Press Archive 2022

Producing infection control clothing requires a lot of energy and uses lots of material resources. Fraunhofer researchers have now developed a technology which helps to save materials and energy when producing nonwovens. A digital twin controls key manufacturing process parameters on the basis of mathematical modeling. As well as improving mask manufacturing, the ProQuIV solution can also be used to optimize the production parameters for other applications involving these versatile technical textiles, enabling manufacturers to respond flexibly to customer requests and changes in the market.

Every year, the Palatinate District Association awards the Palatinate Future Prize for outstanding innovations, top achievements in research and science, and sustainable development of our region. With the Lifetime Achievement Award, it honors individuals who have rendered outstanding services to these areas throughout their lives. In 2022, one of these honors will go to Prof. em. Dr. Helmut Neunzert, with whom our institute has a very special connection. He was co-founder and director of the Fraunhofer ITWM.

Back in 2019, BioNTech was far from a household name. Nowadays, however, the pharmaceutical company from Mainz is world-famous for developing and producing Comirnaty©, a COVID-19 vaccine. The company’s original aim was to develop personalized mRNA-based treatments to fight cancer – a goal that it continues to pursue to this day. Since 2016, a research team at the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Mathematics ITWM has collaborated with BioNTech to optimize the planning, management and documentation of their production processes. This work culminated in the development of two software platforms, one for vaccines and one for cancer treatments, which help organize and optimize the production processes at BioNTech today. These systems are in use and are continuously adapted and improved as situations and requirements change.

The Corona pandemic confronted Germany's public health departments with major challenges. Help also came from mathematics: Together with project partners, the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Mathematics ITWM used statistical modeling to support the health offices in the multitude of decisions that had to be made on a daily basis. Now the »EsteR« project is coming to an end and the researchers can present some exciting results and tools – tools that will also be relevant in the future.

Science lives from the exchange, not only with the colleagues on site; equally important are impulses from outside. Therefore, the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Mathematics ITWM has established a Fellow Program: Prominent guest scientists come to the institute for a maximum of six months and dedicate themselves to a topic together with our researchers. In order that all employees of the Fraunhofer ITWM benefit from the exchange, the fellows give a guest lecture and offer a colloquium.

The topic of energy is more present than ever before: From sustainability and renewable energy to energy costs and saving measures – both industry and private households are facing new challenges. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Mathematics ITWM have been developing innovative methods and models for the energy sector for several years now – and have some exciting projects to share: While DESPRIMA and FlexEuro keep energy use flexible, the Amperix energy management system supports energy autonomy. From June 21 to 23, the researchers will present these and other energy projects at the leading trade fair E-world.

Many products from optics, medical technology, mechanical engineering or the automotive industry are manufactured with ultraprecision- and micro technologies. We all use them directly or indirectly every day and benefit from their further development. »MePrecise« is the competitive contribution of various research institutions from Kaiserslautern to the »Clusters4Future«, an innovation network of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). Prof. Dr. Anita Schöbel, director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Mathematics ITWM is co-spokesperson of »MePrecise«.

The successful collaboration continues: The joint project »Open Digitalization Alliance Palatinate« (ODPfalz) of the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Mathematics ITWM, the Kaiserslautern University of Applied Sciences and the Technical University of Kaiserslautern is entering its second funding phase. During this period, the researchers will focus in particular on the societal challenges of digitalization. The federal-state initiative »Innovative University« will fund the OD Pfalz with 15 million euros over the next five years.

The Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Mathematics ITWM will again be present at the international trade fair for quality assurance »Control« in Stuttgart. From May 3 to 6, the researchers will show their testing systems for assuring product quality in industrial environments in hall 6, booth 6301. Two of the exhibits are dedicated to the material characterization of test materials, a third to the virtual development of inspection systems.

Whether cleaning, stirring, kneading or injection processes – MESHFREE can be used to reliably simulate food technology processes. The software product developed by the Fraunhofer Institutes for Industrial Mathematics ITWM and for Algorithms and Scientific Computing SCAI uses grid-free simulations to map physical processes. This year, the institutes will again be represented at Anuga FoodTec from April 26 to 29 in Hall 7.1 at Stand A049.