Exploring the world of science

With exciting exhibits, talks, and a varied participation program, selected research projects by the Fraunhofer Institute are presented at the Weinberg campus.

The exhibition island »A Unmoving Ship Gathers No Moss« tells visitors about the research work in the field of bio-fouling. When a ship is anchored, barnacles, algae, and mussels grow on it under the water. This coating on the ship’s paint increases drag and thus leads to greater fuel consumption. Visitors can discover how the researchers at Fraunhofer IMWS have developed a successful solution concept for the problem known in shipping.

The exhibit ‘From the sea to the drinking glass’ explains the process of reverse osmosis, which is used for instance to transform salt water into drinking water. In many countries on Earth, people have no access to clean water due to a lack of fresh water sources. The researchers at Fraunhofer IMWS show how a reverse osmosis module must be built and how its service life can be improved. A further station explains about »components made from biomaterials«, which are used, for instance, in the automotive industry: High-performance plastics do not necessarily have to be produced from crude oil. In view of resource efficiency, more and more plastics are being produced from renewable raw materials. Visitors can see via an injection molding system how technical biopolymers are produced and where they are already used today.

The Fraunhofer Application Center for Inorganic Phosphors is presenting its research approaches relating to »Why LEDs are the future of lighting«: Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are the future of lighting technology, as modern high-performance LEDs offer enormous advantages over conventional light bulbs and energy saving bulbs with regard to efficiency, compactness, service life, and environmental protection. A test measurement shows visitors the superior efficiency of the modern phosphor technology.

At 7 pm and 8 pm, Prof. Matthias Petzold, Head of the Center for Applied Microstructure Diagnostics CAM at Fraunhofer IMWS, gives a talk on the topic of ‘The chip as a chauffeur’. During this, he looks at autonomous driving, whereby the driver is no longer responsible for controlling the vehicle. This demands extremely high-performance and also highly reliable sensor and electronic systems. At CAM, new solutions are being developed to highlight the smallest defects, for instance using X-rays, ultrasound, or electron microscopic analysis procedures. The talk presents current trends, an insight into the future of automobility, and the associated driving forces behind and future concepts of self-driving automobility.

Tours on the theme of »Solar energy for Moroccan fishing villages« are held every half hour from 5 pm to 10 pm. In desert regions, solar modules are exposed to extreme climates, such as more prolonged and intense insolation and sand dust. Visitors attending the live demonstrations at the desert module pilot plant station at the Fraunhofer Center for Silicon Photovoltaics CSP can find out how this impairs the service life of the materials and the electricity yield. The guests discover all there is to know about a new project with Moroccan research partners: The establishment of a solar-supported, decentralized energy supply is intended to help cover the increased demand for electricity in the fishing industry on the Atlantic coast of Morocco and improve the living conditions for the inhabitants of the fishing villages.

A participation program is offered alongside the Long Night of the Sciences: Under the slogan »Investigated with a fine-toothed comb – teeth, sugar and teeth-cleaning machines
«, researchers explain in a practical way how they develop exciting solutions for problems within modern dentistry. Teeth are a natural wonder and a very special material. Fraunhofer IMWS is inviting people to take a different look at the tooth material: The physics of teeth-cleaning are explained using a teeth-cleaning machine, which uses a light microscope to discover the fine layer system in the tooth and which also shows in experiments how teeth become discolored. The researchers explain what problems exist in modern dentistry and how they develop innovative solutions to problems such as tooth decay, hypersensitivity, and dental prosthetics. What’s more, the visitors gain insights at various stations into current research themes in the fields of skin and hair.

In addition to the program at Walter-Hülse-Straße, Fraunhofer IMWS is also presenting further research work from the Fraunhofer world at the Biocenter, Weinbergweg 22. The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft has been active in the former East Germany for 25 years, and some of the successful projects are presented there.

The Long Night of the Sciences is free to attend, no booking is required.