News 2023

In the latest episode of the rbb podcast »AI – and now? How we want to live artificial intelligence«, Nadia Kailouli and DFKI expert Aljoscha Burchardt discuss AI and the current shortage of skilled workers. What will happen to the skilled trades when computers become part of more and more areas of our everyday lives?

In the ARD documentary »Go ahead...! ÖPNV – Mobility of the Future«, Fraunhofer IESE expert Patrick Hennig, among others, presents the study »Mobilitätswende 2023«. In the study, the researchers developed possible future visions for the structure of public transport as well as recommendations for action for companies.

At the event, DFKI expert Dr. Sebastian Pütz discussed new opportunities for digitalization in sustainable agriculture, production and water management with other researchers.

The jury of this year's »Start-up Competition – Digital Innovations« of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection (BMWK) has selected six main winners in the summer round. Among them is the five-member team from Inline Process Solutions (IPS), which is conducting research as a start-up at RPTU.

Professor Dr.-Ing. Hans D. Schotten, Head of the Chair of Radio Communication and Navigation (WICON) at University Kaiserslautern-Landau (RPTU), is working on the 5G mobile communications standard and how effectively it can be used to automate industrial processes. 

Together with the German automotive industry, Fraunhofer IESE is developing a reference structure for safety standards for automated vehicles in urban environments. The methodological approach of this project is currently unique worldwide.

One of two new centers for artificial intelligence in Germany is being established in Kasierslautern in cooperation with the DFKI. Together with established companies, start-ups and founders, the aim is to make new AI applications suitable for practical use. An AI test environment is also to be created to bring the topic closer to the public.

Clinical surgery demands great precision and years of experience from surgeons. DFKI researchers are working together with physicians at Saarbrücken Hospital on AR-based assistance systems to support operations on the pancreas. The system could also contribute to improving the medical training of young surgeons.

In the »Digital Landmarks in the Land of Ideas 2023« competition, the Fraunhofer ITWM project »DECIDE: Digital Counseling, Data Integration, Decision Making and Empowerment« wins in the »Health« category.

DFKI presented its latest results from medical technology research at Medica 2023. These included surgical robots, artificial intelligence and 6G. In addition to presenting its own findings, the focus was also on networking with other researchers and start-ups.

The »MINT4YOU - girls just wanna have science« event at the Dynamikum Pirmasens, aimed at girls in grades 8 to 13, aims to get young women interested in science and technology and encourage them to study or train in the STEM field. Kaiserslautern University of Applied Sciences is taking part together with other partners from education and business.

On September 8 and 9, 2023, students from various Kaiserslautern schools came together in the MI(N)Tmachwelt at the Gartenschau to take part in the Experimentation Days. On Fridays, institutes, universities, companies and other participants gave insights into their subject areas and research through workshops. Professors from Kaiserslautern University of Applied Sciences were also present.

The University of Kaiserslautern-Landau (RPTU) is launching the new project »Artificial Intelligence for Treating Cancer Therapy Resistance (AI-Care)«. The aim is to use AI to decode the mechanisms of tumor cells in order to prevent the tumor from becoming resistant to medication. RPTU is receiving five million euros in funding for the project from the Carl Zeiss Foundation.

RPTU's Center for Sport, Health and Wellbeing (ZSGW) shares its experience with two products that it has launched together with the Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology to keep students and employees moving: The »Campus Games« app and »VR Training«.

Around 50 representatives from companies, institutions and university-related facilities took part in the 13th company contact fair with the motto »Connect to business.Back on campus« and a focus on computer science, microsystems technology, business administration, logistics and polymer sciences at the Zweibrücken campus of Hochschule Kaiserslautern.

In the »EMMA4Drive« project, experts at the Fraunhofer ITWM are developing a dynamic human model for use in autonomous vehicles. The specialist journal »forschung«, the magazine of the German Research Foundation, has published a specialist article on the project.

Researchers at RPTU and the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) are combining approaches from robotics with AI methods using the future 6G mobile communications standard in order to obtain an analysis that shows the potential of remote-controlled robotics for surgical operations and defines the requirements for AI and communication networks.

From October 16 to 20, two schoolgirls had the opportunity to immerse themselves in the exciting world of composite materials as part of a short internship. They gained insights into the production and practical application of the materials and were able to deepen their knowledge.

What do mathematicians actually do? Interested students from all over Germany can find out at the Fraunhofer ITWM. At the Math Talent School, 36 students - more than ever before - were given the opportunity to work on exciting projects together with experts and get a taste of the professional field of mathematicians.

Smarter combine harvesters and tractors, sensors that can distinguish weeds from crops and modern milking robots. The application of artificial intelligence in agriculture has its very own challenges. Joachim Hertzberg, Director of DFKI, explains in the F.A.Z. podcast what opportunities arise from the digitalization of agriculture and what hurdles still need to be overcome.

Energy can be saved by optimizing the control of combined heat and power plants. In a project with RheinEnergie AG, the Fraunhofer ITWM is exploring the potential of local heating with the help of Artificial Intelligence (AI).

An urban digital twin is a digital model of a city or district. It can be used to simulate traffic or the consequences of heavy rainfall, for example. A new study from the research accompanying the Model Smart Cities Project (MPSC) shows how digital twins can be set up successfully.

Composite materials are a comparatively young class of materials that are already indispensable in many applications, but are still looking for greater implementation in some. At the event, Dr. Florian Gortner from IVW discussed new ideas and current developments in the industry with other experts and representatives from the automotive and energy industries.

Once a year, the Felix Klein Center for Mathematics and the Fraunhofer ITWM organize an autumn school for their scholarship holders. During this week, the participants work together with their supervisors on problems in applied mathematics.

As part of the WaVe project, the Leibniz Institute for Composite Materials (IVW) is developing a lightweight, optimized FRP pressure tank design for storing gaseous hydrogen. The aim of the project is to optimize the available space in commercial vehicles.

Dr. Denis Alt, State Secretary in the Ministry of Science and Health, handed over a funding decision to Prof. Dr. med. Karl-Herbert Schäfer, Vice President for Research and Transfer, on 9 August to support three projects in biotechnology, artificial intelligence (AI) and hydrogen technologies of the Hochschule Kaiserslautern.

This June, students once again had the opportunity to get a taste of what it's like to work as a mathematician at the Fraunhofer ITWM.

The Conference on Flow Processes in Composite Materials (FPCM) at the Purdue University is involved in research work on flow processes in the production of composites. Among other things, the Leibniz-Institut für Verbundwerkstoffe (IVW) presented approaches to process data acquisition in the manufacture of SMC compacts based on polarization imaging.

Billing fraud in the healthcare sector causes losses of several billion euros every year. In the »PflegeForensik« project, researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Mathematics ITWM in Kaiserslautern are working together with the Dresden Public Prosecutor General's Office and the Economic Crime Department of the Leipzig Police Headquarters to combat this.

As part of the project »Holistic concept development of flat lightweight tanks for liquid hydrogen storage«, the relationship between alternating pressure loads, possible microcracks, tightness and strength of fiber composite tanks at very low temperatures is being investigated.

In a ranking of all 21 performance centers of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, it once again achieves the highest score and thus increases its result once again compared to the previous year!

The trade journal Computer-Automation has published an article on the »EMILIE« project. In it, the Fraunhofer ITWM and its partners are working on edge gateways for decentralized data acquisition and processing.

Fraunhofer IESE is part of the new European project EcoMobility! Together with various companies from all over Europe, the aim is to facilitate the transition to a highly networked and service-oriented mobility ecosystem. At the kick-off event, a joint work plan was first developed.

Engineers at RPTU are developing a software solution that helps companies in the semiconductor industry find defects. By verifying the chip at an early stage, the tool enables errors to be corrected at an early stage, thereby optimizing the development process.

The initiative of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment shows how small and medium-sized enterprises can use artificial intelligence (AI) in a profitable and resource-saving way.

For the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, biotechnology and quantum computing are two important research priorities, which is why Science Minister Clemens Hoch brought two funding decisions to Kaiserslautern to support Quantum Initiative Rhineland-Palatinate (QUIP) and the Fraunhofer-ITWM project MaTBiZ.

It sounds fun, but it is serious science, and that is why it is being funded by the Rhineland-Palatinate Ministry of Science and Health: FAST-MoPPS is the name of a new project for the development of mobile PCR tests. Ministerial Director Daniel Stich handed over the funding notification to the two Fraunhofer Institutes involved, IMM and ITWM, in Mainz.

How do young people go about solving mathematical tasks? Where, if any, do difficulties arise? With the collected data, the researchers want to show how the diagnostic capability of adaptive learning systems can be improved by real-time evaluation of gaze data.