Press Releases

The United Nations has declared 2025 the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology (IYQ). They are thus honoring the 100th anniversary of the development of quantum mechanics. As a place of quantum research, we at Fraunhofer ITWM are participating in the anniversary year with educational programs and other events.

District heating networks are growing increasingly complex as a result of feeding in renewable energy and the trend toward decentralization. In the project »AD Net Heat«, Fraunhofer researchers are simulating heat flows throughout the entire network, predicting load peaks and helping to plan new grids.

The Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Mathematics ITWM is extending its terahertz expertise to the mid-infrared range. Together with the Fraunhofer Institute for Optics and Precision Engineering IOF in Jena, it is investigating nonlinear crystals for the optical frequency conversion of ultrashort laser pulses from the near to the mid-infrared range. The work is being funded by the Fraunhofer Cluster of Excellence Advanced Photon Sources CAPS with a total of 250,000 euros at both institutes.

The perfect foam is not only important for drinks such as beer and coffee or for the airy consistency of chocolate mousse at Christmas dinner. Foam is also used for insulation in cooling devices or batteries as well as in seat cushions, prostheses or shoe soles. From December 3 to 5, 2024, the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Mathematics ITWM will be presenting its contributions to the future of foam production for lightweight construction at Foam Expo Europe 2024 in Stuttgart.

At the Kaiserslautern site, the topic of »Multi-Objective Optimization« is particularly strong in research and application. This is demonstrated, for example, by the research training group »Mathematics of Interdisciplinary Multi-Objective Optimization (MIMO)« at the RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau and the successful industrial projects of the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Mathematics ITWM in this area.

The Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Mathematics ITWM will be presenting innovative solutions for parallel programming and Artificial Intelligence at Supercomputing 2024 in Atlanta, USA, from November 18 to 22. Two Fraunhofer spin-offs will participate at the joint booth 3115 in Hall B: ThinkparQ will present its roadmap for the parallel file system BeeGFS. The spin-off UNEEC Systems will be demonstrating the STX processor and its system approach to energy efficient and cost effective compute infrastructure. The STX processor accelerates HPC simulations while keeping programming simple. Researchers from the division »High Performance Computing« will share new developments in parallel programming and other AI solutions for High Performance Computing.

The EIOPA (European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority) published a consultation paper on »Value for Money« in October 2024. As a scientific partner, the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Mathematics ITWM has helped to evaluate insurance products and thus support supervisory authorities in measuring and monitoring the benefits for customers.

Digital twins are considered a key technology in many industrial processes. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Mathematics ITWM in Kaiserslautern have developed a machine learning tool for the plastics industry that uses a digital twin to determine the optimum process settings. The digital twin calculates the required extruder settings based on the desired product properties. This enables companies to save time and resources while increasing the quality of their products.

Twins never come singly – digital twins in separation technology, on the other hand, are often loners. This is because a digital image of a specific production step or component is usually created without considering the entire process chain. Research and developments by Dr. Ralf Kirsch and the »Filtration and Separation« team at the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Mathematics ITWM, are about to change this and will be presenting new approaches for the simulation-based improvement of filter technology at FILTECH 2024 from November 12 to 14, 2024. In addition, the Fraunhofer ITWM team will bring other research topics to Cologne.

A book of success stories that inspires young women to take up mathematics, computer science, natural sciences and technology (STEM) with examples from science? That alone would not be enough for the Fraunhofer researchers Manja Mai-Ly Pfaff-Kastner, Esther Packullat, Dr. Isabel Michel, Lisa Martha Kunkel and Prof. Dr. Tanja Manuela Kneiske. »Forscherinnen im Fokus – Wir schaffen Veränderung« (Female Researchers in Focus – We Are Creating Change) wants more: to look at the world of artificial intelligence and simulation through the eyes of extraordinary female scientists and tell exciting, very personal stories in the process. ›Frau N. Hofer‹, as it is known for short, traces a variety of (life) paths in science and, in doing so, »incidentally« draws attention to fascinating opportunities for shaping the future, particularly in applied research.