Press Releases

On April 1, 2020, Davide Manfredo should have started his doctoral studies at the Fraunhofer ITWM in Kaiserslautern. He participates in a very special program in which the EU is funding 14 PhD positions across Europe for three years: «THREAD - Joint Training on Numerical Modelling of Highly Flexible Structures for Industrial Applications». The focus is on the direct application of new research in industrial practice. THREAD aims to promote international exchange and mobility of young scientists. But mobility is difficult at the moment. Instead of Kaiserslautern, Davide is now working from his parents’ home in Turin, where he presented his master's thesis via Skype last week and thus completed his master's degree – with the highest score. Corona thwarted his travel plans, but not those of his career.

From 20 to 22 March 2020, the German government called under the heading #WirVsVirus, to develop solutions that will help citizens, medicine, research and politics to master their current challenges posed by the corona crisis. 23,000 people followed this call and worked on 1,500 projects. Researchers of Fraunhofer ITWM also took part in the hackathon, and in particular helped in three projects:

The preservation of historical art treasures requires not only restorers, but also research and the resulting high-tech solutions. This is especially true for world-famous works of art such as »L’Ultima Cena« by Leonardo da Vinci, which pose additional challenges to museums due to their age. The Fraunhofer ITWM now supports a new approach to restauration.

The amount of energy produced by renewable sources ebbs and flows. The Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Mathematics ITWM has found a smart work-around for these fluctuations. Its scientists developed an innovative energy management system that connects photovoltaic systems, batteries, heat pumps and electric cars to power individual households or entire neighborhoods with locally produced renewable energy.