Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Advanced Materials IFAM
Hello, Professor Busse!
You have been working at Fraunhofer IFAM since 2003 and as the director, you have played a key role in shaping the institute over the last 21 years, particularly in the area of shaping and functional materials. You brought a lot of different topics with you from your time in the automotive industry and then also established topics relating to electromobility at Fraunhofer IFAM. In addition, as chair of "Near net shape production technology" at the Faculty of Production Engineering at the University of Bremen, you promoted this topic at the site and beyond. That was certainly a very exciting time and now you are going into well-deserved retirement - or rather the famous "non-retirement"?
We'll find out now, because the theme of this interview is "Looking back and looking ahead". We are looking forward to hearing your answers to this and further questions in our interview titled “Looking back and looking ahead”.
Starting with the retrospection: How do you look back on the past 21 years? What were the highlights? What were the biggest challenges?
Over the last 21 years, we have experienced a very dynamic development at Fraunhofer IFAM: we have grown considerably both in terms of the size of the institute and the topics we have covered. A lot of new topics have been added, but we have also deepened and developed our core competencies. Here are a few examples:
In the automotive sector, we were able to acquire two lead projects in the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft and play a key role in shaping and coordinating their content. These projects are strategically very important in the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft and have given Fraunhofer IFAM a high profile.
In the lead project "Electromobility Systems Research", we were even able to play a technological role in shaping the German economy's entry into the world of electromobility in two 4-year project phases. Over the years, Fraunhofer IFAM has been able to develop unique selling points and secure leading positions in the European R&D landscape. This has resulted in many patents. The spin-off "Cast Coil GmbH", which was launched in 2023, also builds on these technological developments.
Fraunhofer IFAM is currently coordinating the flagship project "FutureCarProduction", in which eight Fraunhofer Institutes are working together on the future topics of automotive body production. A further paradigm shift is on the horizon here, in which Fraunhofer IFAM's many years of work in the field of foundry technology will provide a solution approach to "fusion casting". Primary forming and forming technology will be linked in both the real and digital worlds in order to demonstrate new and sustainable approaches to car body construction.
Another important keyword is digitalization: digital methods are being used intensively in practically all technological areas at Fraunhofer IFAM. Great progress has been made in the field of functional printing technologies. The functionalization of components is now leading to sensor/actuator-based "smart" components, from which the shaping technologies from powder technology and casting technology are benefiting in particular. The recently established "Research Data" team now supports internal and external customers across the board with topic-specific expertise in the field of digitalization.
For me, our recipe for success is and remains the cooperation with the competent, hard-working and intrinsically motivated people at Fraunhofer IFAM. Many innovative approaches have been developed in countless discussions to solve the many different challenges. For me, this continuous interaction is crucial for the success story of the institute to date and for the future! As Fraunhofer IFAM grows, there is an unintentional but unstoppable increase in distance from colleagues and often also from the content: so many interesting projects are being implemented.
I am not alone in this feeling: "If Fraunhofer IFAM knew what Fraunhofer IFAM knows" characterizes an important insight from our strategy processes to date. Communication across divisions, departments and topics is a challenge that is unlikely to get any smaller in the coming years. The balance between working from home and the presence of all people at the institute certainly plays an important role here. In my view, regular, respectful, open, collegial, and ideally personal interaction with one another is a challenge and at the same time the key to Fraunhofer IFAM's continued success.
The topics of e-mobility and production technology have always been particularly close to your heart: what are the biggest current changes and, if you dare to look into the future, what are the most important questions in these areas and where can Fraunhofer IFAM provide answers?
The issues surrounding the urgently needed mobility transition are inextricably linked to the energy transition. Measured against the climate targets set for 2045, mobility and the housing/building sector are lagging the furthest behind. For individual mobility by car, I believe battery technology is on the right track. The challenges for e-trucks are even greater, but we at Fraunhofer IFAM are making a significant contribution to this with our strong team on electrical energy storage systems. Printed batteries, for example, represent a promising approach here: an innovative combination of printing technologies and battery expertise.
Other energy sources are required for shipping and air traffic. Technologies for hydrogen, from production to use for mobility or the residential sector as well as in industrial applications, are becoming increasingly important. Fraunhofer IFAM is also well positioned in this area at several locations and will bring important technologies to industrial implementation.
With its core competencies in materials and manufacturing technologies, the institute is ideally placed to take account of the urgent need to reduce the CO2 footprint and conserve resources. In future, every new component and every product to be manufactured must be optimized for sustainability in addition to functionality, quality and costs. This brings us full circle to our current flagship project "FutureCarProduction", which also addresses all aspects of life cycle engineering. These findings can be systematically transferred from automotive production to many other industrial applications.
You will certainly always be connected with Fraunhofer IFAM, but how do you see the future - both personally and professionally? How are you planning your "life after Fraunhofer IFAM"?
I will continue to be available to supervise doctorates and other university work. Other activities on the agenda include supporting spin-offs and supervisory board mandates and, if necessary, I can certainly provide some advisory support within the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft.
For the rest of my life, it is very important to me to use my time for things that I haven't had enough time for in recent decades. These include longer trips with my wife: in a motorhome and sailing in the Mediterranean or on the Baltic Sea... We already have many beautiful destinations in the pipeline. We can stop off at home or abroad with our grown-up children or friends and enjoy the new freedom of not necessarily having to start the return journey after two weeks.
Once we're back home and are working on smaller or larger projects in the house and garden, I'll finally be able to spend more time on my Blüthner grand piano to expand my repertoire and record the results digitally. I also really want to get back into sports, from tennis, fitness training, skiing and snowboarding to kiting and wingfoiling!
And one last question: What would you like to pass on to your colleagues at Fraunhofer IFAM? Is there a life lesson you would like to share with everyone?
The challenge with this question is to give a concise answer: I could certainly fill several pages on this and then drift off into philosophy. If I try to pick out a single point, it could be something like this:
"Try to balance aspects and interests, but be convinced of whatever you do."
In my experience, smart decisions in complex situations rarely lie at the extremes. For me, an important goal in management work, but also in "real life", is to get the people involved on the same page where no one loses face and, ideally, to celebrate joint successes. Mutual appreciation, attentive listening - even between the lines - and engaging and friendly interaction with each other are very important aspects for me.