of the project is to develop algorithms that can be used to automate the tissue analysis to the point where it takes just seconds. Based on data from optical coherence tomography (OCT) — an imaging method that uses light waves to visualize tissue structures without need- ing to destroy the tissue in the process — the AI software learns to tell the difference between healthy and diseased tissue. Plus, it does this so quickly that the operation can continue without any major delay after the histological examination. For now, though, Pamler is sticking with cookies for his demonstrations in the AI mobile as he tours around persuading people of AI’s potential for anomaly detec- tion. After all, as he points out, “Everyone likes cookies.” back to page 1 67

1 | 25 Fraunhofer magazine “You have to under- stand the structure of the individual compo- nents if you want to give them a new form.” Dr. Kerstin Müller, Fraunhofer IVV From lab to practice: Dr. Kerstin Müller, a researcher from Fraun- hofer IVV, developed not only a sustainable polymer but also the extrusion process to go with it. From lab to industrial process “You have to understand the structure of the individual components if you want to give them a new form,” Müller says. That was why she studied many different biogenic structures, from chitin to proteins, to see whether they might be useful. With its simple structure, linear chains of molecules and practically infinite availability, cellulose derived from wood, plants or cotton is the best candidate. Plus, it does not compete with food. And yet: “Because of the strong network of hydrogen bonds in the cellulose, it would take so much energy to melt the polymer that the polymer would break down before you even got to that point.” Previous chemical workarounds had an adverse impact on biodegradability. So Müller designed an innovative, purely physical approach to modifying the cellulose instead by introducing polylactic acid (PLA) molecules as place- holders in between the long, stiff molecular chains. With these readily compatible molecules, she created space for more flexibility. To do this, the plant-based polymers are temporarily dissolved in an ionic liquid before the poly- lactic acid is added. This preserves the natural structure of the cellulose, along with its biodegradable properties. The solvent can be reused as well. But Müller was not yet satisfied with the lab tests. She translated her new method into an industrial process so it could also be optimized for a larger scale and to improve the cost-efficiency of producing the material. The mixture is placed in an extruder, a type of equipment common in plastic processing. “The idea in itself isn’t new — the food industry also extrudes natural polymers with solvents, typically water, to produce things like textured proteins for use as meat substitutes,” she explains. “But blending the polymer gel and the melted mass in the same step was something no one had tried yet.” The first attempts pre- sented immediate challenges. “At first, the extruder seized up. I had to take it apart and remove the cellulose clump, which was quite a process,” she recalls. “But luckily, it worked after that.” In the end, she was able to show that producing homogeneous blends from highly concentrated cellulose gel in an extrusion process works well and could pave the way for many possible applications. The new material could be used as a mulching film, tube-style tree protector or biodegradable planter or even for furniture or other molded parts for use indoors. V V I r e f o h n u a r F : o t o h P back to page 1 Read on for second and third prize 69

1 | 25 Fraunhofer magazine “The drying conditions are crucial to achieving a flawless and homogeneous layered structure.” Dr. Patricia Erhard Average roughness depths were reduced C asting methods have traditionally relied on sand cores to model the complex interior contours of castings for use in sectors such as the automotive indus- try and medical engineering. These cores are often made via binder jetting, a particular type of addi- tive manufacturing. “The issue is that we often run up against technical limits in designing the cavities or hollow spaces inside cast components,” Erhard explains. “The conflict between mechanical strength and de-molding capability, by which I mean removing the cores after casting, limits our range of options.” For her dissertation, Erhard, who works as a researcher at the Fraunhofer Institute for Casting, Composite and Processing Tech- nology IGCV, developed a new approach she hopes to use to lower barriers to industrial use of this technology. Instead of dry silica sand, she uses a water-based ceramic slurry with the consis- tency of wet paint. The smaller grain sizes and the fact that the suspension is applied in layers permit finer surface structures and greater density than was previously the case. Subsequent sintering makes the cores highly strong and temperature-stable, opening up new possibilities for the design of intricate interior structures in high-performance cast components. V C G I r e f o h n u a r F : : o s t o o t h o P F Greater intricacy in components for many industries Erhard’s method has many layers — and it involves many challenges, too. Every layer of material has to be allowed to dry before the binder is printed on. This was a major area of focus for her work, as this layer-by-layer drying affects both the material prop- by about 90% compared to conventional 3D printing with sand. erties and the efficiency of the overall process. “The drying conditions are crucial to achieving a flawless and homogeneous layered structure. With a suitable drying configuration, I was able to achieve a dense structure and reduce the average roughness depths by about 90 percent compared to conventional 3D printing with sand, to 1.2 μm,” Erhard comments. Remov ing the casting core from the finished product was another challenge, she says. “The more complex the core, the harder it is to remove it from the component after the casting process.” Her solution? Built-in snap-off points. This design causes the casting core to break into pieces during cooling, so it is easy to remove. Slurry-based 3D printing has many advantages. It allows for finer layer thicknesses, denser and more stable casting cores a nd geomet r ica l ly f lex ible shapes. This leads to more precise components with highly complex interior structures. Erhard has also tested the findings she gleaned through her research in two practical use cases. For example, cores for cooling structures in cast components such as those required for water-cooled electric motor hous- ings are currently limited in their intricacy and thus in their efficiency. Her method can now be used to produce high-strength, temperature-stable and more detailed cooling channels that permit better heat dissipation right where the heat is generated. A second use case is 3D-printed QR code mold inserts that could be used to uniquely identify the components through- out the production process and potentially the entire product lifespan. Beyond that, Erhard’s method also has great potential for production of complex com- ponents for the aerospace industry, medical implants and more. back to page 1 71

1 | 25 Fraunhofer magazine These days, resonator mirrors can be written directly to fibers with a diameter of 100 micrometers. fiber lasers. “For high-mode fibers with a diameter of more than 50 micrometers, there was hardly any research on diffraction gratings like these when I started my doctoral project,” Klein explains. “These days, they can be used to write resonator mirrors directly to fibers with a diameter of 100 micrometers.” Integrating these components, which are needed for feedback and amplification of the laser beam, sim- plifies the design and enhances the robustness of the beam sources. Because this eliminates the need for some optical elements along with the time-consum- ing process of adjusting them, manufacturing costs are lower as well. Their compactness and efficiency makes diode lasers popular beam sources for pumping solid-state lasers. However, their emission spectrum is typically several times broader than the absorption spectrum of the solid-state laser crystal. To stabilize the wave- lengths of the diode laser, Klein also uses a directly written fiber Bragg grating. Used as a feedback element, it shrinks the bandwidth and ensures that all of the diode lasers linked to the fiber emit only the desired wavelength. This method enhances spectral brilliance and makes optical pumping of solid-state lasers much more efficient while significantly lowering costs, a huge advantage for industrial applications. The find- ings from her dissertation could lead to innovative fiber and diode lasers, which can be used more effi- ciently and with greater versatility across a range of industries and could also spur future technologies like laser-based inertial fusion. Klein has demonstrated discipline and persistence not only in her scientific work but also in sports: As the current second-place European champion and three-time German champion in power lifting, she really knows what a heavy lift is. “But writing my dissertation was a heavier load than my weights,” she says, looking back. n e t r a g m u a B f l a R / r e f o h n u a r F : o t o h P “I was captivated by the idea that the world could be described using physical connections and formulas — and by just how versatile lasers are.” Dr. Sarah Klein, Fraunhofer ILT back to page 1 73

Photo & Fraunhofer 1 | 25 Fraunhofer magazine Fire Danger: Extreme At least 29 fatalities, more than 16,000 structures destroyed: The world looked on in horror as the most devastating wildfires in California’s history swept the Los Angeles area in January. The Fraunhofer Institute for High-Speed Dynamics, Ernst-Mach-Institute, EMI, has teamed up with CAURUS Technologies to work on a new method that the researchers hope will help make fighting wildfires more efficient in the future. In the current practice, firefighting aircraft release their load high above the source of the fire for safety reasons, allowing it to fall to the ground from there. Wind and heat cause a large portion of the water to dissipate in the process, with only a small amount actually reaching the fire. The new method involves dropping the water inside a sealed bag that does not open until it is a short distance above the fire. A special mechanism creates an aerosol cloud. The droplets can quickly deprive the fire of energy, putting it out in just a short time. “Almost 100 percent of the water vol- ume ends up right where it needs to be: in the flames,” explains Dr. Dirk Schaffner, a research scientist at Fraunhofer EMI. A combination of a sensor unit and analytics software from CAURUS Technologies supplements the system with an eye to optimizing the dropping process as well. Com- pared to the existing method, the new one uses only about one-fifth as much water to fight a fire of the same size. Firefighters already use a similar technology on the ground in high-pressure dispersion nozzles, but it has not been possible to use this technology for fighting wildfires from the air. A prototype of the new method has already been successfully tested, and a large-scale trial outside the lab is planned. The need is already urgent and growing more so: According to a World Weather Attribution study, climate change has increased the likelihood of large-scale wildfires by about 35 percent compared to the pre-indus- trial era. i a p d / P A / u h C W H o g n R . . i : o t o h P back to page 1 75

1 | 25 Fraunhofer magazine “We can succeed in creating significant added value for Germany with this technology of the future.” Hans-Dieter Hoffmann, Fraunhofer ILT back to page 1 77

Fraunhofer on the Road Darmstadt Stuttgart Munich 1 | 25 Fraunhofer magazine Munich June 24–27, 2025 Laser The world’s leading trade show and congress for photonics components, systems and applications Munich June 24–27, 2025 automatica The leading exhibition for smart automation and robotics Stuttgart May 6–9, 2025 Control International trade show for quality assurance Munich June 2–5, 2025 transport logistic The world’s leading trade show for logistics, mobility, IT and supply chain management Darmstadt June 4–5, 2025 Fraunhofer annual assembly Fraunhofer magazine The magazine for people shaping the future Would you like to get the Fraunhofer magazine in your mailbox as soon as it comes out — for free? Order it online directly at https://s.fhg.de/of Lighter Materials: Climate neutrality from new buildings to renovations 4 2 | 4 Seeds of Hope New possibilities in the fight against bacteria Dr. Winterberg and Dr. Dahlmann (right), Fraunhofer ITEM Fraunhofer Wins 2024 Deutscher Zukunftspreis German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier presents country’s most important award for innovation “We Can Do More!” An interview with Minister- President Stephan Weil back to page 1 79 1 | 25Violetta Schumm, Fraunhofer IGCVConnecting rural areas: Start-up launches app for the majority of Germans “Fraunhofer thinks about transfer from the start.”Interview with Minister- President Daniel GüntherWe’re on the MoveIndustry and the Research Sector: Energy for Our FutureSmall Quanta, Big ImpactHow new computing unlocks new solutions3 | 24Guarding against CyberattacksHow quantum technology creates more security for critical networksNatural HeatHeat pumps, a touchy subject:new opportunities unlockedBut Please Put Some Thought into It Linking AI and roboticsAmelie Reigl,Founder TigerShark ScienceRoom for BigStart-ups – a plus forsocietyIdeas