News and Events

FACHPACK is one of the most important European trade shows for packaging, technology and processes. This year, Dr. Victor Trapp (Sales and Marketing), Dr. Ferdinand Somorowsky (Chemical Coating Technology/bioORMOCER®) and Prof. Dr. Karl Mandel (Particle Technology), among others, will be on site as trade visitors and will be available for discussions. They have numerous innovations from the fields of packaging and logistics in their luggage.

Dr. Sabine-Amberg Schwab from the Fraunhofer Institute for Silicate Research ISC in Würzburg was presented with the Sustainability Award 2020 by Packaging Europe on 15 October. She received the award for the development of bioORMOCER®s, a sustainable material concept for plastic packaging. The jury particularly emphasised that bioORMOCER®s not only improve the properties of bioplastics and paper, but also make plastic packaging in general recyclable.

The conversion of packaging to recyclability, biogenic raw materials or compostability poses great challenges for industry. The Fraunhofer Institute for Silicate Research ISC supports packaging manufacturers in this change with sustainable multifunctional barrier coatings for easily recyclable, biobased or compostable packaging. For this development, Dr. Sabine Amberg-Schwab was honoured on September 24, 2020 with the German Packaging Award in Gold in the category "Sustainability".

Glass windows, which can also act as displays and play a current information, resource-saving lightweight membrane cushion construction with highly functionalized films or the future of packaging materials – at the "12 ICCG - International Conference on coatings on glass and plastics" in Würzburg, Germany 280 experts from industry and academia discussed these possible future trends. More than 30 exhibitors at the accompanying exhibition in the Würzburg Congress Center showed what can already be achieved with functional coatings today. Exhibitors included the Fraunhofer Institute for Silicate Research ISC with highlights such as electrically colorable windows, printed sensors and biodegradable coatings for compostable packaging films.

Precise volumetric glassware is essential equipment in the laboratory. They are permanently dimensionally stable, resistant to many chemicals and easy to clean. For the precise calibration/adjustment of laboratory glassware, Fraunhofer ISC’s Center for Device Development CeDeD has developed in cooperation with laboratory glassware manufacturers various semi-automatic devices that work reliably, quickly and mercury-free. These calibration devices are supplemented by a new development of the Fraunhofer ISC, the MFD (Marking Firing Device). This allows calibration marks on volumetric flasks to be burned in quickly and reliably without a furnace. The prototype will be presented for the first time at ACHEMA 2018.

At this week‘s annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, the winners were presented of the »Circular Materials Challenge«. The prize is awarded by the New Plastics Economy Initiative, launched in 2016 by the Ellen MacArthur Foundadion, to promote new ways to counter the oceans plastics pollution. Five projects were honored with this prestigious prize and share the one million dollar prize money. Among the winning projects is the work of Dr. Sabine Amberg-Schwab, senior scientist at the Fraunhofer Institute for Silicate Research ISC, who developed the bioORMOCER^®s. The Fraunhofer ISC, located in Würzburg, Germany, is one of the leadng R&D instititutions when it comes to sustainable materials, technologies or products that help tackle the world’s foremost challenges.

The trend in architecture and facility management is towards »smart« buildings which, by means of integrated flexible electronics, automatically react on changing ambient conditions. These buildings are energy efficient and may have a number of comfortable features like solar cell modules integrated into façades or electrochromic windows, which change tint from clear to dark in strong sunshine. The implementation of novel usage concepts, however, still faces several challenges, mostly concerning the required service life of electronic components and their direct integration into building envelopes, especially when these are of lightweight construction or comprise flexible membrane roofing systems or façades.