Meeting of the Materials Science and Engineering Topic Network – Inspired by Life

Heidelberg, 19 May 2025

At the invitation of deputy spokesperson Christine Selhuber-Unkel, members and guests of the acatech thematic network Materials Science and Engineering came to Heidelberg and focused the hybrid meeting on “Life-inspired engineered and dynamic materials” – a key area of research at the Heidelberg Institute for Molecular Systems Engineering and Advanced Materials (IMSEAM).

During a tour of the IMSEAM laboratories, Christine Selhuber-Unkel explained special laser and microscopic methods for investigating living material systems such as cells. These can be used, for example, to determine the tensile strength of cell surfaces. After the presentation of IMSEAM, the speakers Peer Fischer (IMSEAM), Regine Willumeit-Römer (HEREON, University of Kiel), Wolfram Pernice (University of Heidelberg), and Ulrich Lemmer (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology – KIT, Prio Optics GmbH) addressed research and applications of life-inspired materials. The spectrum ranged from electronic noses to degradable stunts and neuromorphic systems for more sustainable data centers to optical filters from inkjet printers.

In addition to Andrea Robitzki (spokesperson for the Biotechnology and Bioeconomy Topic Network), Jürgen Fleischer (KIT, spokesperson for the acatech Topic Network on Production Development and Production) also took part in the meeting and presented the activities of his topic network. It is important to consider the flexibility and adaptability of production from the outset – that is, to take product-production co-design into account at the material level and thus pave the way for processes for the processing and manufacture of new materials. After an update from Rosita Cottone (Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space, BMFTR) on the EU Advanced Materials Initiative, the participants then discussed pace, interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity, regulation, patent system, and mindset as further decisive criteria for material and product development.