Electronic Systems Performance Center: From Technology to Commercial Success

Nico Kubanek:

Welcome to our series "Platz für Innovationskünstler" (A space for Innovation artists), the podcast that introduces the movers and shakers behind innovations in the Nuremberg Metropolitan Region. Today we take a look behind the scenes at the LZE. The Leistungszentrum Electronikysteme is an exciting initiative from and for the region that aims to bring science and industry even closer together and make the economic use of research results more efficient. My guests are Bernd Fischer and Christian Forster, two of the central minds behind the LZE.

It's good to have you here. You are both regional plants, if I may say so. You both come from Nuremberg. You both studied paper and earned your doctorates. At the LZE, you both play slightly different roles. Tell our listeners briefly what you are like and what your tasks are at the LZE.

Bernd Fischer:

Yes, I have been working at the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Systems and Device Technology, or IISB for short, in Erlangen for over 20 years. Shortly after receiving my doctorate, I moved from the technical department to the staff of the institute's management, where I am responsible for strategic initiatives, among other things. And the LZE is just such a strategic initiative, with the core partners of the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg and the two Erlangen Fraunhofer Institutes IIS and IISB. And so it is that, together with Christian and the entire team at the LZE office, I have helped to build up the performance center from the very beginning, since it was founded in 2015.

Nico Kubanek:

Thank you. And Christian, you now have a different role and are something like the economic counterpart in the LZE again. Perhaps you could also briefly introduce yourself and your tasks once again.

Christian Forster:

Yes, if you will. Yes. In the first years of the LZE, I was also at the Fraunhofer Institute, but at the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS, and I had a very similar function to Bernd. I had the staff group Business Unit Development and Innovation. In 2017, we then started to set up our own legally independent unit for the LZE. This essentially consists of a non-profit association, LZE e.V., which promotes research and training, and a commercial limited liability company, LZE GmbH. And this is the commercial arm of the LZE. And when the question arose as to who would be responsible for the management, I left the IIS and took over the management. And in the end, Bernd and I still share many activities in the LZE, but depending on the requirements. And that ensures that we actively support the Fraunhofer research projects at the university together with our colleagues.

Nico Kubanek:

Now, with a topic like this, a mission is often the driving element. What was your vision for the performance center? I think this very topic of transfer seems to be a very important point for your work.

Christian Forster:

Absolutely right. So the central mantra is that research must be put into practice and not disappear into some drawer. And by that we mean the development of concrete products, i.e. companies that approach us today want to buy ready-made solutions that they can use directly. Well, okay, that sounds totally trivial now, of course, but ultimately in practice, especially when we're talking about research and research organizations, there are a lot of hurdles to overcome. And the LZE has set itself the goal, and is consistently pursuing this vision, of alleviating these hurdles as far as possible, defusing them or perhaps even removing them completely. And for us, that ultimately means speed of access to the technology on the one hand and industry-standard conditions on the other.

Bernd Fischer:

Yes, and for this the LZE's legal culture is its own. An ideal complement to the framework conditions to which publicly funded research institutions such as the university or the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft are subject. Incidentally, it is LZE, the first and so far only performance center of the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft, which has realized such a structure and also brought it into ongoing operation, is also a kind of innovation or pioneer, so to speak. Another point is that the performance center has an explicitly regional character. Of course, we are working with partners from all over the world, but at its core it is about bringing together the strengths of the region and making them visible. Modern electronic systems, which is our topic, for example, for mobility, energy supply and Industry 4.0 or medicine are also the ideal application. They require communication technology, sensors, a suitable energy supply, high-performance materials. And so on and so forth. And such systems are so complex these days that you can't avoid bringing together many competencies and partners.

Nico Kubanek:

We've already talked about the fact that you take on somewhat different roles. How different are the goals that you are pursuing with the LZE?

Christian Forster:

Actually, not at all. As I described earlier, we are pursuing precisely this joint approach. And to be fair, of course, you have to say Yes, we and of course all the partners involved have their own perspectives, and we always look at this common whole from these different perspectives, so to speak. I mean, Bernd perhaps more from the research perspective, I perhaps more from the commercialization and marketing perspective. But that's what it's all about. Exactly this combination of perspectives and focal points into one big whole. That's what it's all about. That's the thing that makes it so appealing, that it's the elementary added value for our customers and partners.

Nico Kubanek:

Do you see it the same way, Bernd?

Bernd Fischer:

Yes, for sure. With partners, university, Fraunhofer docked to the economy. So with the LZE, we can cover the entire chain from the basics to applied research to industrial implementation and thus also close gaps in this chain through targeted measures. This includes all possible ways of transfer, be it through the support of spin-offs, new licensing models or, for example, joint training programs.

Niko Kubanek:

I would now like to make the whole thing a bit more tangible for our listeners or give them a better idea. Can you give us a concrete, successful example that we can use to present this?

Bernd Fischer:

Yes, we have several, so without going into technical detail. It would not have been possible without the cooperation in the LZE. To realize a novel, extremely compact energy storage system for larger buildings such as medium-sized industrial plants. The system can be used to convert regeneratively generated energy into hydrogen, which can then be stored in the organic liquid over longer periods of time. And here we have actually already combined the university's expertise in storage technology, the communications technology of Fraunhofer IIS, and the power electronics and power grid expertise at our IIB in an ideal form.

Another example: in our clean room laboratory at IISB, we are developing special new semiconductor components for one of the institute's core topics - power electronics. And these offer the potential to establish modern semiconductor technologies, which offer previously unattained performance ranges and new functionalities, more quickly on the market because they are economical thanks to our components. And via LZE GmbH and its Venture Store, which is simply spoken a web store, we have the possibility to offer these companies or enterprises small series of these components for testing in real marketable products without great effort and in an uncomplicated way. This enables us to demonstrate that our developments meet the necessary stringent requirements in terms of technology, maturity, quality and reliability. And on the other hand, of course, it creates confidence among our customers and enables us as Fraunhofer IISB to take on further orders and research projects. And thus the entire construction serves a core objective of the performance center: accelerating transfer.

Nico Kubanek:

Okay, that sounds very, very exciting, doesn't it? Christian, do you have anything to add to that?

Christian Forster:

Of course. So for me personally, I find an insanely good example from the partner in the automotive industry. It was about an audio entertainment system for vehicles. And this car manufacturer wanted to integrate a very fancy Fraunhofer technology into its vehicles, into its cells, its serial vehicles. And that's when we started, and then unfortunately something happened. The negotiations came to a standstill somewhere, because it simply turned out that the car manufacturer had very specific requirements that simply could not be met by Fraunhofer without further ado. And then there was a big question mark, so to speak: What do you do there? And at some point they said, "Here LZE, can you perhaps make a contribution? And we took a look at the matter and then managed, within the tight time constraints of the automotive manufacturer in these six weeks, to get the cow completely off the ice by the deadline by transferring the technology to a highly specialized spin-off company. He designed the spin-off, we designed it, we clarified the financing, we did the risk management, we procured it, i.e., we staffed it, and finally we launched it. And, as I said, all of this was done under the ticking clock of the automotive industry. But it worked. We were able to do it. And today, the vehicle is on the road with the technology on board.

Niko Kubanek:

As I said at the beginning, this competitiveness on a global level is a key factor, but so is the importance for our region, which is also the reason for the Innovation Art Initiative. What is the benefit for the Nuremberg Metropolitan Region and what role does the region play in your success?

Bernd Fischer:

Yes, let me perhaps start with the second part of your question. In the Nuremberg metropolitan region, we have a unique concentration of research and industry in the field of electronic systems, an unbelievable breadth of expertise and an extremely strong and diverse industrial landscape in this area. Whether global corporations or medium-sized companies, global players or the so-called hidden champions, from automotive suppliers to medical and energy technology, all global challenges, such as energy supply, etc., can be met. These global challenges, such as energy supply, etc., can be addressed by the competencies here with the help of electronics. Seen in this way, at least for Europe, Erlangen is the ideal location for the LZE.

Niko Kubanek:

Christian, how do you see it?

Christian Forster:

Yes, for me, of course, the exciting question is the benefit for the metropolitan region. And if you stretch the arc a little further, then we live in a world where we see global competition somewhere in a kind of de-globalization, perhaps almost. Yes, we see how individual countries use access to technology as a means of political pressure. Or you look at the current situation in various supply chains, for example, the chip shortage. That is something crazy that is happening at the moment. Entire production batches cannot be finished because the required components are not available. And as a managing director of such companies, you have to ask yourself, of course, What does this mean for my own company? And our benefit for the metropolitan region is that we want to make a contribution here. We want to be a source of high technology that we can represent, that is not confronted with these problems, that comes here, that is directly accessible, and that can thus isolate itself a bit from these global issues in terms of risk.

Niko Kubanek:

Okay, now I'd like to finish by taking a look at the future, because what you've described shows that you are an important and, above all, growing factor for the region. What else can we expect from the LZE in the future?

Christian Forster:

Well. We see the role of the LZE as a contact point for local companies. And that is, of course, a role that we will continue to expand in a very stringent manner. For us, this means that our focus will increasingly be on technology products. And then, if you look at the customer base, so to speak, then it means, of course, that our eye is ultimately on the requirements of our smaller and medium-sized companies. They are particularly close to our hearts because they simply have various difficulties and do not have various paths that are available to large companies, of course. And that will be a path that we will continue to pursue with passion.

Bernd Fischer:

It is a matter of making the know-how from research and, if we are looking at SMEs in particular, also making the specific infrastructure of the research institutions even better available to companies, for example, by supplying them with special components that can be key components in new products, but which are now practically impossible to obtain from the classic sources such as foundries or suppliers, for example, because of their special nature, their specificity or because of the relatively small quantities required. So it is also important to at least reduce dependencies on non-European players and components. And the LZE wants to make its contribution to solving the problem with its possibilities and tools.

Nico Kubanek:

I found it super exciting that you took us behind the scenes and gave our listeners an insight into what happens there. Christian, Bernd Thank you so much for the time you took and we wish you all the best for the future development of the LZE.

Christian Forster:

Thank you.