Press Releases

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.

Daniel Stich is well known to the Fraunhofer ITWM: before his appointment as State Secretary for the Interior, he was responsible for the »Health« focus at the State Ministry of Science and Health. During the peak phases of the coronavirus epidemic, the institute examined the case numbers for the ministry and advised Daniel Stich in his role as state vaccination coordinator in weekly meetings. Even after the epidemic had subsided, the collaboration continued: Fraunhofer ITWM supported the state government's wastewater analysis program by comparing it with the SentiSurv test program. Data was collected until March of this year to improve the ability to predict the course of a similar epidemic in the future and to take appropriate measures.

The new European Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) is intended to prevent goods marketed in the EU from contributing to the spread of deforestation. When a wood product is brought into the EU market, for example, there must be documentation of which types of wood were used to produce it, along with proof of their legal origin. Depending on the material, even the initial review of the declared type of wood is no easy task. Paper, for example, requires time-consuming examination by specialists. Now, a new AI-based analytical tool for determining wood types is being developed to simplify and accelerate this process. Researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Mathematics ITWM are working closely with the Thünen Institute of Wood Research to develop the automated image recognition system for large-scale review of declarations of wood type.