Several projects worth millions in the field of smart material systems at Saarland University and ZeMA - Centre for Mechatronics and Automation Technology gGmbH

In the last quarter of 2024, the research unit SMiP – Smart Material Systems for Intelligent Production headed by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Paul Motzki, who holds a bridging professorship between ZeMA – Centre for Mechatronics and Automation Technology gGmbH and Saarland University, again recorded significant successes in project acquisition.

On 1 October, the innovative project ‘SMACool’ was launched, supported by the European Innovation Council (EIC) Pathfinder programme with a grant of EUR 4 million. The prestigious EIC Pathfinder Challenge award recognizes innovative projects that have the potential to develop groundbreaking solutions to some of the most pressing challenges of our time. Out of a total of 4 million euros, a good 1.8 million euros will go to research and development at Saarland University. The aim of the SMACool project is to develop a functional air conditioning and heat pump for residential buildings within the next three years, based on the promising technology of elastocalorics. For this purpose, a compact unit is to be developed that can heat and cool each individual room decentrally and individually.

Elastocalorics is a disruptive heating and cooling technology and is based on the mechanical deformation of solids such as shape memory alloys: A nickel-titanium shape-memory wire heats up during stretching and cools down again while relaxing, with temperature differences of up to 40 degrees.

The application possibilities of this innovative technology are manifold and range from heating and air conditioning technology for buildings or vehicles to cooling of battery systems or data centers to industrial cooling. “Elastocalorics works both as a heat pump and as a cooling system. It is more energy-efficient and sustainable than today's air conditioning technology and does not require any climate-damaging refrigerants. The efficiency of elastocaloric materials exceeds today’s air conditioning or heating systems by more than ten times – they require significantly less electricity”, explains Paul Motzki, who heads the international project consortium. In addition to the Saarland University, the consortium also includes the University of Ljubljana and the University of Naples Frederico II as well as the company exergyn from Ireland.

In addition, the research team led by Prof. Paul Motzki received the grant decisions for two further projects worth millions in the last quarter of 2024, which will now start immediately at the turn of the year.

On the 1st The ‘SMArtCool’ project, also in the field of elastocalorics with a focus on the automotive sector, started on 1 December. The project consortium is led by Volkswagen and also includes the company Ingpuls from Bochum and the Fraunhofer IPM in Freiburg. This project is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection and has a total volume of 3.4 million euros, of which almost 1 million euros goes to the Smart Material Systems working group at ZeMA.

Elastocalorik has been declared by both the US Department of Energy and the European Commission as the most promising alternative to existing cooling methods. In addition, the World Economic Forum recently listed elastocalorics in the ‘TOP 10 Emerging Technologies 2024’.

Last but not least, a new Horizon Europe project in the field of medical technology will start on 1 January. Grown up from the support of the Werner Siemens Foundation, the teams of Professor Motzki and Professor Bergita Gänse (Faculty of Medicine, University Hospital Homburg) are dedicated to implant research in order to improve the healing of bone fractures in patients through the use of smart materials. The project “SmILE – Smart Implants for Life Enrichment” is funded under the Horizon Europe Programme. The research area Smart Material Systems is one of 23 consortium partners and the project has a total volume of 20 million euros, of which 750,000 euros go to research at ZeMA and a good half million euros to research at Saarland University. This project builds on the progress made over the last five years under the €8 million Smart Implants 2.0 project funded by the Werner Siemens Foundation.

With these projects, Saarland University and ZeMA are setting new standards in the research and development of smart technologies. Close collaboration between science and industry is seen as key to developing solutions that meet the challenges of modern society. All projects demonstrate the commitment of Saarland University and ZeMA to a sustainable future and show how interdisciplinary approaches in research can promote both technological innovations and advances in healthcare.

Scientific contact persons:

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Paul Motzki, Chair of Smart Material Systems for Innovative Production,
+49 (681) 85787-545; paul.motzki@uni-saarland.de
Franziska Louia, group leader Elastocalorik +49 (681) 302-71364; franziska.louia@uni-saarland.de