CompositesWorld
Issue link: https://cw.epubxp.com/i/882089
OCTOBER 2017 34 CompositesWorld This wide-ranging research center works with both government and industry to develop the best of polymer composite processing, across a range of technologies. » Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft (Munich, Germany) is the largest applied research organization in Europe, staffed by 24,500 people, mostly scien- tists and engineers. More than 70% of the group's annual budget, which tops €2 billion (US$2.35 billion), comes from contract research with industry and publicly financed research projects, covering the gamut of scientific topics. Yet, despite its scale, this massive organization is unobtrusive. Its more than 65 institutes and research units dispersed throughout Germany, and the 34 additional research units located beyond those borders are, typically, located a bit off the beaten path. Such is the case with Fraunhofer Institut für Chemische (Institute for Chemical Technology or ICT). Found in southwestern Germany, within the state of Baden-Württemberg and a short distance east of Karlsruhe, a city on the Rhine and the home of the Karlsruhe Institute of Tech- nology (KIT, which maintains a close relationship with Fraunhofer), ICT comprises a sprawling collection of buildings, old and new, on a steep hillside above the small village of Pfinztal. Surrounded by forest and farmland, ICT was founded in 1959 as the Institute for Chemical Propel- lants. It was originally located nearby in an abandoned stone quarry that helped contain its rocket combustion experiments. In 1964, operations were moved to the current site and assigned the current name. e 1970s brought contract research from civil and military customers, and polymer engineering was added to the research portfolio in 1994. Today, ICT employs more than 500 people and has a yearly turnover of €36.5 million (US$40 million). ICT's active polymer engineering department includes within its purview high-performance fiber composites, nanocomposites, thermo- plastic processing, thermoset processing, microwave and plasma heating technology, foams and compounding/extrusion, all under the direction of department head and ICT deputy director Dr. Frank Henning. And Plant Tour: Fraunhofer ICT, Pfinztal, Germany By Sara Black / Senior Editor