In brief

On July 1, 1985, the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft took over ZMI GmbH as the Applied Electronics department into the newly established Fraunhofer Working Group for Integrated Circuits AIS in Erlangen – today’s Fraunhofer IIS and Fraunhofer IISB institutes. From the very beginning, there was close collaboration with Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU). The working group was headed by Prof. Dieter Seitzer, Chair of Technical Electronics at FAU, who became the first director of Fraunhofer IIS.

As of November 1, Prof. Giovanni Del Galdo joined the institute’s management team. At the same time, he was appointed Professor of Information Technology and Electronics at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), further strengthening the close collaboration between these two major research institutions in the Nuremberg metropolitan region.

At Fraunhofer IIS, he succeeds Prof. Albert Heuberger in overseeing the divisions Development Center X-ray Technology, Engineering of Adaptive Systems, Communication Systems, and Smart Sensing and Electronics.

Prof. Del Galdo brings 18 years of experience at Fraunhofer IIS, most recently as Head of the Electronic Measurements and Signal Processing Department at the Ilmenau site. His expertise in microelectronics, sensor technology, signal processing, and data transmission further strengthens the strategic direction of our institute. Together with the other institute directors – Prof. Albert Heuberger, Prof. Bernhard Grill, and Prof. Alexander Martin – he will continue to uphold Fraunhofer IIS’s tradition of excellence and further expand cross-institute collaboration.

For the development of the JPEG XS video codec, our research team received two honors in 2025: the Engineering, Science & Technology Emmy® Award and the Joseph von Fraunhofer Prize.

The awards recognize a technology that tackles key challenges in our increasingly digital world. As demand for high-resolution video continues to grow, so do the resulting data volumes. Traditional video compression methods, especially in video production, are reaching their limits and can lead to delays or loss of quality. JPEG XS overcomes these issues.

The codec transmits video data with virtually no loss and without delay over standard network connections such as Ethernet – crucial factors for broadcast professionals handling live transmissions of high-resolution original footage, from HD to 8K, from the camera to the broadcast-ready video.

The benefits, however, extend far beyond the film and television industry. In industrial manufacturing, camera systems used for quality control can transmit images in real time to central analysis systems. And in autonomous driving, the delay-free transmission of camera data is just as essential.

With JPEG XS, we helped shape an international standard that makes next-generation applications more efficient, more flexible, and more resource-efficient.

With RoboCT, we inspect large, complex components nondestructively using X-ray and 3D computed tomography. In the automotive and aerospace industries, components such as doors, side frames, or fuselage segments often don’t fit into conventional CT systems; until now, complete 3D analyses were only possible in the lab and required considerable effort. Our solution: cooperating industrial robots move the X-ray source and detector in a controlled manner around the object. This enables data acquisition down to the micrometer scale – across the entire component or for targeted subareas.

Because robots have only limited mechanical precision, we compensate for their movements in software: AI-supported algorithms correct deviations and stabilize the reconstruction. This enables inspection without disassembly, shortens development times, and supports quality assurance in series production.

RoboCT was originally developed at tour Development Center X-ray Technology for applications in the aerospace sector; today, we use the technology across industries. Our current focus is on traction batteries for electric vehicles, where we saw a significant surge in interest from industrial customers in 2025. RoboCT provides insights into the interior of cells and modules, strengthens safety assessments, and supports resource-efficient production. Its nondestructive view inside the components also helps inform disassembly and recycling strategies.

In January 2025, we launched the project Digital Signal Processing using Generative Artificial Intelligence (DSgenAI). By the end of 2028, our goal is to advance new AI solutions for speech models, audio codecs, and 6G mobile communication systems. A central focus is to implement and master digital signal processing powered by generative AI based on proprietary models and trained with verified data. This approach is essential to ensuring Europe’s technological sovereignty and to keeping pace with global innovation leaders such as the U.S. and China.

To this end, three Bavarian Fraunhofer Institutes are pooling their expertise: At Fraunhofer IIS, we focus on energy-efficient AI applications for mobile devices, Fraunhofer IKS specializes in dependable AI systems, and Fraunhofer AISEC concentrates on cybersecurity and trustworthy AI infrastructures.

The project is funded by the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy with nearly €15 million, matched by an equal investment from Fraunhofer’s own resources.

In 2025, the new electric-vehicle charging infrastructure was put into operation at the Erlangen, Nuremberg, and Fürth sites. As part of the LamA – Workplace Charging project, company cars, as well as the electric vehicles of employees and guests, have since been able to be charged directly at the institute.