Materials are the foundation of innovation and high-performance sensors. At the same time, sensor technology provides the data needed to optimize materials, use them more efficiently and sustainably, and accelerate product innovation. This close connection creates solutions for key areas of the future such as sustainable energy technology, automated manufacturing, health technologies, future mobility, and smart city concepts.
Thüringer Werkstofftag 2026 at TU Ilmenau thus focused precisely on those interfaces where materials and sensor technology reinforce one another and drive innovations that also have a direct impact on everyday life, as Prof. Hongye Sun, head of the Functional Materials Group at TU Ilmenau, emphasized in her opening remarks:
Why do we conduct research on smart materials and smart sensors? After almost twenty years in this field, my answer is clear: for a better life. So that a child or a friend who has lost an arm or a leg can once again truly feel the world thanks to a prosthesis with smart sensors. Or so that an older person can receive help getting up or have the opportunity for conversation thanks to a smart robot.
In his keynote address, Prof. Norbert Willenbacher from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) also highlighted the potential of electrically conductive, printable materials to reduce the use of critical raw materials and to enable high-performance, durable electronic components for photovoltaics and flexible electronics.
Alongside short scientific presentations, the program also included tandem talks from academia and industry, an industrial exhibition, and, as Prof. Sun noted, an impressive 42 poster contributions:
From self-healing and bio-integrated materials to microand nanostructuring and innovative processing and manufacturing technologies: the wide range of posters, the depth of the shared knowledge, the open exchange of ideas and perspectives, and not least the great interest in the event have shown how diverse and relevant this field of research is.
The three outstanding posters received prize money. The audience awards went to Niclas Hober for his contribution on evaluating optimization strategies to improve joining properties in indirect laser beam joining of copper and aluminum (1st prize), Jakob Nüßlein for his work on creating biomimetic structures in functional materials from biological surfaces by combining nanoimprint lithography and reactive ion etching (2nd prize), and Florian Lindner from the Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology for his poster entitled "Smart Fibers - From Material to Function" (3rd prize).
Thüringer Werkstofftag thus remains an important driver of knowledge transfer and the initiation of new collaborations, both regionally and beyond, as State Secretary Prof. Steffen Teichert emphasized in his opening remarks:
Our task is to shape the future and innovation - and that is impossible without materials. I hope that days like this lead to new innovative ideas that, in the long term, contribute to added value and the preservation of our prosperity.
Prof. Stefan Sinzinger, Vice President for Research and Young Scientists, expressed special thanks to the partners Material innovativ THÜRINGEN, the State Development Corporation of Thuringia (LEG), TRIDELTA Campus Hermsdorf, and the higher education partners from Jena and Weimar for their support and contribution to the event:
We scientists thrive on exactly this kind of collaboration. That is what science is all’about. And that is why we are already looking forward to the next Thüringer Werkstofftag, which will be hosted by Bauhaus-Universität Weimar and MFPA Weimar.
Further information: www.material-innovativ.de/thueringer-werkstofftag
