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In April, Fraunhofer IPK will be presenting solutions for the aviation industry at two trade fairs. Both times we will bring a life-size aircraft interior wall. Meet us from March 31 to April 4 at Hannover Messe and from April 8 to 10 at AIX in Hamburg.

Fraunhofer IPK is opening its doors to all science fans for the Lange Nacht der Wissenschaften on June 22 from 5:00 pm to midnight. Together with IWF of the TU Berlin, we will present an exciting program about our research and development in the "House of Modern Production Technology".

The aerospace industry is striving for a climate-neutral future. Accordingly, the ILA 2024 in Berlin from 5 to 9 June – supported by the European Commission as a strategic partner – will focus on topics such as climate protection, sustainability and digitalization.

Nucleic acid-based medications such as mRNA vaccines offer tremendous potential for medicine and are opening up new therapeutic approaches. These active ingredients must be enclosed inside nanoparticles to ensure that they get to where they are needed inside the body’s cells. The Fraunhofer Institute for Production Systems and Design Technology IPK and FDX Fluid Dynamix GmbH have worked together to develop a technology platform for the production of nanoparticles that can achieve particle quality and stability at levels previously out of reach: FDmiX, short for Fraunhofer Dynamic Mixing Technologies. Swiss chemical and pharmaceutical company Lonza has now licensed the technology for its own good manufacturing practice (GMP) production activities.

Fraunhofer IPK will be exhibiting at Hannover Messe from April 22 to 26, 2024. At the Fraunhofer booth in hall 2, stand B24, we will be presenting exhibits from three projects: Battery Pass, BioFusion 4.0 and Gaia-X.

Starting in February 2027, all new traction batteries, two-wheeled vehicle batteries and industrial batteries with a capacity of over 2 kWh that are marketed in the EU will require a digital battery passport. The purpose is to ensure transparency and sustainability in the battery value chain, reduce environmental impacts and encourage the secondary use of batteries. The Battery Pass Consortium, with the participation of the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Systems and Design Technology IPK, is developing frameworks and recommendations in terms of content and technology for implementing the passport. Researchers from Fraunhofer IPK are responsible for the design and implementation of the technical standards. From April 22 to 26, 2024, they will be at the Hannover Messe (Hall 2, Booth B24) presenting a draft technical reference standard designed to enable battery passports — and all types of digital product passports — to be implemented in a way that is scalable and interoperable.

From February 2027, all new traction, two-wheeler and industrial batteries with a capacity of more than 2 kWh placed on the EU market will require a digital battery passport. A consortium of industry, technology and academia has published the first technical guidance and demonstrator for its implementation.

The collaboration aims to enable reliable and rapid scale-up to cGMP manufacturing for encapsulating nucleic acid products. This acceleration and the improved critical quality attributes (CQAs) of the final product allow for faster and more predictable development of nucleic acid-based products.

Fraunhofer IPK expert Dr. Gregor Thiele is a member of the jury for this year's Deep Tech Award. The Berlin Senate Department for Economics, Energy and Public Enterprises has been awarding the prize to Berlin companies and start-ups since 2015.

Data! Our researchers handle them every day and never lose sight of what they are supposed to do: create specific solutions for the challenges industry and society are facing. Find out in the latest issue of FUTUR how data is collected, analyzed and processed in a useful, secure and high-quality manner!