Services

Enjoying innovating, communicating knowledge in a clear way, building expertise, networking and collaborating: As a member of our network, you can expect a lively network culture and a wide range of services.

merlin

Our merlin magazine puts the spotlight on our network members: What innovations are they working on? What progress are they making, what hurdles are they facing?

Over the course of five print editions, readers will gain insight into the world of smart materials. Since issue 6, the articles are also available digitally at merlin-magazin.de. If you would like to receive a printed version via mail, just drop us a line in an email.

NEUESwagen

The NEUESwagen is both a rolling exhibition system and a smart material laboratory. As a location-independent platform, it is ideal for literally transporting the results of smart³ projects, the expertise of our network members and their core competencies.

At the same time, the NEUESwagen provides an insight into the world of smart materials, illustrates their potential and conveys suitable applications. Thanks to its modular design, the experiments and exhibits can be tailored to specific target groups and used at trade fairs, educational projects or open houses.

Serendipity Days

Some things in everyday life were not invented, but discovered more or less accidentally. Superglue, Post-it notes, hook-and-loop fasteners, Teflon, linoleum, tea bags, and silicone are all things that have become part of our everyday lives as a result of random discovery.

In professional literature, serendipity is the term used to describe the accidental observation of something not originally sought, which turns out to be a new and surprising discovery.

In our Serendipity Days, we use this principle to generate new product ideas and solutions. If you want to use this successful format from smart³, you don't have to hope for a lucky coincidence. All you need to do is send a message to Dr. Jochen Barth.

Events

Whether it's an innovation conference, a special topic day or a management meeting: get to know new people and the smart³ members. Our events take place throughout the year. If you would like to join us next time, subscribe to our newsletter to receive regular updates on upcoming events.

Innovation-Battle

In times of economic difficulty, innovation is often at a disadvantage. One consequence of business uncertainty is a reluctance to invest in new ideas. But with only a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. That's why our Innovation Battles bring SMEs and researchers together in just three steps.

1) The first step is a detailed analysis of the company's situation. Based on this, we create a case study on the need for innovation and find the right research partner in our network.

2) The SME and the researcher independently prepare a pitch to be presented to an independent jury. In this way, we bring together the perspectives of business and research without them influencing each other from the outset.

3) In the subsequent project, both partners work closely together to implement the winning idea. Not as an outsourced R&D department, but as a real team with both practical and theoretical expertise. In this way, both sides benefit from each other's expertise and synergies are leveraged.

As a result, our Innovation Battles foster both a closer exchange between industry and research and the development of customized solutions to address innovation bottlenecks in companies. This not only ensures competitiveness, but is also fun.

SmeX-Kit

The SmeX kit translates theoretical knowledge into easy-to-understand and practical experiments. It makes the world of smart materials tangible and brings smart materials research to life in the classroom.

In the best case, students will develop an interest in the subject and will enjoy working on new innovations with smart materials later in their careers. We are happy to make the experiment kit available to educational institutions, universities and schools. Just send us a short message and we will contact you.

Funding

Often, good ideas fail due to a lack of funding. However, personnel and material costs can be offset by funding programs. We can help you find the right one for your project.

Wir haben die Förderlandschaft stets im Blick und wissen, worauf es im Einzelfall ankommt. Zögern Sie also nicht, mit uns über Ihre Ideen für ein Projekt zu sprechen. Auf diese Weise können wir gemeinsam prüfen, welche Fördermöglichkeiten aktuell zur Verfügung stehen.

Community

Als Europas größtes Netzwerk für intelligente Materialien setzen wir auf die Kraft der Gemeinschaft. Denn viele Herausforderungen oder Probleme sind keine seltenen Einzelfälle, sondern treten in leicht abgewandelter Form immer wieder anderswo auf.

In unseren Themenkreisen widmen wir uns den zahlreichen Facetten der smarten Materialien. Unser Ansatz: Wir verknüpfen Wissenschaft und Industrie und verhelfen intelligenten Materialien so zu mehr Sichtbarkeit. Wie wir das tun? Indem wir unter anderem Initiativen für gemeinsame Messeauftritte oder F&E-Projekte etablieren oder uns regelmäßig über den aktuellen Stand der Technik austauschen.

Dabei gilt: Jede:r kann dabei sein und sich konstruktiv in die Arbeit der Themenkreise einbringen. Das geht schnell, einfach und kostenlos nach der Registrierung auf unserer Plattform bei Innoloft.

Derzeit arbeiten wir in folgenden fünf Themenkreisen:

Themenkreis	unter der Leitung von
Shape memory alloys	Dr. Sven Langbein (Hoffmann Kunststoffverarbeitung GmbH) Dr. Kenny Pagel (Fraunhofer IWU)
Magnetic shape memory alloys	Dr. Markus Laufenberg (ETO MAGNETIC GmbH) Dr. Andrea Böhm (Fraunhofer IWU)
Kalorische Werkstoffe	Prof. Dr. Paul Motzki (Universität des Saarlandes und ZeMA) Dr. Christian Großmann (Ingpuls GmbH)
Shape memory polymers	Dr. Thorsten Pretsch (Fraunhofer IAP) Dr. Peter Reichert (Covestro Deutschland AG)
NewSpace	Farangis Dürrkopp (Lamb Space Tec GmbH) Michael Weißflog (smart3 e.V. und Fraunhofer IWU)