Annual Reports of the Fraunhofer ITWM

2020 Upheaval – Departure – Breakthrough

Editorial Prof. Dr. Anita Schöbel, Director of Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Mathematics ITWM

Dear readers,

In our Annual Report 2020/2021, we look back on a year of upheaval that confronted everyone with unimagined challenges. Privately and professionally, many things had to be improvised, rethought and organized from one day to the next. I am therefore even more proud of what we have achieved at Fraunhofer ITWM under the extraordinary conditions of a worldwide pandemic.

It was an enormous effort to equip all employees for working at home within a very short period of time, and it was challenging for all of them to adapt to a new way of working as quickly as possible in order to continue to work seamlessly. Despite adverse conditions, many of our researchers have been extremely committed to contributing their expertise to the fight against Corona. They have lived up to their scientific and social responsibilities and thereby demonstrated the values for which the research activities of Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft research stand.

This annual report is still dominated by the Corona pandemic. But it also aims to show that Corona did not overshadow everything – many exciting projects were completed or newly started. The mathematical expertise of the researchers at Fraunhofer ITWM is in demand in numerous industries and thus shapes the future of all of us in very different areas.

In 2020, Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft has redefined its research structure – a departure into the future. Seven Fraunhofer Strategic Research Fields (FSF) set priorities in the research portfolio; in addition, eight lead markets have been defined. By focusing research activities on these focal areas and markets, specific goals are being pursued: affordable health, completed energy transition, digitized value creation, holistic circular economy, as well as security and a resilient society. The innovation and industrial sites of Germany and Europe are to be strengthened in this way in the long term.

With its research work, Fraunhofer ITWM provides solutions that have an impact on many lead markets and is actively involved in several FSFs. In order to make clear how our institute fills the “Fraunhofer Powerhouse” with life, we have restructured the content of our annual report. Instead of being divided by our different departments, the individual chapters are subdivided by the FSF and lead markets and visually designed according to the new Fraunhofer corporate design for the first time.

In this annual report, we want to make clear how versatile mathematics is, how it supports numerous fields of research and how it drives innovation in various industries. We want to make the people behind “the big topics” visible and offer exciting insights into the multifaceted daily lives of our researchers. One of my major concerns is to make artificial intelligence (AI) more accessible across disciplines.

As the AI pilot of Rhineland-Palatinate, I have been the contact person for companies on AI issues since 2020, and at Fraunhofer ITWM, we provide advice on the application of AI technologies – you will also find information on this in this annual report. We also have a lot to offer in terms of content in next generation computing and quantum computing at the institute, and I am involved in the coordination of these initiatives at Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft in order to push the breakthrough of the transfer into practice.

At hardly any other time has science received so much public attention as it has since the beginning of the Corona pandemic. It experienced much appreciation, but also criticism. Our expertise has been requested more frequently than ever before. Not only have we seen increased media interest, but we have also intensified our political contacts at various levels.

An extraordinary 2020 lies behind us. It has shown us the enormous importance of science, and research has achieved a lot in a short time. You will find out what we, at Fraunhofer ITWM, have contributed to it on the following pages. I wish you an entertaining read and would like to encourage you to feel free to contact the listed persons for the individual topics if you have any questions.

Best regards
Prof. Dr. Anita Schöbel