Thu, 24 March, 2022
Internationally renowned research body, The Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems IKTS (Fraunhofer IKTS) has recently joined the TWI Innovation Network (TWIIN)’s European Research and Technology Organisation (RTO) Subscription programme for engineering and technological acceleration.
Fraunhofer IKTS, as it is known today, was created in Dresden, Germany in 1992 to promote the research potential of structural and functional, high performance ceramics. Since then the organisation has continued to evolve and expand its scope, with the last addition to its expertise being the integration of the Dresden site of Fraunhofer Institute for Non-Destructive Testing IZFP in 2014. This served to expand the research portfolio to include materials diagnostics, structural health monitoring and test electronics, nano analytics, and sensor, bio and environmental technologies, and has led to Fraunhofer IKTS deciding to join TWIIN in order to explore research and development (R&D) opportunities in these areas.
TWIIN was launched in 2018 to bring together the innovation initiatives and activities of TWI, and its industry and academic partners, during the preceding nine years. This has resulted in a unique, and growing, ecosystem that enables collaboration to flourish via the joint development of new technologies, systems, processes and products that have the potential to generate significant impact for industry world-wide. As well as the Subscription programme for European RTOs there is a TWIIN Subscription programme for UK and overseas companies that caters for different sizes of business, with a particular focus on SMEs.
As a Subscriber company, Fraunhofer IKTS has access to TWIIN’s distinct innovation model that enables cross-fertilisation of skills, knowledge and experience both within, and beyond, the Network to enable advances in engineering and technology that can benefit the individual organisations involved, the UK or European regions they are located in and wider industry. This sees Fraunhofer IKTS and TWI’s Technology Innovation Management team, Innovation Centres, which are strategic partnerships between TWI and leading universities, and technical experts working together with like-minded SMEs and larger companies, to synthesis new concepts and ideas into project proposals that can be progressed by dedicated consortia through to bids for publicly funded R&D.
Dr Cem Selcuk, Head of Business Development for TWIIN said “We are delighted that such an esteemed European institute as Fraunhofer IKTS has joined the Network and we look forward to expanding on the synergy already established between our two parties over the years, by exploring new disruptive technologies in a collaborate space that can result in benefits the international engineering community.”
Image (top of the page) – Sensor ring with wireless communication and power transmission for permanent monitoring of offshore foundation structures – courtesy of © Fraunhofer IKTS.
Dr Lars Schubert, Head of Department, Condition Monitoring and Test Services at Fraunhofer IKTS said “We are looking forward to contributing our competencies in condition monitoring and ceramic technologies to the TWI Innovation Network. Together with other TWIIN members, we want to get involved, especially in system and method development for predictive maintenance and digital twin.”