TRUMPF is a pioneer in the development of innovative technologies. Projects such as the super "lightning rod" laser on Mount Säntis and the development of lasers for generating extreme ultraviolet light for EUV lithography have demonstrated TRUMPF's innovative spirit. Looking to the future, TRUMPF has a strong focus on sustainability and its technological solutions. By investing in research and collaborating with universities, TRUMPF is helping to create new solutions - from advanced laser systems to smart factories for industry. TRUMPF's approach shows that innovation and sustainability can go hand in hand.

This short presentation gives a first insight into the integration of state-of-the-art sensor technology and machine learning in the field of wearable computing using the example of ear-worn devices, so-called earables. Wearables in general and earables in particular open up new possibilities in the field of health monitoring and can be used both in the area of personal health monitoring and in a medical context. The presentation shows which health data can be recorded with which sensors and introduces the OpenEarable project initiated. Another key topic is the role of data storage, pre-processing and machine learning in the interpretation of the collected data streams. The focus here is on resource-saving algorithms that are specially optimised for use in embedded systems. In this context, the EdgeML development framework is presented, which was specially designed for this area of application and is able to generate very small ML models with a very high recognition rate.

In the recent years, there has been an enormous push in the healthcare domain to move from the old paradigm “one size fits all” to the new paradigm “tailored treatment”. The approach relies on scientific breakthroughs in radiological image processing and in the better understanding of the patient molecular and genetic profile. These improvements are accompanied by an increased availability of computational resources and improved intelligent procedures based on artificial intelligence (AI).

Radiation therapy, in all its declinations, has always been natively a patient shaped treatment. Here, multiple information, mainly coming from medical images, are integrated with the aim of delivering the nominal radiation dose to the cancer tissue while sparing surrounding healthy organs.

This talk will give an overview on the most recent advancements in radiotherapy to fight cancer, and on the role image processing and AI to improve dose delivery.

AI has some serious risks that call for comprehensive evaluations and testing. Based upon this, the European Union introduces world’s first regulation on AI to tame the risks and maximize the benefits. In this talk, Yunus gives an overview of AI risks and how to cope with them in the light of the European Union’s AI legislation the so called AI Act.

Virtualization and digital twins are becoming increasingly important in areas such as design and production technologies as well as in the entertainment industry and social media. An important building block is the metaverse – an immersive, virtual 3D space that will not only change our interpersonal interactions in the future, but also the way we develop future products, systems and services. The speech will provide a brief introduction to the topic and discuss various application examples from the field of product development.

In today's fast-paced manufacturing environment, the XIRCON approach revolutionizes reconfiguration processes by integrating Digital Twins (DT) and Extended Reality (XR). Traditional methods often involve complex and error-prone tasks, lacking intuitive support for operators. XIRCON addresses these issues by facilitating more natural and efficient reconfiguration operations, significantly reducing downtime, complexity, and errors. Looking forward, the incorporation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) promises to further enhance the adaptability and efficiency of manufacturing systems. This concept not only aims to improve current practices but also sets a new standard for future Cyber-Physical-Human system integrations.

Rising product complexity, increasing regulation and a shortage of skilled workers pose enormous challenges for people in the German industry. In view of current market dynamics, it is essential to give engineers more freedom and relief now. Artificial intelligence promises to make work easier and save time. But can the technology really deliver what so many are hoping for? Does it have the right to be in almost every 2024 strategy plan? These questions are answered with a focus on the world of engineering.

The increasing demand for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) in electric vehicles, portable electronics and stationary energy storage systems requires the sustainable use of all resources used. The basis for this is a functioning circular economy and cost-effective recycling of cells that can no longer be used and follows corresponding EU specifications regarding critical materials and recycled quantities. In the coming decade, a massive increase in unusable LIBs is expected.

Conventional LIB recycling methods, such as pyrometallurgy and hydrometallurgy, have their limitations, including high energy consumption, environmental pollution, and low recovery efficiency. Therefore, more efficient recycling strategies need to be developed that minimize environmental impact and maximize resource recovery. When recovering valuable materials, the focus is not only on cobalt, manganese, and nickel, but increasingly on lithium, graphite and ultimately all materials used.

Ball milling is a mechanical process used in recycling to break down the battery components into smaller particles, which can then be separated based on size, density, or magnetic properties. This technique evolved into high-energy ball milling (HEM), which utilizes highly localized collision energy for chemical reactions. Such a mechanochemical process is particularly effective for recycling cathode components, which usually consist of lithium cobalt oxide (LCO), lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide (NMC) or lithium iron phosphate (LFP). The reaction products of the HEM are ultimately converted into water-soluble lithium carbonate and water-insoluble transition metal compounds through several intermediate steps and separated in a straightforward manner. The transition metals reduced during the mechanochemical interaction can also be separated from the water-insoluble products using dilute mineral acids (hydrometallurgy).

In a next step, the scale-up of the milling process must be further investigated and optimized and the influence of impurities on the quality of the final products.

One challenge of the circular economy is the fact that customers prefer new products in their purchasing decisions due to the extent and quality of their functions. Currently, these products are produced "linearly", i.e. from new raw materials. The circular economy only plays a role here in terms of the recycling of raw materials.  The circular economy, in which the added value of the products is retained, only occurs in remanufacturing, in which products are refurbished after a life cycle. However, these products have to be sold at a considerable discount and only achieve a small market share.

Is there a way to rework products in the circular economy in such a way that their added value is retained and they can be sold as "perpetual innovative" products of the current product generation?

To do this, it is necessary to be able to predict the quality of functions over generations. This is only possible if the factory that manufactures these products has a model of the relationships between the product’s embodiment and function that is not limited to one generation.

Such a circular factory must enable a function-related diagnosis of the products returning from the market, as these represent its input material and, unlike the input materials of a linear factory, are unknown. It must also be able to predict the functional quality when reworking and combining different subsystems and components in such a way that its products do not differ from linearly produced new products in terms of the functional quality. The development and design for this circular factory must be adapted to the changed boundary conditions.

Five product models are needed to fulfil these three requirements: A functional model for diagnostics, a reliability model for rework and a reference architecture model for cross-generational consideration. These models are necessary for higher-level product modelling. In addition, there is the instance-specific digital twin and the instance-specific tolerance scheme, which accompany individual subsystems of the product through the factory. In this presentation, requirements and models are explained using the example of a circular factory for angle grinders.

Cement production is one of the main sources of CO2 emissions and construction waste is the largest global waste stream.
With our concrete recycling process, we want to store CO2 in the long term, separate demolition concrete by type and at the same time
and at the same time obtain recycled raw materials that conserve natural resources. Our entrepreneurial journey began with 1st place in the "GROW" ideas competition organized by Pioniergarage. The idea turned into a research and development project at the IFG. In our presentation, we would like to report on how we would like to use our process in the next step to ensure a more circular economy in practice.

LiftWise

People who exercise regularly want to see progress and stay motivated. Liftwise is developing a digital infrastructure for fitness studios. It records the entire workout and makes progress visible. Artificial intelligence helps us to create feedback tailored to the individual user.

Further information: http://liftwise.de/

Litona

Litona develops and produces energy storage materials for rechargeable batteries based on the metal sodium. These offer the opportunity to make Europe less dependent on critical raw materials from third countries and to drastically reduce the prices of stationary energy storage systems for storing wind and solar energy and batteries for electric cars. Litona is currently selling the energy storage materials for these batteries to university and industry research institutes and is scaling up their production in order to supply the whole of Europe with their material in the medium term.

Further information: https://www.litona-batteries.de/

PHABIOC

PHABIOC develops high-throughput screening tools for the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries to solve complex laboratory challenges. Our products offer advanced analytical capabilities. With the product brands "PermeaPad" and "SpecPlate" we address the increasing demands in drug development by predicting bioavailability in vitro or measuring drug concentrations faster and more reliably.

Further information can be found at www.phabioc.com

Prio Optics

Prio Optics has developed an innovative process for the production of optical interference filters. For the first time, we are printing optical filters with an inkjet printer instead of the usual production in vacuum chambers. The process offers more freedom in terms of filter size, filter structure, substrate material and optical properties, which opens up new areas of application such as advanced microscopy, hyperspectral imaging and building integration. At the same time, it enables lower energy and material consumption.

Spotium

Spotium is the most specific market and sales intelligence software for the mechanical engineering industry and its suppliers. The aim of Spotium is to provide our customers with relevant sales information without any effort on their part. And thus support them in selling more again. In the spirit of "Search less. Sell more".

Further information: www.spotium.de

Valoon

The acceptance of software in the construction, real estate and maintenance industry is very low, especially among workers who are active on site. The reasons for this are ultimately banal. The people involved want to build, not operate software. On the part of the coordinator (e.g. site manager), this leads to forced spontaneous and uncoordinated inquiries via chats, e-mails and telephone and thus to absolutely chaotic communication. Valoon addresses this issue and combines the advantages of project management software, such as structure and clarity, with the acceptance and simplicity of messengers. This is achieved by the coordinator communicating with the participants via Valoon in future, while the workers continue to work with the messengers they are familiar with, such as WhatsApp.

Further information: www.valoon.chat

In this presentation Alistair Hudson will tell the alternative story of museums as sites for collaborative learning and the advancement of knowledge in new technologies, starting in the industrial revolution of the 1800s up to the new wave of public institutions of today, as convening spaces for art, science and society.