Internationality

Science thrives on dialog that goes beyond individual research topics. This is the rationale behind the Distinguished Lecture Series that the Fraunhofer IEM launched in 2019, when it welcomed Prof. Andreas Vogelsang to “Zukunftsmeile 1” on July 5, 2019.

With the new attendance format Distinguished Lecture Series, the Fraunhofer IEM is stepping up its national and international networking activities by involving distinguished scientists. Experts from the research community are regularly invited to the institute for one or two days. In addition to a lecture open to the entire institute staff, links to individual research projects are discussed in one-to-one meetings.

In 2018, the collaboration between the Fraunhofer IEM and Nissan was further intensified through several projects and visits. Besides the exchange of expertise, the primary focus was on the optimization of the product development process at Nissan. To this end, methods from the fields of systems and software engineering were developed and piloted. A collaboration with Honda was formed for the first time in 2018. Joint discussions on systems engineering and innovative solutions in the early phases of product development have highlighted areas of action in terms of collaboration.

Another highlight of that year and a milestone for the international cooperation with Japan was the first spin-off company of the Fraunhofer IEM. Two Pillars combines the extensive expertise of the Fraunhofer IEM in the field of systems engineering with the iQUAVIS software of the Japanese IT group ISID.

Since 2017, the Institute has had an ongoing collaboration with Oracle Corporation, a US-based global software leader. Oracle awards what are known as “research grants,” thereby supporting innovative projects carried out by excellent research institutes. Oracle research grants are highly sought after on an international scale, and it is therefore all the more gratifying that the Fraunhofer IEM has already managed to secure three research grants.

The research grants fund the developmental work carried out at the Fraunhofer IEM to improve software security. One project will improve the security and architecture of the Java Runtime used around the world, while the other two research grants will support further developments of the CogniCrypt analysis tool. CogniCrypt is an extension for development environments and automatically warns software developers about software vulnerabilities in their program code.

At present, many German companies are establishing themselves in China. So-called “Sino-German Industrial Cooperation Parks” are being set up in regions with strong industries, providing German companies with access to the Chinese market. To this end, the Chinese government is promoting collaboration between German experts from science and industry and Chinese industry.

Expert trips are organized by various institutions and business associations to initiate and establish scientific and economic relations. Dr. Christian Henke has been invited to the economically strong Zhejiang Province several times in recent years through the German Federal Association for Economic Development and Foreign Trade, and in April 2018 he led an expert delegation with representatives from science and industry.

A scientific partnership between the Fraunhofer IEM and the Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) in the Kuala Lumpur region of Malaysia has been in place for several years now. In 2012, the first German-Malaysian workshop was launched with the aim of establishing in-depth scientific exchange in the field of mechatronic systems development. Since then, the workshop has been held annually, alternating between Germany and Malaysia. What’s more, a systems engineering training course was held in Malaysia for the first time in 2015. The Malaysian collaboration is consolidated through a student exchange program. The aim of the Fraunhofer IEM is to strengthen the collaboration and to establish the Fraunhofer model in Malaysia.

RAISE-MED is a funded internationalization project of the Fraunhofer IEM for the country of Malaysia. The aim is to establish cluster structures in Malaysia with a focus on innovation development in medical engineering. RAISE-MED is designed to improve the transfer of knowledge and technology between research and industry in Malaysia and, in the long term, to promote the emergence of innovations in the country.

An innovation network is expected to make a significant contribution to the fulfillment of these goals and ensure their sustainability. RAISE-MED currently has 25 partners from research and industry. Expansion of the network is driven by the attendance of the Fraunhofer IEM and other partners at various events. RAISE-MED has organized about 20 events with a total of more than 800 participants. Moreover, a steady expansion of existing partnerships is taking place through academic exchange programs. Since the start of the project, several research staff members and students have taken part in these programs.

The sustainability of the project activities is ensured, among other things, by establishing an infrastructure. The aim is to create a platform where stakeholders from the fields of industry, science and politics can network. To this end, two innovation laboratories are being set up at the partner universities Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) in Kuala Lumpur and Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM) in Johor. Innovation management methods and new technologies are to be used to develop medical engineering innovations. A major milestone has already been reached with the opening of the innovation lab at UTHM in January 2019. The degree of interest was very high, with over 150 participants, the majority of whom were from the industrial sector. The partners of RAISE-MED had the opportunity to welcome many decision makers from the manufacturing industry. In addition to exciting presentations and discussions, previously developed demonstrators were also showcased. The second innovation lab will open in spring 2019 at UiTM in Kuala Lumpur.

Find out more at www.innovationlabs.my