Events with the participation of SPI-MP

The Germany-wide Girls Day took place again on 25 April 2024. The SPI-MP and the IGVP took part with an exciting guided tour of the plasma and microwave laboratories in the Pfaffenwaldring and with interesting, hands-on chemical experiments in the Allmandring. The schoolgirls learnt what interfaces and phase transitions are, how plasma can be generated from gas using a normal microwave and that this becomes visible in a vacuum in the form of violet flashes. The girls found it particularly exciting to work with hydrogels, a gummy bear-like substance that is used to produce artificial cartilage and tissue substitutes, for example. In simple experiments, the girls were allowed to change the properties of hydrogels so that they became more fluid or more solid and could be processed differently.

In between, the eight girls aged between 12 and 15 had the opportunity to ask questions to the scientists present over drinks and snacks.

The Additive Production Technology User Forum took place on the campus of the University of Stuttgart from April 16-17, 2024. The event was organized by Konradin Mediengruppe and Fraunhofer IPA in cooperation with the University of Stuttgart, ARENA 2036, the Stuttgart Partnership Initiative Mass Personalization (SPI-MP), the Leistungszentrum Mass Personalization (LZMP), the other Fraunhofer Institutes and the Institute of Aerospace Engineering.

The specialist forum for 3D printing offered visitors from various industries, including mechanical engineering, automotive and medical technology, insights into the latest developments along the entire 3D printing process chain.

Participants experienced exciting presentations, workshops and lab tours, ranging from innovative materials to quality control. The sessions were divided into the thematic focus areas of metal, plastics, software and medicine as well as mobility, medicine and aerospace.

In addition to technical content, the focus was also on networking. The relaxed atmosphere with food and drinks during the accompanying exhibition and the evening event encouraged exchanges between exhibitors, speakers and visitors.

The lab tour on biotechnology and medical technology was particularly impressive, offering insights into the use of 3D printing in medicine.

On 08.04.2024 from 12:00 am to 1:45 pm, 17 scientific teams that applied for funding as an innovation project of the LZMP pitched. Each team consisted of employees from at least two Fraunhofer Institutes or one Fraunhofer Institute and one university institute. The jury consisted of the core team of the High-Performance Center, the TACs and the SPI-MP management team.

For the first time, three projects involving the University of Stuttgart were submitted and all three were also funded.

On March 18, 2024, researchers from the University of Stuttgart, the Stuttgart Fraunhofer Institutes, the German Aerospace Center DLR and the Hahn Schickard Institute met for Science Speed Dating at ARENA 2036 in Stuttgart from 12 noon to 2 pm. This unusual networking format as part of a lunch break event attracted over 50 interested people.

After a short welcome and introduction, the participants were able to get to know each other in five ten-minute dating rounds. Table numbers and routing slips were used to ensure that the scientists mostly had new encounters. The event was moderated by Dr. Janina Ulmer and Volkher Onuseit.

Afterwards, the participants had time to deepen their encounters over snacks and drinks, make further contacts or visit the themed tables.

Lisa Rössler, Technology Accelerator Consultant at the Leistungszentrum Mass Personalization (LZMP), Sannah König and Ulrich Haase from the university's Makerspace Universum, Dr Janina Ulmer from the Stuttgart Partnership Initiative Mass Personalization (SPI-MP), Thilo Zimmermann from the Innovation Campus Mobility of the Future (ICM) and Jannik Lind from ARENA2036 were in charge of the themed tables. In addition to information on the various research networks, there was also information on cooperative funding programs and hands-on exhibits from a wide variety of manufacturing processes in the Makespace. "An event like this was long overdue!" praised one of the participants, while another participant thanked us for "the great idea and the international focus thanks to the English language".

A big thank you also goes to ARENA2036 for providing the premises, LZMP for sponsoring the drinks and SPI-MP for taking care of the catering.

The 25th meccanica feminale took place at the University of Stuttgart from 27.02. to 02.03.2024. Around 100 female students, doctoral candidates and professionals took part in the event on the Vaihingen campus. The aim of the further education week is to promote women from the fields of mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, medical technology and industrial engineering. The courses and workshops on offer are therefore aimed exclusively at women. The course leaders and lecturers are also exclusively women. The main theme of this year's meccanica feminale was "Energy and the environment".

In her opening speech for the event week, Melanie Vogelpohl from the German Federal Environmental Foundation gave the participants and the interested public important food for thought.
Under the title "Great Transformations - Environment, Energy, Women", she presented, among others, winners of the German Environmental Award and their research.Among them was the physicist Prof. Dr. Friederike Otto.The winner of the German Environmental Award 2023 is researching the links between climate change and extreme weather events.

Melanie Vogelpohl encouraged the audience that women in STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, mathematics and IT) are needed with their knowledge and skills to achieve the United Nations' sustainability goals and overcome the challenges facing society.This is because women repeatedly face particular hurdles in technical fields. Dr. Ulrike Weinrich, Dr. Aline Defranceski, Dr. Christina Korntreff and Maike Lambarth made this clear during the panel discussion "Career in STEM - I do it my way!", moderated by Dr. Janina Ulmer, Managing Director of SPI-MP. 

Further information on the event can be found here.

"With only 20 percent of founders being female, women are still severely underrepresented in our start-up landscape," said Dr. Anna Christmann, the Start-up Commissioner of the German Bundestag. The new EXIST-Women program of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection (BMWK) aims to change this. Women at universities and research institutions are to be supported through mentoring, individual coaching, networking and funding. And: "There is a strong start-up network at the University of Stuttgart that supports women with their start-up projects as part of EXIST-Women."

During a panel discussion, the 45 participants listened to the different experiences of experienced and aspiring female founders. Moderator Hannah Boomgaarden (Startup Autobahn) concluded by emphasizing: "Women take a different approach to founding a company, but that doesn't mean less success!"

After a short break with snacks and drinks, a World Café followed, in which it was discussed what support women need to facilitate the start-up process as a whole, to gain more visibility, to receive greater financial support and to stand by their (financial) success.It became clear that successful role models are necessary to increase visibility and convince male investors in particular to invest in female-led start-ups. Statistically, such companies last longer on the market than companies run by men.

On October 3, a very special day took place on which the LZMP actively participated in the Germany-wide campaign "Doors open with the mouse". The aim of this day was to give children an insight into the work at the Fraunhofer Institutes of the LZMP and to arouse their curiosity. The LZMP was proud to be part of this exciting initiative and welcomed more than 60 bright children and young people who were able to visit four exciting stations.

You can find a detailed report here (in German).

For Science Day on 8 June 2023, the SPI-MP, together with the IGVP and the LZMP, presented a colorful range of different attractions for young and old. The highlight was a mini escape puzzle with four puzzle stations spread across the entire campus. At the end, young visitors had the opportunity to paint clay flower pots, which they could then take home filled with soil and seeds. There were also gas-filled balloons and, of course, lots of scientific exhibits. These included artificial cartilage, exoskeletons and processes for 3D printing of human organs. 

You can find a detailed report on the event here (in German).

On 24.04.2023 from 1:00 to 2:00 pm, five scientific teams who had applied for the LZMP's Innovation Projects funding program pitched. Each team consisted of employees from at least two Fraunhofer Institutes or one Fraunhofer Institute and one Institute from the University. The jury consisted of the core team of the Performance Center, the TACs and the SPI-MP management team.

On Mit-Kind-Tag at 06.04.2023, the SPI-MP and the IGVP invited ten children of primary school age to a treasure hunt with the bee robot.

But before the girls and boys were allowed to discover the treasure in the form of sweet treats, they first had to learn how to program a bee robot. "It wasn't so easy to imagine the path and press the right buttons," explains Max. The bee robots, also known as beebots, are small robots in the shape of bees with four buttons on the top. These allow them to navigate forwards, backwards, right and left on the treasure map and other motif mats at the touch of a button.

You can find a detailed report on the event here.

Just in time for Science Day on July 2, 2022, the SPI-MP presented its new image film "ExzelLÄND - Excellent Biomedical Basic Research". This film reports on the SPI-MP's current research projects. These include personalized cartilage implants, exoskeletons with and without drive and ecologically optimized production planning.
There were also exciting exhibits on the topic of additive manufacturing (3D printing) in medical technology. Interested visitors were able to view the print head with which personalized cartilage transplants can be produced and examine a sample implant.

You can find the new SPI-MP image film here.

On 08.05.2022 from 1:00 to 3:00 pm, eight scientific teams who had applied for the LZMP's Innovation Projects funding program pitched. Each team consisted of employees from at least two Fraunhofer Institutes. The jury consisted of the core team of the Performance Center, the TACs and the SPI-MP management team.

On Girls' Day on April 28, 2022, employees of SPI-MP and the Institute of Interfacial Engineering and Plasma Technology (IGVP) took six schoolgirls from 5th to 10th grade into the world of interfaces and phase transitions for three hours. 
Together with the scientists, the girls created the fourth aggregate state of plasma through acceleration. "The purple flashes are really impressive and the glass container only got slightly warm!" marveled twelve-year-old Emily. Finally, the pupils were allowed to get hands-on in the chemistry lab and produce simple hydrogels. These swellable, water-insoluble polymer networks are used scientifically, for example, to produce artificial cartilage.