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Fraunhofer Society

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The Fraunhofer Society (German: Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft) is a German research organization with 59 institutes spread throughout Germany, each focusing on different fields of applied science (as opposed to the Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, which works primarily on basic science). It employs around 17,000, mainly scientists and engineers, with an annual research budget of about €1.6 billion.[1] Some basic funding for the Fraunhofer Society is provided by the state (the German public, through federal government together with the German Länder, "owns" the Fraunhofer Society), but about two-thirds of the funding are earned through contract work, either for government sponsored projects or from industry.

It is named after Joseph von Fraunhofer who, as a scientist, an engineer, and an entrepreneur, is said to have superbly exemplified the goals of the society.

The organisation has seven centers in the United States, under the name 'Fraunhofer USA', and three in Asia.[2] In October 2010, Fraunhofer announced that it would open its first research center in South America. [3]

The official name of the Fraunhofer Society is Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e. V. (German for "Fraunhofer Society for the advancement of applied research").

Notable Fraunhofer projects include:

  • The MP3 compression algorithm was invented and patented by Fraunhofer IIS. Its license revenues generated about €100,000,000 in revenue for the society in 2005.[4]
  • As of May 2010, a metamorphic triple-junction solar cell developed by Fraunhofer's Institute for Solar Energy Systems holds the world record for solar energy conversion efficiency with 41.1%, nearly twice that of a standard silicon-based cell.[5]
  • Fraunhofer is developing a program for use at IKEA stores, which would allow people to take a picture of their home into a store to view a fully assembled, digital adaptation of their room.
  • E-puzzler, the world's most sophisticated pattern-recognition machine, which can digitally put back together even the most finely shredded papers. The E-puzzler uses a computerized conveyor belt that runs shards of shredded and torn paper through a digital scanner, automatically reconstructing original documents.[6]


The Fraunhofer Model

The so-called Fraunhofer Model has been in existence since 1973 and has led to the Society's continuing growth. Under the model, the Fraunhofer Society earns ca. 60% of its income through contracts with industry or specific government projects. The other 40% of the budget is sourced in the proportion 9:1 from federal and state (Land) government grants and is used to support preparatory research.

Thus the size of the society's budget depends largely on its success in maximizing revenue from commissions. This funding model applies not just to the central society itself but also to the individual institutes. This serves both to drive the realisation of the Fraunhofer Society's strategic direction of becoming a leader in applied research as well as encouraging a flexible, autonomous and entrepreneurial approach to the society's research priorities.

Institutes

The Fraunhofer Society currently operates 59 institutes. These are Fraunhofer Institutes for:

Fraunhofer USA

In addition to its German institutes, the Fraunhofer Society operates seven US-based Centers through its American subsidiary, Fraunhofer USA:

  • Coatings and Laser Applications - CCL
  • Experimental Software Engineering - CESE
  • Laser Technology - CLT
  • Molecular Biotechnology - CMB
  • Manufacturing Innovation - CMI
  • Sustainable Energy Systems - CSE
  • Digital Media Technologies - DMT

The Fraunhofer Spin-offs

There are about 150 companies spun-off of Fraunhofer:

4FriendsOnly.com Internet Technologies AG (4FO AG), acp - advanced clean production GmbH, AdnaGen AG, advanced clean production Information Technology AG, AFPT - KOELRIT GmbH, AIXUV GmbH, ALOtec GmbH, Angiocam IVS GmbH, Arc Precision - Sources, Coatings and Analysis GmbH, arivis - Multiple Image Tools GmbH, artegic AG, AXO Dresden GmbH, b-wise gmbh, Bio-Gate AG, bureau42 GmbH, CalCon GmbH, Center for Testing and Qualifications GmbH, CEROBEAR GmbH, Clean-Lasersysteme GmbH, Concentrix Solar GmbH, CONDIAS GmbH, ConWeaver, CoSee GmbH, Diamond Materials GmbH, Do Logistics Consulting GmbH, EdgeWave GmbH, ELMOS Semiconductor AG, EnCT GmbH, ENTEC GmbH, exocad GmbH, eZelleron GmbH, facilityboss GmbH, fiatec Filter & Aerosol Technologie GmbH, FLUDICON GmbH, ForTISS GmbH, FrEqUeNz eG. Mobile Kommunikation und Breitbandanwendungen, FuMA-Tech Gesellschaft für funktionelle Mambranen und Anlagentechnologie mbH, FutureChemistry Holding BV, GfU Gesellschaft für Umweltchemie mbH, GPS Gesellschaft für Produktionssysteme GmbH, Greasoline, GRINTECH GmbH, GRIP GmbH Handhabungstechnik, GSM Software Management GmbH, Helion GmbH, HiperScan GmbH, Holotools GmbH, humanIT Software GmbH, ICIDO GmbH, I-Deal Technologies, Induflex Coating Systems GmbH, Indyon GmbH, ingeneric GmbH, inHaus GmbH, inno-shape GmbH, Innovationszentrum für Telekommunikationstechnik GmbH / IZT, intelligent views gmbh, IOSONO GmbH, iptelorg GmbH, isiltec GmbH, ISYS Adaptive Solutions GmbH, ITSO-IT Service Omikron GmbH, JenaValveTechnology Inc., KORION GmbH, Laser Analytical Systems & Automation GmbH, LF CONSULT GmbH, Lightwerk GmbH, LinogistiX GmbH, LOCALITE GmbH, m2k Laser GmbH, MedCom GmbH, meticube - Software Engineering, METROM Mechatronische Maschinen GmbH, mignos GmbH, MikroM GmbH, Mindlab GmbH, Mobota Ltd., mso jena Mikroschichtoptik GmbH, mufin GmbH, MusicTrace GmbH, NDT Systems & Services AG, NetSkill AG, NoKra Optische Prüftechnik und Automation GmbH, Novaled AG, Novedia AG, OKIT GmbH, OPTICOM GmbH, OrbiTeam Software GmbH & Co. KG, Origin Foods GmbH, PacTech GmbH, PharmedArtis GmbH, PSE AG, Pumacy Technologies AG, RESprotect GmbH, RTE Akustik + Prüftechnik GmbH, S&F Systemtechnik GmbH, Scapos AG, SCUS GmbH, Smart Material GmbH, SmartMembranes GmbH, solares bauen Gmbh, SolarSpring GmbH, SOLID COMPOSITES GMBH, Stress & Strength GmbH, Subitec GmbH, teambits GmbH, T-O-P Oberflächen GmbH, Technologiebroker Bremen GmbH, Tecnaro GmbH, Testing Technologies IST GmbH, think-cell Software GmbH, TriDiCam GmbH, u2t Photonics AG, Vertigo Systems GmbH, vis-à-pix GmbH, Visotek, VITERO GmbH, Vitracom GmbH, xi Experts-International GmbH


History

A german stamp: 50 years of the Fraunhofer Society

The Fraunhofer Society was founded in Munich on March 26th, 1949 by representatives of industry and academia, the government of Bavaria, and the nascent Federal Republic.

In 1952, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs declared the Fraunhofer Society to be the third part of the non-university German research landscape (alongside the German research councils (DFG) and the Max Planck Institutes). Whether the Fraunhofer Society should support applied research through its own facilities was however the subject of a long-running dispute.

From 1954, the Society's first institutes developed. By 1956 it was developing research facilities in cooperation with the Ministry of Defense. In 1959 the Fraunhofer Society comprised nine institutes with 135 co-workers and a budget of 3.6 million Deutsche marks.

In 1965, the Fraunhofer Society was identified as a sponsor organization for applied research.

In 1968, the Fraunhofer Society became the target of public criticism for its role in military research.

By 1969, Fraunhofer had more than 1,200 employees in 19 institutes. The budget stood at 33 million Deutsche marks. At this time a "commission for the promotion of the development of the Fraunhofer Society" planned the further development of the Fraunhofer Society (FhG). The commission developed a financing model that would make the Society dependent on its commercial success. This would later come to be known as the Fraunhofer Model.

The Model was agreed to by the Federal Cabinet and the Bund-Länder-Commission in 1973. In the same year the executive committee and central administration moved into joint accommodation at Leonrodstraße 54 in Munich.

The Fraunhofer program for the promotion of the consulting research for SMEs was established and gained ever more significance in subsequent years.

In 1977, the political ownership of the society was shared by the Ministries of Defense and Research.

By 1984, the Fraunhofer Society had 3,500 coworkers in 33 institutes and a research budget of 360 million Deutsche marks.

By 1988, defense research represented only about 10% of the entire expenditure of the Fraunhofer Society.

By 1989, the Fraunhofer Society had nearly 6400 coworkers in 37 institutes with a total budget of 700 million Deutsche marks.

In 1991 through the reunification of Germany, the Fraunhofer Society faced the challenge of integrating numerous research establishments of the former East Germany as branch offices of institutes already existing into the Fraunhofer Society.

In 1993 the Fraunhofer Society's total budget exceeded 1 billion Deutsche marks.

In 1994, the Society founded a US-based subsidiary, Fraunhofer USA, Inc., to extend the outreach of Fraunhofer's R&D network to American clients.

Its mission statement of 2000 commits the Fraunhofer Society to being a market and customer-oriented, national and internationally active sponsor organization for institutes of the applied research.

Between 2000 and 2001 the institutes and IT research centers of the GMD (Gesellschaft für Mathematik und Datenverarbeitung -- Society for Mathematics and Information technology) were integrated into the Fraunhofer Society at the initiative of the Federal Ministry for Education and Research.

The year 2000 marked a noteworthy success at Fraunhofer-Institut for Integrated Circuits (IIS): MP3, a lossy audio format which they developed, is the most widely adopted method for compressing and decompressing digital audio.

In 2002, ownership of the Heinrich-Hertz-Institut for Communications technology Berlin GmbH (HHI) which belonged to the Gottfried William Leibniz Society e. V. (GWL) was transferred to the Fraunhofer Society. With this integration the Fraunhofer Society budget exceeded €1 billion for the first time.

In 2003 the Fraunhofer Society headquarters moves to its own multistoried building in Munich.

The Fraunhofer Society develops and formulates a firm specific mission statement. The fundamental targets are summarized, and the desired "values and guidelines" of the society's "culture" are codified. Amongst these, the society committed itself to improving the opportunities for female employees and coworkers to identify themselves with the enterprise and to develop their own creative potential.

In 2004 the former "Fraunhofer Working Group for Electronic Media Technology" at the Fraunhofer-Institut for Integrated Circuits (IIS) gains the status of an independent institute. It becomes Fraunhofer-Institut for Digital Media Technology IDMT.

New alliances and topic groups help to strengthen the market operational readiness level of the institutes for Fraunhofer in certain jurisdictions.

In 2005 the new institutes, the Leipzig Fraunhofer-Institut for Cell Therapy and Immunology (IZI) and the Fraunhofer Center for Nano-electronic technologies CNT in Dresden, were founded.

In 2006 the Fraunhofer Institute for Intelligent Analysis and Information Systems (IAIS) was founded as a merger between the Institute for Autonomous Intelligent Systems (AIS) and the Institute for Media Communication (IMK)

Presidents

Notes

  1. ^ Staff (2010). "Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft: About Us". Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft organisational web site. Retrieved 2010-05-20. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  2. ^ Staff (2006). "Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft: International Locations". Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft organisational web site. Retrieved 2006-06-06. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  3. ^ Staff (2010). "Fraunhofer in Chile". Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft organisational web site. Retrieved 2010-10-22. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  4. ^ http://www.britischebotschaft.de/en/embassy/r&t/notes/rt-fs005_Fraunhofer.html
  5. ^ http://www.fraunhofer.de/en/press/research-news/2010/05/concentrator-solar-cells.jsp
  6. ^ (Jan 20, 2008) Reassembling a puzzle with 600 million pieces.Toronto Star . Retrieved on December 2nd, 2010
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