Press releases

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  • BMBF Project “MaSSiF” Explores Innovative Battery Concept / 2023

    Sulfur and Silicon as Building Blocks for Solid State Batteries

    Press release (Nr. 07) - Fraunhofer IWS Dresden / April 20, 2023

    © Fraunhofer IWS

    A new generation of lithium-sulfur batteries is the focus of the research project “MaSSiF – Material Innovations for Solid-State Sulfur-Silicon Batteries”. The project team dedicates itself to the design, construction and evaluation of lightweight and low-cost sulfur-based prototype cells with high storage capacities. Thanks to high storage capacities and low material costs, the sulfur-based concept potentially enables the construction of very lightweight and cost-effective batteries. Applying silicon as the anode material is also expected to significantly improve the cycle life of the battery cells. The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), under the leadership of the Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology IWS in Dresden, will provide funding for six partners from science and industry with a total of nearly 2.9 million euros. The project was launched in February 2023.

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  • Fraunhofer at Hannover Messe 2023 / 2023

    Lasers Join Lightweight Sandwich Structures

    Press release (No. 06) - Fraunhofer IWS Dresden / April 03, 2023

    © Jürgen Jeibmann/Fraunhofer IWS

    Modern lightweight construction has already been helping automotive and aerospace industry to save fuel and materials and to reduce environmental impact. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology IWS have recently found a way to transfer such proven design principles to oth-er industries. By using lasers, they weld filigree hollow chamber structures with cover sheets to form lightweight sandwich panels. Such metal structures can be produced particularly efficiently in the roll-to-roll process of the Fraunhofer IWS. The new technology ensures higher production speeds and a wider range of uses for lightweight panels. This opens up new lightweight construction perspectives, as in the construction of ship superstructures, railroads and facto-ry buildings.

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  • Ukrainian Robotics Specialist at Fraunhofer IWS in Dresden / 2023

    Visiting Scientist from Kyiv and Fraunhofer Team Conduct Research into Decommissioning Destroyed Nuclear Infrastructure

    Press release (No. 05) - Fraunhofer IWS Dresden / March 30, 2023

    © Fraunhofer IWS

    The Fraunhofer-Zukunftsstiftung (Fraunhofer Future Foundation) is promoting scientific exchange between German and Ukrainian researchers to help repair war damage and prepare for rebuilding using climate and environmentally friendly technologies. To this end, the foundation is fully funding Ukrainian experts and their research activities with research stays of up to six months at Fraunhofer institutes in Germany. Oleksandr Proskurin, who has joined Fraunhofer IWS in Dresden, is the first visiting scientist from Ukraine to take part in the initiative.

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  • “DIVE imaging systems” Spins off from Fraunhofer IWS in Dresden / 2023

    Sharp Hyperspectral Eye for Chip Production

    Press release (No. 03) - Fraunhofer IWS Dresden / March 14, 2023

    © Amac Garbe/Fraunhofer IWS

    Precise two-dimensional analysis of high-tech layers in microelectronics, battery factories or even in the automotive sector approaches within reach. A measuring system developed at the Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology IWS facilitates this by integrating hyperspectral sensor technology, artificial intelligence and special illumination techniques into a high-performance, highly flexible inspection system. A team of researchers from Fraunhofer IWS establishes “DIVE imaging systems GmbH”, a BMWK-funded spin-off company, to commercialize this promising technology.

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  • Inauguration of the joint Fraunhofer and TU Dresden DesignLab in Dresden / 2023

    Establishing Design as an Integral Component in Research and Development

    Press release (No. 04) - Fraunhofer IWS Dresden / March 10, 2023

    © Fraunhofer IVI

    In its various disciplines and manifestations, design is increasingly gaining importance in Fraunhofer's research. Supporting this trend, the three Fraunhofer Institutes IVI, IWS and IWU in Dresden, together with Technische Universität Dresden, are establishing the “DesignLab for Applied Research” on behalf of the research community. Based in the Saxon state capital, the DesignLab will conduct design research in collaboration with all Fraunhofer institutes across the country, with plans to extend this work to the international level in the future. The DesignLab was officially inaugurated on March 8, 2023.

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  • “SimPerm” Project Enables Simultaneous Determination of Oxygen and Water Vapor Permeation Rates for the First Time / 2023

    A New Generation of Instruments for Gas Permeation Measurement

    Press release (No. 02) - Fraunhofer IWS Dresden / March 02, 2023

    © Amac Garbe/Fraunhofer IWS

    As part of the “SimPerm” project, researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology IWS in Dresden have developed an innovative measuring technique for reliably determining the permeation rate of films. For the first time, the permeation rate of water vapor and oxygen can be detected simultaneously. Manufacturers, users and developers of barrier films can now determine the gas permeability of barrier films for organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), organic solar cells, tablets, food and other air-sensitive goods more accurately, realistically and cost-effectively than before. On this basis, a partner company will soon establish a new class of instruments that can universally measure various barrier properties of films.

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  • Two Dresden Research Institutes want to Reduce the Number of Animal Experiments in Radiopharmaceutical Research with a New Idea / 2023

    Radioactive Substances Fight Cancer in the Mini-lab

    Press release (No. 01) - Fraunhofer IWS Dresden / January 09, 2023

    © Amac Garbe/Fraunhofer IWS

    Radioactivity can save lives. When neither chemotherapy or surgery nor radiation from the outside help against a tumor, modern medicine uses so-called radiopharmaceuticals. These radioactive drugs not only detect cancer cells, they also enable targeted radiation from the inside to destroy the tumor. However, before such substances become available for use in humans, extensive animal testing is currently required during their development. A joint project of the Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology IWS in Dresden and the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) is currently researching an alternative method to this. Artificial organ structures and tumors in chip format form the basis for this.

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  • Safety in warehouse logistics / 2022

    New Fraunhofer safety technology reduces transportation accidents

    Press release (Nr. 13) - Fraunhofer IWS Dresden / December 01, 2022

    © Daniel Viol/Fraunhofer IWS

    Warehouses are home to heavy volumes of traffic. The numbers of industrial trucks (pallet trucks, forklift vehicles and the like) traversing their aisles are growing especially large – in facilities that are themselves increasing in size all the time. Under these conditions, accidents become an inevitability even if numerous safety measures are put in place. Now, optical sensors on industrial trucks might provide warehouse staff with better protection as they do their jobs. Joining forces with BASF SE and Kinotex Sensor GmbH, the Fraunhofer Application Center for Optical Metrology and Surface Technologies AZOM has developed prototypes designed to ensure added safety during day-to-day activities.

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  • Fraunhofer IWS and IAPT together with Australian RMIT Centre for Additive Manufacturing Start Project "UltraGrain" / 2022

    Ultrasound Makes 3D Printed Parts Stronger and More Durable

    Press release (Nr. 14) - Fraunhofer IWS Dresden / November 11, 2022

    Experimental set-up for ultrasound-assisted laser-directed energy deposition.
    © Fraunhofer IWS

    In the near future, ultrasound will enable industrial 3D printers to manufacture more robust, durable and cheaper components for aerospace, toolmaking and other industries than ever before. Researchers from Dresden, Hamburg and Melbourne, Australia, have joined forces in a research alliance to bring this new technology to market within three years. Their “UltraGrain” project, launched in June 2022, aims to produce a tailored fine-grained microstructure (“grading”) in wire- and powder-based additive manufacturing technologies which promises to improve the mechanical properties and corrosion resistance of the majority of engineering alloys.

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  • Fraunhofer IWS developed a laser technology to clean and structure surfaces particularly quickly while protecting the environment / 2022

    Sandblasting with Light

    Press release (No. 12) - Fraunhofer IWS Dresden / September 21, 2022

    © René Jungnickel/Fraunhofer IWS

    Sandblasting – that was yesterday. Laser beams can clean and structure surfaces more precisely, cost-effectively and in environmental friendlier ways than conventional systems. The Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology IWS in Dresden has developed the technology “LIGHTblast” for this purpose which is now being transferred to the semiconductor manufacturing, automotive supply and other industries.

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