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2013|14 Annual Report Fraunhofer IGB

24 3 bioprocesses for applications such as the production of biogas from agricultural waste like manure and sewage sludge, for optimizing wastewater treatment, and for the production of organic acids by use of biotechnology. Membrane technol- ogy kicked off in 1979 as the research focus “Transport pro- cesses through membranes” in the area of medical technol- ogy. Within a few years the institute was able to extend the membrane technology to other applications such as product recycling and develop it into a field of research of significant importance to industry. When the Fraunhofer IGB moved to a new building with state-of-the-art laboratories at today’s Fraunhofer Campus in Stuttgart-Vaihingen in 1981, the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft and the state of Baden-Württemberg laid the foundation for fruitful cooperation between the Fraunhofer institutes and the scientific and technical institutes of the university. After the appointment of Prof. Chmiel to the University of Saarbrücken, Prof. Armin Fiechter from ETH Zurich initially held the post of acting director of the Fraunhofer IGB. He was followed by Dr. Herbert Bauser, head of the institute’s Interfacial Process Engineering department, who served in an acting capacity until 1994 when Prof. Herwig Brunner of Boehringer Mannheim was appointed director. Brunner fetched a Fraunhofer working group from Hanover, which specialized in recombinant protein production and the design of pharmaceutical proteins. By deploying the talents of young researchers he both deepened molecular biology expertise in Stuttgart and built a bridge from biotechnology to interfacial engineering, in the shape of one junior research group work- ing on protein screening systems and one on biomimetic interfaces. In parallel he strengthened cell biology activities at the Fraunhofer IGB and developed them systematically into cell systems research. In addition, Brunner promoted the link between natural sciences and engineering. In late 2007, Prof. Thomas Hirth came from the Fraunhofer Institute for Chemical Technology ICT to take over as director of the Fraunhofer IGB. Hirth focused the work of the process engineering institute on the needs-oriented business areas of medicine, pharmacy, chemistry, environment and energy – and thus oriented it to the challenges of the 21st century. With his contacts in industrial biotechnology, he brought back to the institute a subject that the Fraunhofer IGB had researched in broad outline in the past, namely the manufacture of prod- ucts from renewables (renewables conversion). At the same time he ensured that the topics of bioeconomy and sustain- ability became not only a key part of the research landscape at the Fraunhofer IGB and the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, but also a core aspect of national German and Baden-Württem- berg research policies. Hirth also oversaw the expansion of Fraunhofer IGB activities to Würzburg, Straubing and Leuna, where project groups on oncology, on chemocatalysis and biocatalysis and the Fraunhofer Center for Chemical-Biotech- nological Processes CBP were established. In the anniversary year 2013, another milestone was achieved when the Institute for Plasma Research (IPF) at the University of Stuttgart was integrated into the university’s Institute for Interfacial Engi- neering IGVT, which is closely associated with the Fraunhofer IGB. Not only does this bring together plasma activities in Stuttgart, but it also strengthens the Fraunhofer IGB’s roots in interfacial engineering. HIGHLIGHTS 2013

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