BTU Transfer Day honours outstanding transfer achievements
At this year's BTU Transfer Day, BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg celebrated its tenth transfer forum. Under the motto "Shaping cooperation - funding innovation", companies, researchers, funding institutions and regional players came together to learn about successful projects, laboratories and new partnerships.
The keynote speech by Dirk Wojakowski, AiF Projekt GmbH - Project Management Agency on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWE), provided participants with compact information and practical tips on the "Central Innovation Programme for SMEs (ZIM)" funding guideline, which is one of the most important national support programmes for innovation projects by small and medium-sized companies.
A highlight of the programme was the keynote speech by Prof. Andreas Zaby, Innovation Manager at SPRIND GmbH, the Federal Agency for Leap Innovations. He gave an inspiring overview of the good support provided by research organisations in Germany compared to other countries around the world. In doing so, he highlighted outstanding opportunities for the SPRIND agency to bridge the so-called "Death of Valley" - the gap between funding for cutting-edge public research and actual, secure private investment.
Transfer Prizes 2025
From a total of five nominated collaborations, each of which presented their project and transfer achievements in a pitch, the jury selected two outstanding collaborative projects:
Mesh4U - A network for faster infrastructure inspections
The development of Mesh4U enables complex measurement campaigns to be carried out quickly and energy-efficiently over long distances. At its heart is a new type of self-organising, learning mesh communication network on extremely small, battery-powered Wi-Fi modules - a technological breakthrough in the field of mobile measurement and monitoring technology.
Great demand for railway bridges:
With around 25,000 railway bridges in Germany, many of which are over 100 years old, the need for refurbishment and inspection is growing considerably. Mesh4U makes it possible for the first time to efficiently network up to 100 sensors on large bridges and transmit measurement data in high spatial and temporal resolution. This allows simulation models for load-bearing capacity analyses to be reliably calibrated.
Safe and efficient energy systems:
Mesh4U also demonstrates its strengths in energy infrastructures - for example in substation earthing systems:
- Remote control of measuring devices over more than 1.2 kilometres,
- stable operation independent of the mobile phone network,
- considerable reduction in labour costs.
- Field tests with LEAG, PTB Ingenieure and ASCORI GmbH & Co. KG confirmed the range, stability and throughput of the system.
The development team is preparing a spin-off that will offer OEM solutions and customised measurement systems.
NMI Technologies - near-infrared spectrometers for a wide range of applications from agriculture to state-of-the-art recycling technology
The spin-off initiative NMI Technologies emergedfrom the Innovation Campus Electronics and Microsensor Technology (iCampus) project, in which innovative near-infrared refractive index sensors were developed. In co-operation between the BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg and the Leibniz Institute for Innovative Microelectronics IHP, the idea of an ultra-compact discrete spectrometer was developed, which can optically distinguish between different polymers in real time.
State of the art:
NIR spectroscopy has been used for several years in the detection of textiles and plastics, mostly in test lines with expensive spectrometers. The innovation from NMI Technologies involves germanium photodetectors, which are manufactured in a pilot line at the IHP. It utilises a new technology with which manufacturing costs can be drastically reduced. A laboratory demonstrator that is currently being developed is to be converted into a first prototype that can be used in industry and then mass-produced and sold.
Spin-off:
The products developed enable the differentiation of various plastics in waste separation for complete recycling. The team is looking at a steadily growing market, which is forecast to grow from USD 450 million (2023) to USD 650 million (2030) in Europe. The cooperation is therefore planning a spin-off based on this technology in order to transfer it to industrial applications. The business model envisages the sale of sensors for discrete on-chip NIR spectrometers to camera and sensor manufacturers as well as finished spectroscopy solutions for integration into sorting systems.
Patent application:
As part of the research cooperation, BTU has already successfully registered a patent together with IHP. In the course of the spin-off, it is planned to examine the registration of a further patent on the discrete on-chip NIR spectrometer via the BTU in the near future and, if possible, to implement it.
The jury particularly recognised
- the regional networking achievements between science, industry and the energy sector,
- the support of innovative transformation projects,
- the sustainable strengthening of energy transition expertise in Cottbus,
- the exemplary support of companies on their way into new energy and Digital Technology value creation fields.
Members of the jury
- BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg, Vice President for Research and Transfer Prof. Michael Hübner as jury chairman and representative from the Senate Commission for Research, Young Scientists and Technology Transfer, Grit Hagenberger
- Wirtschaftsinitiative Lausitz e.V. (WiL), board member Tim Berndt
- Förderverein der BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg e.V., Deputy Chairman of the Board Andreas Pfeiffer
- Wirtschaftsförderung Land Brandenburg GmbH (WFBB), Manager Sebastian Saule
The EIZ receives the special prize for its outstanding contribution to regional transfer
With a special prize, which was awarded outside of the pitch evaluation, the BTU emphasises a project that makes a decisive contribution to regional structural development over and above its technical excellence.
About the BTU Transfer Day
The Transfer Day presents successful innovation partnerships, provides insights into laboratories and research facilities and offers space for networking and funding advice. For ten years, it has been a central format at BTU for effectively bringing science and business together.
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