Fraunhofer Institute for Transportation and Infrastructure Systems IVIWelcome to the new edition of the institute magazine!
It is my great pleasure to write this editorial as this is the first issue with me as director of the institute. I can hardly believe that I have already been part of the Fraunhofer IVI family for a year. After a six-month handover phase with Professor Matthias Klingner, who retired at the end of 2024, I was able to effectively start in my new role as institute director on January 1, 2025. Since then, we have already launched several new initiatives together with the management team to make our institute even stronger and offer intelligent solutions to industry.
The past year brought several challenges for key infrastructure systems in Saxony, Germany, and throughout Europe: from the collapse of the Carola Bridge in Dresden to traffic accidents and rail delays, threats to our public security at Christmas markets and other major events, and the effects of climate change, such as flooding in Germany, Spain, and Italy. These examples alone show that our research at Fraunhofer IVI in the fields of transportation, infrastructure, energy, and civil security has never been more relevant to politics, society, and science than it is today.
While transportation is traditionally seen as having negative impact on the climate, we aim to use our technological solutions to show that it is possible to enable personal mobility while remaining energy efficient. Whether through automation, electrification, or optimization, our goal is to make our planet a safer and better place for everyone, especially for future generations.
With its unique position in the science and innovation system, the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft has always been a reliable partner to industry in Germany, Europe, and beyond. Building on this foundation, I am pleased to report very good results for the past year and, above all, stable income from industry despite a slight decline. The fact that we continue to operate successfully according to the proven Fraunhofer model demonstrates that our institute is very well positioned in the face of profound global changes.
With this magazine, we invite you to explore our research activities and highlights of the past year. Immerse yourself and be fascinated by the topics and people at the institute who work with great energy and passion to meet the challenges facing our society and the economy.
I would like to thank everyone at Fraunhofer IVI for their dedication, hard work, and the warm welcome at the institute.
