Focus 6 - MAKING MATERIALS SMARTER by Luxinnovation

focus on Research & Innovation in Luxembourg

Making materials smarter

Better by design Pages 29 – 33

National Agency for Innovation and Research

Medical revolutionaries Pages 44 – 45

N° 6 / 2012

Blitz Agency

EDITORIAL

editorial The future of industry in Luxembourg – and in Europe in general – is strongly associated with research and innovation. Maintaining and enhancing our competitiveness on the global market requires new and continuously improved products and associated services. Their development is fuelled by discoveries achieved through research and by innovative minds that can generate new ideas and transform them into commercial success. As a result of political backing and substantial public investments over the past few decades, research and development (R&D) activity is thriving in Luxembourg. While the public sector handles a rapidly growing share, private industry accounts for most of the R&D work conducted in the Grand Duchy. Our country’s industrial sector has developed into a diversified landscape featuring R&D-intensive activities that include the production of automotive components, satellite services, and specialised information and communication technologies for the financial sector, to name but a few examples. Many of the main actors are members of Fedil – Business Federation Luxembourg, which represents Luxembourg companies in the industrial, construction and business services sectors. The Grand Duchy also has a strong track record in the manufacture and processing of innovative materials. This issue of FOCUS on Research and Innovation in Luxembourg more particularly portrays the development of intelligent materials, i.e. materials that are endowed with novel and unique properties and functions. This is a field with great potential to support advances in many areas of human endeavour, for instance in biomedicine and energy conservation.

Nicolas Soisson, Director, Fedil – Business Federation Luxembourg

As illustrated in several of the articles, collaboration between the business sector and public research is increasingly essential for R&D-intensive activities. Boosting researchrelated public-private collaborations is a priority for Luxinnovation, the National Agency for Innovation and Research. The Agency notably encourages closer cooperation between businesses and public research laboratories through the Luxembourg Cluster Initiative. Innovation is, however, not possible without entrepreneurs with a flair for promising concepts that can be a success on the market. This edition of FOCUS also gives you an opportunity to discover a range of bright ideas that are currently shaping cutting-edge applications – such as gesture recognition technology, innovative wastewater treatment solutions and the first Luxembourg-built satellites sent out into space.

Nicolas Soisson

Director Fedil – Business Federation Luxembourg

Focus 6 I 2012

TABLE OF CONTENTS

NEWS FROM INNOVATIVE LUXEMBOURG

Table of contents 05

Luxembourg-born researcher shares 2011 Nobel Prize in Medicine

A lasting commitment to innovation 08

Boshua

Interview with Etienne Schneider, Minister of the Economy and Foreign Trade Intelligent materials Making materials smarter Interface, inspire, invent New prospects for polymer-based materials Surprisingly versatile glass Injecting knowledge Driven by intelligence Mutually assured R&D Steel for the seven seas Innovative spaces

11 12 14 16 18 21 24 26

Better by design

Entrepreneurship and innovation Entrepreneurship and innovation news A water-based solution Fired up for innovation A flair for intuitive interfaces

34 36 38 40

Public research The physics of daily life Medical revolutionaries

42 44

Did you know it’s from Luxembourg? A space-age floor for trains

Five questions for … Jochen Harms, Managing Director of LuxSpace

The RDI directory

FOCUS on Research and Innovation in Luxembourg is published by Luxinnovation GIE National Agency for Innovation and Research Director of publication Gilles Schlesser Editor-in-chief Lena Mårtensson lena.martensson@luxinnovation.lu

Graphic design and layout Alternatives Communication Cover Boshua Printed in 15,000 copies

Journalists Susan Alexander, Patrick Browne, Stephen Evans, Mike Gordon, Frederick Gordts, Geoff Thompson

Sponsors Luxembourg Ministry of the Economy and Foreign Trade Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce National Research Fund

Copy-editing Frauke Hertel

For a free subscription, please contact info@luxinnovation.lu

Focus 6 I 2012

The publisher has tried to ensure that all information is accurate but cannot be held responsible for the use that might be made of the information, for omissions or for any mistakes that might appear. Reproduction is authorised, provided the source and copyright are acknowledged. © 2012 Luxinnovation GIE This publication is cof inanced by :

NEWS PSA Peugeot Citroën chooses two partners in the Grand Duchy

PSA Peugeot Citroën is partnering with the postal and telecommunications services operator P&T Luxembourg to create a Third Party Services (TPS) eCall system using P&T’s M2M Services, a telematics solution for drivers encountering accidents, breakdowns and other problems. In an emergency, an onboard telematics device sends information to an emergency response switchboard via a mobile phone network. The switchboard locates the car using GPS and a voice connection is established with the vehicle, enabling the operator to obtain information, make an assessment and, if necessary, alert the nearest emergency service. P&T’s M2M work on TPS eCall received PSA Peugeot Citroën’s best supplier award in the category “Service Quality” in 2011. The French vehicle producer has also signed a collaboration agreement with Public Research Centre (Centre de Recherche Public – CRP) Henri Tudor to work together in areas that include materials technologies, environmental technologies and eMobility. Of particular interest to the partnership are “green” materials. The CRP’s teams are also able to evaluate the life cycle of fibre-reinforced composites for automotive use by means of a methodology developed in an international project led by the Centre. www.pt.lu www.tudor.lu

In 2011, the Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded half to Jules A. Hoffmann and Bruce A. Beutler for their discoveries concerning the activation of innate immunity, and half to Ralph M. Steinman for his discovery of the dendritic cell and its role in adaptive immunity. Uncovering the gatekeepers of the immune response by which humans defend themselves against microorganisms had long been a prominent research goal. Drs Beutler and Hoffmann discovered the receptor proteins that recognise such microorganisms and activate innate immunity, which is the first step in the body’s immune response. © Getty images

News from innovative Luxembourg

Dr Hoffmann was born in Echternach in eastern Luxembourg in 1941. He obtained his PhD at the University of Strasbourg in 1969. From 1974 to 2009, he headed a research laboratory in Strasbourg, where he also served as director of the Institute for Molecular Cell Biology. He made his Nobel-winning discovery in 1996. In 2007 and 2008, Dr Hoffmann was president of the French National Academy of Sciences. He also serves on the scientific and advisory boards of CRP-Santé, Luxembourg’s public research centre for health.

Focus 6 I 2012

NEWS FROM INNOVATIVE LUXEMBOURG

Public-private partnerships in focus at “Business meets Research” 2012

“Business meets Research” is an annual flagship event for research, development and innovation in Luxembourg. Organised by Luxinnovation, its purpose is to facilitate networking and idea exchange and promote public-private partnerships (PPPs) for innovative collaborative research projects. Showcasing research skills in the fields covered by Luxembourg’s Cluster Initiative, i.e. BioHealth, Ecoinnovation, ICT, Materials and Space, the 2012 edition also provided its 420 participants with opportunities to benefit from “matchmaking” between private companies and public research organisations. With Germany’s Saarland region as partner, this year’s event also encouraged cross-border innovation partnerships. www.business-meets-research.lu

Laser Technology Competence Centre at the University of Luxembourg

The University of Luxembourg has created a Laser Technology Competence Centre to support the manufacturing industry with process investigations and feasibility studies. The Centre also provides students with practical education linked to industrial issues. The Centre’s first project supports electromobility: in the future, increasingly thin plates of copper and aluminium will need to be joined to produce the next generation of batteries, but they cannot be welded with existing technologies. Diode laser technology is being investigated to address this problem. It has been shown that, with the help of this technology, thinner plates can be joined less expensively and more effectively than with current processes. In-depth investigation of the optimal laser parameters is now required.

Focus 6 I 2012

Ampacet to build high-capacity production line and innovation centre in Luxembourg

Ampacet Europe plans to invest an initial e25 million in Dudelange’s Riedchen industrial zone to install a high-capacity production line that will take the company’s Masterbatches EMEA activity another step ahead. Masterbatches are concentrates that enhance plastics by adding colour or imparting specific properties, such as UV resistance or anti-bacterial qualities. They can also help to make packaging more sustainable. Ampacet is the world’s leading producer of masterbatches.

recognises Dr Mention’s significant contributions in the field of service science and innovation, in particular for the project proposal “Towards accrued transparency of operations in the fund industry”. The work focuses on the post-financial crisis need to define a new set of indicators that reflect a company’s strategy and value creation processes and identifies a set of criteria for developing industry standard measures. © Ampacet

www.uni.lu www.plapper.com

The IBM Faculty Awards were established to promote collaboration among international researchers and those at IBM, as well as innovation in fields of strategic importance to the company. Dr Mention is the first Luxembourg researcher to receive the award. www.tudor.lu

Interregional research fund established The new production line will offer a 60 % increase over Ampacet’s existing production capacity for the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region. Eventually, some 125 people will be employed at the site, as the company also intends to transfer its EMEA headquarters there from their current Luxembourg base in Windhof. In addition, Ampacet is setting up a new innovation centre in Dudelange, further boosting the company’s capacity to anticipate evolving product and market requirements. This development is supported by the Ministry of the Economy and Foreign Trade. www.ampacet.com

CRP Henri Tudor researcher receives IBM Faculty Award

Anne-Laure Mention, INNOFinance Programme Manager and Head of the research unit Innovation Economics & Service Valuation at CRP Henri Tudor, has won a 2011 IBM Faculty Award. The honour

October 2011 saw the formal establishment of an interregional research fund by the French region of Lorraine and Luxembourg’s National Research Fund (Fonds National de la Recherche – FNR). The fund is the outcome of two years of prior experience in working together between the FNR and Lorraine and subscribes to the principle of greater strength to be derived from transregional scientific cooperation. A first call for proposals has been issued, inviting submissions under the heading “Water quality and management”. Both Luxembourg and Lorraine will each contribute €100,000 per annum to the fund, with the objective of developing cross-border research teams by pooling resources and support. www.fnr.lu

CEPS/INSTEAD wins new social sciences project under FP7

CEPS/INSTEAD, a Luxembourg public research institution focusing on economics, sociology, geography and political science, has been awarded funding as a consortium member under the EU’s Seventh Framework Programme

for research and technological development (FP7) for the project “EUBorderScapes – Bordering, political landscapes and social arenas: potentials and challenges of evolving border concepts in a post-cold war world”. The project analyses the shifting concept of state borders in terms of the emergence of postnational, post-colonial, post-modernist and post-Communist thinking. A four-year project begun in March 2012, EUBorderScapes involves 20 participants from Israel, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and several EU member states. The proposal received an unusually high score of 14.5 out of 15 during the EU’s scientific peer review process in a fiercely competitive call. CEPS/INSTEAD’s participation will support the government’s goal of raising Luxembourg’s international research profile. www.ceps.lu

Leading software researcher relocates to Luxembourg

Ranked as one of the top five software systems engineering researchers in the world, Dr Lionel Briand has recently joined the University of Luxembourg as professor at the Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust (SnT), where he will set up a laboratory for software verification and validation. His work is supported by a PEARL grant from the National Research Fund, which is providing funding of e4.6 million over a five-year period. © Michel Brumat/University of Luxembourg

Professor Dr Peter Plapper, in charge of the Centre, says: “Our mission is to improve the competitiveness of the national industry and thus to contribute to employment.”

A dual Canadian and French national, Dr Briand received his doctorate at Université Paris-Sud. His most recent position was as the scientific director of the Certus Center at Norway’s Simula Research Laboratory. “Software-intensive systems have become so complex that software engineers often have great difficulties to ensure their systems’ dependability,” he says. “To deliver predictably dependable software-intensive systems… we need proven software verification and test technologies that are highly automated.” www.uni.lu/snt

Focus 6 I 2012

KEYNOTE INTERVIEW

Boshua

KEYNOTE INTERVIEW

calls for tender”. This flexibility is enhanced by the standard short decision-making lines in this country and by the accessibility and commitment of the individuals involved in the process. Since innovation increasingly relies on interdisciplinary teamwork, companies are encouraged to team up with other businesses or with public research centres and laboratories. “In addition, we are putting in place a sectorial approach, looking at more specific support we can give to help meet the needs of businesses and researchers,” says Mr Schneider.

Ongoing diversification

Blitz Agency

Etienne Schneider, Minister of the Economy and Foreign Trade

A lasting commitment to innovation

Wise businesses have used the economic downturn to prepare for the future. This challenging period has coincided with the introduction, in Luxembourg, of expanded help for research, development and innovation (RDI). The result has been a near doubling in state support for R&D and innovation projects. The Minister of the Economy and Foreign Trade, Etienne Schneider, tells FOCUS that the country is committed to long-term backing for firms seeking to hone their competitive edge through innovation. “The government took an important decision: while some state spending was restricted, planned-for funding increases for RDI were maintained,” Mr Schneider comments on the choices made in reaction to the crisis. He is heartened by the enthusiastic response from industry that was evidenced by a doubling in requests for RDI funding between 2008 and 2010. This trend was reinforced by the new support regime introduced in 2009, but it also signalled positive intent.

A holistic view

The approach involves offering coherent, comprehensive backing. In addition to extensive RDI support in the widest sense of the term and the assistance provided by Luxinnovation, the National Agency for Innovation and Research, Luxembourg also offers help for investment, particularly at the start-up and early growth phases. This line of action reflects a long-term commitment, the ministry’s policies to encourage and facilitate private sector RDI having been in place for several years.

Focus 6 I 2012

The state will continue to foster various types of innovation. As well as the more traditional idea of pushing back technological boundaries, current state aid instruments also support innovation in processes, organisation and ICT use to boost added value. Additionally, the government champions the development of innovative services to complement existing products.

Building an RDI team

Small firms in particular are often unused to managing RDI projects, and special tools have been developed to help them. The possibilities include bringing in an external expert or highly qualified staff seconded from a large company or a public research organisation. Innovative startups can benefit from financial support for initial development costs, which may exceed basic RDI expenses. They can also find a temporary home in the dedicated incubators. Mr Schneider is particularly enthusiastic about the fact that “the 2009 reform still allows businesses to apply at any moment without waiting for

While Luxembourg is primarily known as a centre for international finance, it is longstanding government policy to support economic diversification. Traditionally this drive aimed at attracting manufacturing investment, but the scope has been widened to include service businesses such as e-commerce. “Particular effort will continue to focus on developing key action areas,” notes Mr Schneider. “The country has a well-established expertise for RDI in fields such as automotive components, plastics and materials, and is building capacity for health technology, eco-technology and logistics. In all these areas, the aim is to sustain a network of innovators which will help niche economic activities to grow.” The government has also recently decided to participate in two investment fund projects: the Life Sciences Fund, which targets biomedical technologies, and the Luxembourg Future Fund, which aims to help attract new entrepreneurial activities to the Grand Duchy.

Etienne Schneider Born in 1971, Etienne Schneider studied economics, commerce and finance at the ICHEC Brussels Management School and at Greenwich University, London. He began his career as a policy advisor within the Luxembourg Socialist Workers’ Party, before joining the Ministry of the Economy and Foreign Trade in 2004 to head the energy, e-commerce and IT security directorates. In 2009 he became a senior government advisor with responsibility for a wide range of activities. He was appointed Minister of the Economy and Foreign Trade on 1 February 2012.

Mr Schneider is convinced that being in the eurozone remains a major selling point for Luxembourg, despite recent worries. “The current difficulties have not affected Luxembourg’s advantageous business climate,” he points out. “On the contrary, the present exchange rate versus the dollar makes business out of Luxembourg more attractive.” Despite current monetary challenges, the European Union remains the world’s largest single market and is well equipped to offer innovators all the expertise they require.

Global ambition, local continuity

With its tiny domestic market, Luxembourg is resolutely focused on international trade, and the government is happy to support export businesses as long as the research and part of the production are based in the Grand Duchy. “The government can offer entrepreneurs land, subsidies and financing, making the country ideal for establishing regional and world headquarters,” the minister points out. “Businesses can also benefit from an 80 % tax exemption on all intellectual property sold from Luxembourg.” Mr Schneider takes over from Jeannot Krecké, who retired in February 2012. He has expressed a firm commitment to continuity, inspired in part by the fact that he was a senior advisor to Mr Krecké for many years and so helped to shape current policies. This choice also reflects the stability and continuity that characterise the country and its decision-making processes. Ministry of the Economy and Foreign Trade +352 24 78 41 28 innovation@eco.public.lu www.eco.public.lu

Focus 6 I 2012

Boshua

INTELLIGENT MATERIALS

MAKING MATERIALS SMARTER

Materials whose structure and composition have been designed deliberately to give them new or radically different properties, materials engineered to mimic effects found in nature, materials developed to benefit mankind: these are no longer dreams but reality that is currently taking shape in Luxembourg.

The Grand Duchy upholds a proud tradition in the manufacture and processing of innovative materials, established more than a century ago with the development of cutting-edge refining processes that underpinned the expansion of the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s steel industry. It is determined to pursue this tradition in order to meet the stringent technology requirements of the 21st Century. Fully supported by state-of-the-art equipment and highly qualified researchers, global companies such as DuPont de Nemours, Goodyear and IEE are designing and developing new materials in Luxembourg, in view of applications for the automotive, aerospace, electronics and construction industries, to name but a few. Substantial public investment in infrastructures and encouragement for collaborative public-private partnerships building on the latest advances ensure that Luxembourg continues to derive new growth from its well-established roots.

Focus 6 I 2012

INTELLIGENT MATERIALS

Boshua

INTELLIGENT MATERIALS

INTERFACE, INSPIRE, INVENT

Innovation in the Luxembourg steel industry laid the base for the subsequent development of materials and processing technologies. Today, R&D conducted in the Grand Duchy is enhancing products such as concrete, glass, ceramics and polymers and engineering new substances that include high-performance metals and high-tech composites, inspiring applications in a wide range of sectors. The Luxembourg Materials Cluster galvanises the interaction of organisations, experts and researchers with a shared interest in materials.

played a crucial role in Luxembourg’s industrial past, and we believe that it is also essential to our future. Novel, innovative materials are being developed that have strong potential for new emerging markets: nanomaterials, materials for renewable energies and smart materials for biomedical applications are just a few examples.”

Blitz Agency

Crystallising new business opportunities

President of the Luxembourg Materials Cluster. These materials have inspired a number of applications used, notably, in the automotive industry, aerospace, electronics and hightech construction. “The automotive sector is a key area for the application of new materials technologies,” Mr Thielen continues, “and is strongly represented in the Grand Duchy, with first- and second-tier suppliers employing more than 10,000 people.”

A catalyst for R&D

Georges Thielen (Goodyear Innovation Centre Luxembourg) and Laurent Federspiel (Luxinnovation) – the President and the Manager of the Luxembourg Materials Cluster

Luxembourg has been manufacturing and processing innovative materials for over a hundred years. A powerful combination of expertise in materials technologies and advanced fabrication technologies has contributed to a specialisation in the manufacture of the high value-added steel products that still account for more than a quarter of the value of all exports from the Grand Duchy. Today, however, Luxembourg’s materials sector is moving into new exciting areas of application. “Various innovative materials are produced and processed here: polymers, plastics, composites and ceramics, to mention just a few examples,” explains Georges Thielen, Manager External Science and Technology Programmes at the Goodyear Innovation Centre Luxembourg and

Focus 6 I 2012

Local industry is investing heavily in materials research and process innovation. A large number of R&D and innovation projects that benefit from government support originate from this field, and many multinational industrial groups have chosen to locate their research centres here in Luxembourg. Companies such as CERATIZIT, Delphi, DuPont de Nemours, Goodyear, IEE and Paul Wurth carry out extensive R&D activities and file hundreds of patents per year. In parallel, Luxembourg is also a seedbed for new innovative companies with highly specialised niche expertise. Private R&D is enhanced by strong public research support. The CRPs Henri Tudor and Gabriel Lippmann have complementary capabilities in the development and characterisation of innovative materials and the improvement of materials performance related to metals, ceramics, polymers, composites and nanomaterials. Both have recently benefited from significant investment in the very latest surface treatment, nano-structuration and characterisation equipment. The establishment of the University of Luxembourg has further boosted the country’s research strengths. “Continuous R&D is vital,” says Mr Thielen. “The materials sector has

The Luxembourg Materials Cluster actively supports the various actors in the fields of materials and production technologies, with the goal of generating and developing new and sustainable business opportunities through collaborative R&D and innovation projects. The Cluster was initiated by the Ministry of the Economy and Foreign Trade, originally in order to promote collaboration and sharing of experiences in the field of surface technologies. It currently boasts a membership of more than 60 private companies and public research organisations. “Our objective was to establish a true public-private partnership of independent stakeholders,” explains Mr Thielen. “The Board of the Cluster is a balance of representatives of key local companies and members from the public research organisations.” Luxinnovation, the National Agency for Innovation and Research, hosts the Materials Cluster and supports its members. The Agency highlights new developments and flags up opportunities to collaborate with the other clusters under its management. Luxinnovation’s Laurent Federspiel, the newly appointed manager of the Materials Cluster, explains: “Our aim is to identify topics of future relevance to members at an early stage, and to define the agenda of the Cluster accordingly to help members remain competitive.” This insight illustrates a pragmatism that stems from his 13 years of previous private sector experience in new product development within the local automotive and electronics industries.

Bonding across borders

The overall aim of the Materials Cluster is to offer value-added activities and services that foster new collaborative RDI projects and business opportunities. This is typically achieved through networking events or themed working groups. The Mathematical Modelling working group, for example, maps the competencies of its members and identifies local strengths or areas for development. The Collaborative Research Programmes working group disseminates

information on cooperation opportunities, prompts members to make use of national R&D and innovation support schemes and encourages them to participate in FP7. The Luxembourg Materials Cluster is also active beyond the national boundaries, closely interacting with two neighbouring clusters – Materalia in the Lorraine/Champagne-Ardenne regions of France and MecaTech in Wallonia, Belgium – in order to identify cross-border collaboration opportunities. Mr Federspiel attributes the success of the Cluster to the favourable conditions in Luxembourg. “Good ideas take root quickly in Luxembourg and are provided with the nurturing and space to grow.” Luxembourg Materials Cluster +352 43 62 63 1 laurent.federspiel@luxinnovation.lu www.materialscluster.lu

Focus 6 I 2012

INTELLIGENT MATERIALS

New prospects for polymer-based materials

main priorities for R&D at DuPont: reducing dependence on fossil fuels, feeding the world and keeping people and the environment safe. One of the company’s star products is Tyvek®, a product that is light, thin and flexible but also extremely tough and abrasion resistant. “Tyvek® is formed by spinning continuous fine fibres which are laid in a random web and bonded together with heat and pressure,” says Dr Hopp. It can be varied, so that hard- and soft-structure styles can be manufactured.

First-class cover materials Guy Hopp, Technology Leader DuPont Protection Technologies for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and Arsène Schiltz, Managing Director, DuPont de Nemours Luxembourg

DuPont was founded in 1802 in the United States. The Luxembourg site, located in Contern, 5 km to the east of the capital, was established in 1962. Polyester film, elastomer polymers used for automotive applications, spunbond polypropylene sheet products used in geotextiles and drainage, and Tyvek®, a flashspun polyethylene sheet material used for house wrapping, roofing, protective clothing and packaging, are all produced in the Grand Duchy. Of the 1,150 employees working at the Contern site, 39 specialise in R&D. Globally, the firm employs 9,500 scientists and engineers, out of a total of 70,000 employees. “Our vision is to be the world’s most dynamic science company, creating sustainable solutions essential to a better, safer, healthier life for people everywhere,” says Dr Guy Hopp, Technology Leader DuPont Protection Technologies for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He lists three

Focus 6 I 2012

“These materials are ‘intelligent’, as they adapt themselves to climatic conditions,” Dr Hopp explains further. A good example are air cargo covers made from Tyvek®, which constitute a superior alternative to incumbent products. These covers are light and easy to handle, but they provide a high level of thermal protection from solar radiation to reduce the damaging effects of heat for perishable goods. This air- and water-permeable material also allows for rapid cooling of the load when placed in chilled storage or refrigeration chambers, shortening cooling times. “This can come in very handy – for flowers, for example, which are transported all over the world. Cargolux uses our products, as do pharmaceutical companies and transportation firms like Kuehne+Nagel. Pharmaceutical companies constantly check temperature and humidity inside the covers. These are all excellent applications for our nonwoven sheet product.” These limited-use covers are easily compactable and recyclable. “Our clients also use Tyvek® in countries with heavy rain or extreme temperature variations,” Dr Hopp adds.

Fast forward for films

The R&D teams at DuPont Teijin Films in Luxembourg have developed an innovative type of film for capacitors. These films have the highest electric energy density storage capacity and have primarily been developed for hybrid cars and electronic circuits operating at up to 150 °C. “This polyester film is ultra thin and produces a high capacitance/volume ratio in the film capacitors, contributing to a compact design of the power electronics. It is resistant to vibration and heat and is, importantly, extremely reliable,” Dr Arsène Schiltz, Managing Director of DuPont de Nemours (Luxembourg) explains. The product is characterised by low heat shrinkage and received the 2010 Innovation Award handed out by Fedil – Business Federation Luxembourg. “We developed the chemical composition of this film in-house in Luxembourg,” Dr Schiltz underlines. The film is made on the simultaneous stretching line in Luxembourg, another DuPont invention. This equipment orients and extends the film lengthwise and across simultaneously, making the resulting sheet much stronger without breaking it, and boosting its isotropy.

Several of these innovations were made possible with subsidies and grants from the Luxembourg government. DuPont also regularly receives input from the national Public Research Centres Henri Tudor and Gabriel Lippmann and from local companies with specialised knowledge. “The government helps us with quickly finding the right partner for certain research tasks, and tells us what grants and help could be available,” says Dr Hopp. “Moreover, we also invite PhD students and postdocs from all over Europe to work with us.”

Boshua

Blitz Agency

DuPont de Nemours has been running a broad range of activities from Luxembourg for 50 years, developing and producing polyester films and elastomer polymers as well as non-woven and spunbonded products. The company creates sustainable solutions used in home construction, electronics, chemical protection, medical packaging, transportation, road construction and landscaping, to name just a few of its key markets. It is the fourth industrial player in Luxembourg, and it continues to hone its competitive edge through ongoing innovation and research.

Another type of film recently invented by DuPont in Luxembourg is used for photovoltaic cells and walls. This photovoltaic backsheet film is designed in such a way that it can now be produced in one single go, using a meticulously mastered chemical formula. “Before, it was made using more traditional ‘sandwich’ technology, which is much more expensive to produce,” Dr Schiltz notes.

Advanced coatings

The company also engineers and manufactures metallised products with increased heat reflection for use in walls and roofs. One of the latest upgrades to this range addresses the observation that some of these products did not appear to perform optimally in regions close to the sea. “We developed a special coating to put on such metallised products to protect them against corrosion,” Dr Hopp explains. This coating is very thin and is now applied to protective covers and other products of the company, at the request of customers and in view of specific situations. “This is a huge success in Japan, because of the high risk of corrosion in seawater environments.”

DuPont de Nemours Luxembourg +352 36 66 10 00 www.dupont.lu

Focus 6 I 2012

INTELLIGENT MATERIALS

“Nearly anyone can make float glass. However, we have the technology to give it new properties so that it can be used in increasingly diverse ways.” It is the job of Hubert Kopf, Sales and Marketing Director for Guardian Europe, to showcase the R&D work that is conducted in Luxembourg: taking the base technologies developed by the US parent company and adapting them, notably to address the challenges of the local market. This formula has been working well since 1989, the year when the group opened its only R&D centre outside the United States. “People just don’t see the complexity of glass,” says Jean Braun, Managing Director of Guardian Europe’s research, development and innovation department, the CRVC (Centre de Recherches pour le Verre et la Céramique – Research Centre for Glass and Ceramics). The secret is in the ultra-thin, invisible coatings the Centre develops and applies to the surfaces.

boost the efficiency of solar power plants, and specialist glass is integral to the development of next-generation low-energy lighting.

Polished coatings

Blitz Agency

Some uses are well known. Homes, offices and vehicles need insulation from cold and heat, and shower doors and glass table-tops must be tough

Guardian has two RDI centres: 150 staff work in the company’s lead facility in Carleton, near Detroit, USA, and 30 in Luxembourg. Of these 30, 8 are scientists working on new products and production equipment tailored to the European market. “Our teams work with clients, with our three production plants in Luxembourg and with our teams across Europe,” notes Jean Braun. The European HQ is also responsible for plants in Germany, Hungary, Israel, Poland, Russia, Spain and the UK. “We take pure science and adapt this to the final product,” says Alain Roselaer, Head of Processed Glass Technology. “We work to understand processes such as how we make artificial diamonds from carbon. This basic work is undertaken in the US and we take this and apply it to meet customer needs,” he adds. Almost exclusively, this work involves coatings around one ten-thousandth of a millimetre thick, derived mostly from basic materials such as silver and carbon.

Multifaceted public-sector support

Jean Braun, Managing Director of the CRVC, Alain Roselaer, Head of Processed Glass Technology, and Hubert Kopf, Sales and Marketing Director for Guardian Europe

and attractive. However, there are many other equally sophisticated technologies that have found commercial success in less obvious areas. Easy-clean coatings make it cheaper to keep skyscrapers sparkling. Greenhouse roofs that disperse raindrops prevent over-focused light, increasing crop yields. Ultra-reflective mirrors

Focus 6 I 2012

After starting production in Luxembourg in 1981, Guardian opened its European RDI facility eight years later. Since then a strong public-private partnership has developed, based around cooperation with the CRPs Henri Tudor and Gabriel Lippmann. “We mainly use their analytical capabilities,” says Mr Roselaer. “When we take ideas from the lab to develop production processes, there is a lot of investigation needed to resolve problems or to certify the product.” The equipment involved is expensive to run and Guardian only needs to use it occasionally, so the partnership suits the company well.

A green lens

Awareness of environmental issues extends the Centre’s specialisation into areas such as lighting. The industry foresees a big future for the next generation of low-energy “organic” light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). “OLED technology gives a very natural and efficient light producing less heat, and this will become a very important market for glass,” predicts Mr Kopf, adding that CRVC teams are working closely with companies such as Osram (Germany) and Philips (Netherlands) to make the breakthrough. He also envisions a bright future for glass-rich photovoltaic solar panels, despite the fact that this technology is currently going through a rough patch.

Boshua

Surprisingly versatile glass

The easy access to collaboration with the CRPs is just one example of how the state works to facilitate RDI, along with the government’s traditional openness and quick decision-making. The country’s central location counts for a lot too, ensuring proximity to Europe’s car-making heartland in France, Germany and Italy. It is also easier to keep in touch with architects working in the range of climates found in Europe. Solutions developed here can find themselves being sold in relatively cloudy and cool areas of North America.

“Moreover, the European automotive market is very innovative,” says Mr Roselaer. “German and French constructors are highly pro-active, seeking to push technology to achieve more functionality. In particular, a lot of effort focuses on reducing CO2 emissions.”

Guardian: glass, automotive & building products Guardian is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of float glass and fabricated glass products. The company’s main market is the construction industry, to which it supplies a broad range of products rather than just windows and doors. It is also a major player in the automotive sector and the world’s largest producer of mirrors. A privately owned group headquartered in Michigan, USA, Guardian employs over 18,000 employees in 21 countries, of whom 4,500 are based in Europe. Guardian has established 5 separate operations in the Grand Duchy, with around 1,200 staff. The construction sector is the primary market for the production plants in Bascharage and Dudelange, while the site in Grevenmacher is specialised in automotive applications. Dudelange is also home to the European research centre and headquarters.

Better glass, more glass

Guardian is considered one of the world leaders in terms of operational excellence in coater operations, and it continues to innovate in order to further improve the manufacturing process whereby coatings are applied to glass sheets. “We are currently developing new equipment which would greatly reduce coater downtime while increasing production flexibility,” notes Mr Braun. The ultimate aim is to create a virtuous circle of demand for the company’s products. “The more glass is used, the more functions will be developed, further increasing its attractiveness,” says Mr Braun. Just the type of win-win situation that Luxembourg strives to foster. CRVC – Centre Luxembourgeois de Recherches pour le Verre et la Céramique S.A. Guardian Europe +352 52 01 01 70 1 www.guardian.com

Focus 6 I 2012

INTELLIGENT MATERIALS

Blitz Agency

follow up on fundamental research work going on around the world with a view to transposing it into marketable solutions. The first target is to boost manufacturing expertise in Luxembourg, but beyond that, connections are made in the neighbouring regions and internationally.

Injecting knowledge

In the competitive world of materials research, niches in the area of intelligent materials and surfaces are being explored by two of Luxembourg's CRPs. The aim is to create a bridge between fundamental research and practical applications for industry, using work and partnerships on a national, regional and global horizon. While academics accomplish 80 % of the journey of developing new materials in their laboratories, the CRPs also work with industry to go the last mile.

Thierry Girot, Project Leader in charge of analytical services and industrial projects, CRP Gabriel Lippmann

The CRPs Gabriel Lippmann and Henri Tudor work in a coordinated fashion: the former focuses more on end applications, while the latter tends to specialise in the design of polymer-based materials (thin films and nanocomposites) dedicated to specific applications. Neither Centre simply limits itself to implementing offthe-shelf products, with both using research, development and innovation methods to transform ideas into solutions.

Innovation partners Occasionally the pair establish joint-venture projects. Their collaboration on flame-retardant coatings is one example, where the aim is to develop an inexpensive, green system that can be used on fragile materials without affecting their intrinsic properties. Both institutions work closely with the University of Luxembourg and several international academic partners. They

Boshua

CRP Henri Tudor and materials CRP Henri Tudor’s Advanced Materials & Structures department (AMS) works to help transpose fundamental research into practical applications in the fields of materials and structural science, with a particular emphasis on the development, optimisation and use of polymers (i.e. plastics and other synthetic or natural materials) and composites. There are four priority research areas: • advanced materials, particularly for health (biosensors and drug delivery) and the environment (clean energy, fuel cells, bio based and eco-friendly materials); • autonomous multifunctional materials (self-healing, response stimuli); • adaptive structures and control; • development and use of methods for modelling and designing new materials, structures and processes. The department employs 60 people in experimentation and 40 in the modelling units.

Focus 6 I 2012

“We use a multidisciplinary approach to address the complexity of the systems we design,” notes Dr David Ruch of CRP Henri Tudor’s AMS department. In particular, “the ability to translate design methods from a laboratory into applications is of increasing significance,” he adds. In addition to its work with polymers (e.g. plastics) and nano-objects, the AMS develops processing methods designed to provide practical performance at a reasonable cost and with minimal environmental impact. Key to this final goal is the AMS’s modelling and simulation unit, which offers a multi-scale view of new developments.

Blitz Agency

INTELLIGENT MATERIALS

Three patents on the way

Proof of AMS innovation efforts are three patent applications that are currently in progress. The first, which was filed in August 2011, concerns a simplified system for applying ultra-thin surface deposits. This system obviates the need to dip the product dozens of times to achieve the desired thin multiple layers, requiring just a single stage. The next step would be to convert this laboratory process to the industrial scale. The second patent application relates to a method for adding coatings that are particularly resistant to moisture and oils, again in a quicker and more environmentally friendly way. Then, currently being finalised is the application for a dynamic sensing device that would facilitate active control and damage detection in structures.

Partnership with industry

Dr Valérie Toniazzo, Unit Manager Materials at the AMS, says that it was the department’s own choice to work on these research projects, which were, however, only undertaken after discussions with the local industrial community. “The patents we have applied for were established on our own initiative,” she explains, “as we were convinced of their industrial usefulness.” Located a short step from the planned City of Sciences in Esch-Belval, CRP Gabriel Lippmann follows a similar approach, choosing its research priorities in view of potential applications in Luxembourg without duplicating work that is conducted by the other CRPs. Projects are based on requests from industrial partners, but also on an entrepreneurial analysis, with the researchers identifying potential winning products.

Valérie Toniazzo, Unit Manager Materials, and David Ruch, Director Advanced Materials and Structures (AMS), CRP Henri Tudor

CRP Gabriel Lippmann and materials CRP Gabriel Lippmann’s Science and Analysis of Materials (SAM) department is situated towards the “applied” end of the research spectrum, providing assistance to more than 100 industrial and academic partners worldwide. It researches, develops and upgrades advanced materials throughout their life cycle, using modelling to assist with the design and research processes. Its four main areas of expertise are: • testing and analysis of materials, surfaces and interfaces; • development of surface treatments; • research and development of nano materials; • design and development of new instru ments for the above. In total, SAM employs 60 people, a figure due to increase by one third over the next three years.

Focus 6 I 2012

INTELLIGENT MATERIALS

objects – such as nanoparticles, nanowires and nanotubes – which will later be integrated into metals and polymers.” This allows larger materials to take on improved properties. In a long-term perspective, the team is also interested in the potential healthcare benefits of such nano-objects, notably for drug delivery and diagnosis. Work with CRP-Santé is ongoing to investigate this particular niche. Engineering of transparent, conductive and reactive nanofilms for sensors and invisible electronics applications is the unit’s other main research push. For example, adding an ultra-thin layer to a polymer or glass surface can allow it to respond to stimuli such as light or temperature, triggering a reaction without modifying its other properties. Glass, for instance, will remain optically pure. “Such nanomaterials have fantastic properties which could help to address environmental challenges. They could be used for applications like energy scavenging and water purification,” says Dr Lenoble. Dr Girot suggests that it is even possible to create electricity from temperature gradients – an idea SAM would like to explore with industry.

Aiming to make a difference

The Centre’s SAM department has four research units. One of these is the Nanomaterials Research unit, where functional and smart nanomaterials are a research priority; it was established in 2009, with lab operations beginning in mid-2011. The unit bases its research on highly sophisticated technologies – such as its Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) reactor, which allows the application of materials one atomic layer at a time. This process is used to assemble a thickness of, typically, 100 nanometres. This device is unique in Europe. In collaboration with the German company Aixtron, a leading manufacturer of deposition equipment, the team is also developing a brand new technology (patent pending) that will make it possible to deposit organic nanoscale materials. These additions make the Centre unique in the world in terms of nanoengineering capabilities. Dr Thierry Girot and Dr Damien Lenoble describe the team’s cutting-edge work.

Making materials react “There are two main research themes,” explains Dr Lenoble, the head of unit. “The first is the engineering of isolated and complex nano-

Focus 6 I 2012

Knowledge transfer to clients is the ultimate aim for the CRPs. To this end, the AMS currently works with major national and international players such as Chemolux, Delphi, DuPont de Nemours, PolyOne, PSA Peugeot Citroën, REHAU and Thales to achieve concrete results, whereas SAM has established contacts with manufacturers including ArcelorMittal, Circuit Foil, Goodyear, L’Oréal, Novelis, Rotarex and Thales as well as with the national centre for space studies in France (Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales – CNES). “We are very familiar with industrial procedures and we supply new solutions based on current materials,” Dr Ruch notes. “People talk a lot about future materials, but I believe we also have to develop current materials, finding substitutes that achieve goals such as meeting environmental rules.” Advanced Materials & Structures (AMS) CRP Henri Tudor +352 42 59 91 1 info@tudor.lu www.tudor.lu Science and Analysis of Materials (SAM) CRP Gabriel Lippmann +352 47 02 61 1 contact@lippmann.lu www.lippmann.lu

Driven by intelligence

Many well-known companies in the automotive sector have been conducting crucial R&D in the Grand Duchy for decades. Goodyear, Delphi and IEE are three such companies. All are working on innovative materials in their respective fields: Goodyear is developing tailored functionalised materials for enhanced tyre performance, Delphi is conducting research into smart materials for improved energy management in vehicles, and IEE is engineering intelligent sensor technology for automotive and other safety applications.

Goodyear is the third largest tyre company globally, with operations all over the world and 70,000 employees in 25 countries. The Goodyear Innovation Center Luxembourg (GIC*L) is the company’s main R&D and innovation centre outside the United States. With more than 900 engineers, scientists and technicians engaged in the development of car, truck and farm tyres for Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia, it is the largest R&D facility in the country. The site also houses a tyre production plant: out of the 70 million tyres Goodyear manufactures annually in Europe, 2 million are made in Luxembourg, mainly for truck and earthmover applications.

Boshua

INTELLIGENT MATERIALS

The work at the GIC*L represents nearly 25 % of the total private R&D investments in Luxembourg. In addition to these funds, the GIC*L receives grants from the Ministry of the Economy and Foreign Trade for both fundamental and pre-competitive R&D.

Towards the perfect tyre

“The goal when developing the best tyres,” says Jean-Pierre Jeusette, General Director of the GIC*L, “is to maximise grip together with about 50 performance attributes related to safety, mobility and sustainability. Transmission of forces should be optimal to ensure safety while protecting the environment by reducing fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.” Georges Thielen, Manager External Science and Technology Programmes, flags up a growing trend: “The use of functionalised materials has increased significantly since the introduction of silica technology for passenger treads with low rolling resistance in 1992. Currently, our fourth generation of silica treads is on the market.” The functionalisation of silica, which is effected through chemical reactions during the mixing process, has been improved steadily both in terms of performance and manufacturing throughput. “This has led to outstanding tyre

performance, enabling us to achieve very good grading, reflecting both low rolling resistance, resulting in reduced fuel consumption, and excellent wet performance, which is linked to safety,” Mr Jeusette adds. From July 2012, all tyres will have to be graded for three key characteristics (rolling resistance, wet braking and noise). This requirement, introduced by the EU’s Tyre Labelling Regulation, will facilitate tyre performance comparisons for consumers.

Reducing emissions

Goodyear also uses fillers derived from a renewable source, more specifically corn: these “green fillers”, named BioTred, reduce CO2 emissions during production. “We also intensively develop nanofillers like multi-wall carbon nanotubes,” Mr Thielen adds, “as they provide a reinforcement factor of 5 to 10 versus traditional tyre fillers. Ultimately, lighter tyres with further reduced rolling resistance are the result.”

Focus 6 I 2012

INTELLIGENT MATERIALS

Boshua

INTELLIGENT MATERIALS

Boshua

Smart materials sense environmental conditions, such as temperature or moisture, and can even adapt to them, in certain cases. “The GIC*L collaborates with universities in Luxembourg and abroad, as well as with the local CRPs, on fundamental research programmes. One of these programmes relates to rubber surfaces for which the wettability can be switched reversibly with temperature,” Mr Thielen concludes.

Energetic engineering

Etienne Jacqué, Chief Engineer Europe for Delphi Powertrain Systems, explains the drivers for the constant materials innovation at Delphi: “We continuously want to improve the engine, by improving injector performance so that engines become even more efficient. The CTC also has engineers working on improving durability, reliability and efficiency in energy conversion.” For example, corrosion resistance and the specific characteristics of new biofuels must be taken into account when engineering engine parts. “Alternative material grades and new joining technologies (welding, soldering or even glueing) are developed right here in Luxembourg,” adds Joachim Kiefer, Materials Engineering Supervisor. “And of course, we need to eliminate hazardous materials, by using lead-free solder and eliminating the use of lead in bearings and shells.” Delphi utilises metals such as carbon steel, cast iron, copper and aluminium alloys as well as polymers and ceramics, all of which can be functionalised. Delphi has, for instance, managed to increase the heat resistance of various alloys.

Clever car components

Goodyear is not alone in conducting ambitious R&D for better cars from Luxembourg. Delphi, one of the world’s leading suppliers to the automotive industry, has a Customer Technology Centre (CTC) in Bascharage, where innovative solutions are engineered and tested. The site was established in 1971. Of the current staff of 620, 78 % are engineers and technicians; globally, Delphi employs 105,000 people, including 15,000 research professionals. The CTC specialises in components, systems and sub-systems related to energy and engine management, to heating, ventilation and air conditioning, and to power electronics such as battery converters and chargers. Many engines of all top 20 car manufacturers contain Delphi parts and technology. The CTC is equipped with comprehensive test facilities, such as semianechoic chambers, a direct injection gasoline laboratory and wind tunnels.

Focus 6 I 2012

The Centre is also a major player in a collaborative project dedicated to metal injection moulding for injector tips. “The injector tip is 4 mm in size and the fuel is directly injected through it into the combustion chamber. This part is very important for our injector,” says Mr Kiefer. Metal injection moulding is a process whereby metal is mixed with polymer material for easier handling by processing equipment. This blending facilitates the production of highly complex shapes. “We have also developed a special alloy with a stabiliser to make it weldable and very corrosion resistant,” Mr Kiefer notes. With this new technique, Delphi is able to obviate a lot of machinery and several processing steps. Like many other companies conducting intensive R&D, Delphi cooperates with universities in the Grand Duchy and abroad, and provides opportunities for PhD students and postdocs. Various R&D aspects are explored in cooperation with the CRPs.

Safer than ever

IEE has also found ways of putting smart materials to good use. This Luxembourg company

develops and manufactures products for safety sensing systems for occupant detection and classification. Its products are found in most cars – if you hear the “irritating” beep when you haven’t buckled up, chances are you are “hearing” an IEE product. IEE was founded in the Grand Duchy in 1989 and employs 1,600 people worldwide. This international workforce includes 700 staff based at the company’s Luxembourg headquarters, where 150 employees specialise in R&D. IEE devotes 10 % of its revenues and more than 10 % of its worldwide workforce to R&D.

Sophisticated sensors

Alain Schumacher, Manager Material Development, explains: “The main technology for our automotive products is the Force Sensing Resistor (FSR), which uses variable resistance to measure pressure applied to a sensor cell. This kind of technology is very suitable for occupant detection and classification in vehicles, and can be found in our Seat Belt Reminder sensor mats. We also use electromagnetic and electric field sensing technologies for other applications such as Child Seat Presence, Orientation Detection and BodySense™, products which are aimed at optimising airbag deployment depending on the type of occupant.” IEE is conducting research on novel materials such as electroactive (EA) polymer materials and highly conductive printable inks, for which the manufacturing process differs from conventional printing. “One could compare it to home inkjet printers, but a lot more sophisticated,” says Mr Schumacher. A screen printing technique is applied to create polymer films that yield a change in electrical field every time the material is mechanically loaded. Unlike FSR-based tactile sensors, EA materials are very sensitive to fast load changes even at very low impact force. “This means we can not only detect the presence of a vehicle occupant, but also vibrations and human vital signs, such as breathing and heartbeat. Needless to say, this kind of measurement allows for a whole new generation of smart sensing systems, for example for sports and medical applications.”

IEE is currently focusing its research on the use of EA film materials such as ferroelectrets and piezoelectric inks. “However,” Mr Schumacher adds, “significant development efforts are still required to solve temperature and humidity issues. Our materials must react in the same way at temperatures ranging from -40 to +85 °C, as a vehicle can become very hot in the sun.” For future material designs, nanotechnology may have to be applied in order to ensure optimum conductivity and functionality. Demanding criteria such as these ensure that R&D remains an exciting challenge. Goodyear +352 81 99 1 jean-paul.bruck@goodyear.com www.goodyear.com Delphi +352 50 18 10 panagiotis.panotopoulos@delphi.com www.delphi.com IEE +352 24 54 1 iee@iee.lu www.iee.lu

Focus 6 I 2012

INTELLIGENT MATERIALS

Boshua

Mutually assured R&D

Boshua

CERATIZIT has been one of Luxembourg’s most innovative manufacturing companies for more than 80 years. It is one of the top five global firms in the carbide manufacturing industry, producing cutting tools and wear parts. It was innovative too when it teamed up with coating firm Oerlikon Balzers to jointly enhance their high-quality, high value-added industrial tools. The two companies have been cooperating for more than a quarter of a century, and Luxembourg has been an ideal location for this partnership. The partners share know-how and capabilities, concentrating on development in their specialist areas whilst working together when necessary. For instance, CERATIZIT is equipped with a topof-the-range analytics facility, including an electron microscope bought last year at a cost of half a million euros which it uses together with its partner. Oerlikon Balzers’ latest cutting tool coatings being sent for analysis at CERATIZIT’s Tooling Academy in Austria is another example. This arrangement provides opportunities to test how materials behave under stress, for example in production furnaces where heat can reach 1,100 °C. CERATIZIT also works with Oerlikon Balzers’ home research facilities, which are located in Liechtenstein. “We are able to analyse the complete properties of the different layers as well as the global composition of the coating,” says Mr Useldinger.

Partners and clients

Tools and components need to be tough, practical and as efficient as possible. Materials such as tungsten carbide are suitable for most uses, but adding ultra-thin surface coatings improves performance by cutting friction. This increases efficiency, reduces wear on expensive tools and limits the need for costly, polluting lubricants. However, “even the best coating can only be at its most effective if it is deposited on an excellent hard metal substrate,” explains Ralph Useldinger, R&D Manager Industrial Wear Parts at CERATIZIT. Hence the importance of the company’s very close partnership with Oerlikon Balzers Luxembourg.

Close research cooperation

Relations between the partners had been cordial since the early 1970s and were taken to new heights in 2001 when Oerlikon Balzers Luxembourg SA was founded in view of closer cooperation between the pair. The result is the worldwide development centre in Niedercorn for the application of its groundbreaking diamond coating product Balinit Diamond.

Focus 6 I 2012

The two companies are also major clients for each other, purchasing substrates and coatings, with the finished component then sold on. Oerlikon Balzers gives CERATIZIT access to its specialist furnaces, which are used in the final step of several production processes. In physical vapour deposition (PVD), the coating is added under vacuum at temperatures as high as 550 °C, providing strong adhesion, high hardness and low friction. Alternatively, chemical vapour deposition (CVD) is the process used for diamond coatings.

CERATIZIT: an innovative champion CERATIZIT is a world-class company specialising in the development and production of innovative hard material products. Its products and services are focused on cutting tools, rods, wear parts, wood-working and stone-working. It owns more than 400 patents worldwide, and over 40 % of its 100,000 products are less than 5 years old. Headquartered in Luxembourg, it employs 5,500 people worldwide, of whom over a quarter work in the Grand Duchy, with more than 100 in R&D. It has a sales network encompassing more than 50 countries.

Stephanie Bartol, the Oerlikon Balzers Luxembourg plant manager, explains that the coatings are “used in many applications from cutting to plastics injection moulding to watchmaking and even in the aerospace industry.” CERATIZIT is focused on wear parts (usually the tips of drills and other tools – the segment in which it is global market leader) and other products such as cutting tools. Both companies operate throughout the world, with a presence in many European countries, but also in the Americas and Asia.

Innovation as a core competence

“We have more than 100,000 products,” notes Mr Useldinger, “and over 40 % of these are less than five years old.” He says this commitment to innovation is essential if the firm is to remain a market leader, and all this intellectual research, development and innovation work is conducted in the Grand Duchy. Cooperation is central to this effort, whether it is with local industrial partners or through academic links. The partners also collaborate through the Luxembourg Materials Cluster. “Our innovations are market driven and we need to be a step ahead to be the provider of solutions, not just a maker of commodity items,” says Mr Useldinger. “We develop new materials for existing applications and find new applications for existing materials,” he adds, efforts which are helped by the depth of the partners’ cooperation with local and international partners.

Oerlikon Balzers: a global coatings leader Oerlikon Balzers is a specialist producer of very tough and very thin wear-protective coatings for tools, moulds and precision components. It also builds coating machines for its own use and sale. The company has almost 90 coating centres in more than 30 countries, with its headquarters and R&D centre in Liechtenstein. Oerlikon Balzers is a sub-company of the Swiss surface technology group OC Oerlikon, which employs over 16,000 staff worldwide, including a team of 15 in Luxembourg.

Oerlikon Balzers +352 265 80891 stephanie.bartol@oerlikon.com www.oerlikon.com CERATIZIT Luxembourg +352 312085 376 ralph.useldinger@ceratizit.com www.ceratizit.com

Focus 6 I 2012

INTELLIGENT MATERIALS

Boshua

INTELLIGENT MATERIALS

Steel for the seven seas

ArcelorMittal, the world’s leading integrated steel and mining company, has offices in more than 60 countries. The company’s global headquarters are located in Luxembourg, as is its R&D centre for long structural steel products – and it is here that engineers have developed an innovative steel grade for use in sheet piles, making these products more resistant to corrosion. This innovative technology is now starting to be used in seaports and inland ports around the world. ArcelorMittal employs more than 6,000 people in the Grand Duchy, 1,000 of whom work in administrative posts at the headquarters in the capital city. This global company devotes a massive budget of USD 306 million to R&D alone and has established an extensive network of partnerships with industrial players, universities and public research centres.

Blitz Agency

Worldwide, ArcelorMittal’s staff includes 1,300 full-time researchers, who operate 11 research centres situated in Europe and North America. In total, 40 of these R&D experts are based at the Long Products research centre in Eschsur-Alzette – in premises specifically dedicated to innovation, as they additionally house the Technoport Schlassgoart business incubator, where a score of technology start-ups are also exploring bright ideas.

Alex Schmitt and Anne Fagot, Research and Development for Piling Products unit, ArcelorMittal

Focus 6 I 2012

ArcelorMittal produces hot-rolled steel sections designed to interlock by means of clutches. These sheet piles assemble into continuous barriers that are firmly anchored in the ground, notably for the construction of retaining walls and cofferdams. ArcelorMittal sheet piles are up to 32 m long and up to 75 cm wide, and have a thickness of 6 to 20 mm. They feature prominently in the quay walls of seaports and inland ports around the world. “This is an ‘old’ technique, which has been used for a hundred years,” says Alex Schmitt, Head of Research and Development for Piling Products. “The main threat for steel sheet piling in marine environments is corrosion, which leads to loss of thickness and thus to loss of resistance.” The design lifetime for quay walls is, for example, 50 to 100 years. “Of course, at the design stage, corrosion can be accounted for via additional steel thickness as corrosion allowance,” he adds.

Countering corrosion

“In sheet piles for marine applications,” explains material science engineer Anne Fagot of the R&D for Piling Products unit, “thickness loss due to corrosion is known to range between 0 and 0.2 mm per year. In quay wall applications, sheet piles are exposed to different environments such as air, seawater and soil. Along the length of the piles, each zone has a different corrosion rate. The splash and low-water zones involve the highest corrosion rates. They are, respectively, the areas where seawater droplets splash on steel, and the 2 to 3 m stretch situated directly under the low tide level above the permanent immersion zone. In other zones, corrosion rates are lower.” A coating would usually be applied to steel in the splash zone to counter the corrosion, and would have to be renewed after some years. Some ports prefer to install concrete capping beams around the steel. “Corrosion below the water level is a lot more difficult to mitigate as divers are required; the process is not only difficult but also costly,” says Mr Schmitt. One particularly challenging form of corrosion has only been identified in

1980: accelerated low water corrosion, which is influenced by microbial activity. It can result in corrosion rates of up to 0.5 mm per year. “With AMLoCor, which stands for ‘ArcelorMittal Low Corrosion’, we managed to improve the sheet piles in such a way that corrosion takes a lot less toll on the steel,” Ms Fagot reports. AMLoCor is a new steel grade with high corrosion resistance in sea water (patent pending); it is already in production and has a steadily growing installed base.

In for the long haul

“The objectives for AMLoCor were simple, yet challenging: create a product that is five times more resistant than carbon steel in the low water zone, three times more in the permanent immersion zone, and at least as resistant in the other zones,” says Mr Schmitt. AMLoCor, he adds, also has the same mechanical properties as carbon steel and good weldability. “In the medium term, the whole range of our sheet piling products will be available in AMLoCor.” Of course, new steel products are not developed overnight. Laboratory tests on small samples were performed, followed by extensive in situ testing. “These tests take a long time, as generally several years of exposure are required,” Mr Schmitt explains. “We used small steel coupons at the port of Rotterdam, in the low water zone, and also did trials in Duluth, on Lake Superior in the US, and in a UK port, where a 15 m specimen was exposed for no less than 15 years.” Simultaneously, driveability tests were performed in the port of Copenhagen, which has particularly tough subsoil. The test results confirm that all objectives have been met.

Due to AMLoCor’s outstanding corrosion characteristics, steel sheet piles can be made significantly thinner, while achieving the same lifetime as comparable products made of conventional carbon steel. This improvement translates into savings in the amount of steel required to produce them and thus into lower costs and reduced environmental impact. For quality assurance, ArcelorMittal has also developed an ultrasonic device to compare the performances of AMLoCor and carbon steel regarding corrosion. This high-precision instrument inspects several piles integrated into a quay wall. “The residual thickness of the sheet piles can thus be measured over several years, without the help of divers,” Mr Schmitt concludes.

Sturdy solutions

Producing AMLoCor is more complex than producing conventional carbon steel, which slightly increases the cost, and customers retain the option to choose one or the other depending on the specifications of their projects. The added benefits of AMLoCor are not a key requirement for non-marine environments, for example. “AMLoCor adds at least 10 times the quantity of chromium and aluminium,” according to Ms Fagot, “and this is not needed in all applications.”

ArcelorMittal +352 47 92 1 info@arcelormittal.com www.arcelormittal.com

Focus 6 I 2012

Better by design

Blitz Agency

INNOVATIVE SPACES

“Design”, as a verb, means “to create or to draw” – but alternatively, as a noun, something done “by design” suggests intent rather than a random occurrence. Far from being restricted to visual aspects alone, design plays a key role in making a product attractive, user-friendly and easy to produce. Involving a designer in the innovation process often helps to bridge the gap between the ideas of the producers and the expectations of prospective users. It can also generate a variety of valuable concepts for both products and services. Twice named the European Capital of Culture, in 1995 and 2007, Luxembourg has managed to establish a reputation for design and quality in a range of fields. Architectural design in the buildings of the financial sector and in major cultural venues and galleries, such as the modern art museum MUDAM, provide physical testimony. Other key areas of expertise include product design, graphic design and the design of services. In 2009, the government made design one of its priorities. The discipline may still be relatively young in Luxembourg, but it is now actively promoted as a tool for innovation in the Grand Duchy’s industry. Claudia Eustergerling, a graduate designer, is a member of Design Luxembourg, an association of professional designers that is committed to highlighting the value of their art, and was its president until January 2012. “One advantage for designers in Luxembourg is the concept of proximity, not just in terms of physical distances between stakeholders but also in view of the accessibility of institutions and government ministries,” she explains. “This proximity means that there is a shared understanding and vision of the importance of good design both in terms of pleasure and well-being for citizens in their daily lives and as a key lever in safeguarding economic growth, stability and the international image of the nation.” “In turn,” she adds, “the Luxembourg scene stimulates creativity by investing time and resources to host events such as conferences and exhibitions, award ceremonies, networking evenings and the biennial Design City expo, which presents, among other things, a series of exhibitions in various locations including public spaces.” The 2012 edition of the expo took place in April and May.

Claudia Eustergerling, Managing Director and Designer, CLAUDIA EUSTERGERLING DESIGN SARL

At a most basic level, skilful design prompts a release of “feel-good” endorphins in response to a visually pleasant image, shape, colour or texture. Design, however, is not merely a matter of aesthetics. Contemporary designers have adopted a more holistic view encompassing the usability and functionality of a product or service, and above all its suitability for meeting the requirements of customers and users or addressing specific problems they might face. Claudia Eustergerling and Design Luxembourg encourage collaboration between designers and industry to ensure that artistic skills meet with the reality of business needs, to overcome old paradigms and to widen the scope to take a fresh look at products and services when innovative developments are launched. CLAUDIA EUSTERGERLING DESIGN SARL creation & consultancy +352 661 469621 claudia@eustergerling.lu www.eustergerling.lu Design Luxembourg +352 43 94 44 70 7 info@designluxembourg.lu www.designluxembourg.lu

Focus 6 I 2012

Boshua

INNOVATIVE SPACES

Boshua

INNOVATIVE SPACES

Skill, style and substance Industrial design on the move

Duckzone is a company specialising in the design of industrially manufactured products. It serves a global client portfolio from offices in Strassen, Luxembourg. One of its recent achievements is the Audio Tourist, a robust, handheld electronic audioguide dedicated to specific tourist sites. Currently commercialised in a number of major cities, the initial concept lends itself to mass customisation for other locations.

The Nomad Barcube is an innovatively designed product that successfully combines furniture manufacturing and interior design with a corresponding in-depth understanding of materials, mechanics and ergonomics. This practical, modular kitchen concept for mobility and flexible living is styled like a puzzle box with neatly integrated compartments for a fridge, glasses, cutlery, and even a humidor for cigars.

Founder Anders Lassen explains: “In addition to functionality, ergonomics and aesthetics, the product designer also considers such elements as manufacturability – which is a key cost factor – and the choice of materials, for reasons of weight, texture and environmental sustainability. In the case of the Audio Tourist, the design scope even extended to the requirements of packaging and point of sale.”

The Barcube was designed by Norbert Brakonier, director of a team of 23 craftsmen and designers based in Luxembourg and the German city of Trier. He believes that creativity in design thrives on a business education combined with technical hands-on ability. This conviction influenced his decision to complement his own commercial qualifications with a four-year craft apprenticeship before launching a business designing and building furniture.

www.duckzone.lu

www.nbr.lu

Focus 6 I 2012

Boshua

INNOVATIVE SPACES

Boshua

INNOVATIVE SPACES

Creating confidence

The Cityshopping Info Point provides any information visitors may need about shopping in Luxembourg, such as opening hours, maps and customised shopping trails. It has the two-fold objective of providing a functional and attractive information space and of showcasing best practice retail design with innovative materials and finishes. The design conveys a modern and up-to-date image and inspires confidence in the information provided. The result is a unique customer experience with a welcoming mix of materials, colours and textures. “There is a need to recognise the interdependency of good design and innovation,” explains Georges Zigrand, of IntegratedPlace, a consultancy of international repute for the design of exhibitions, interiors and products, which conceived the Info Point. “We tend to innovate in response to the question ‘why not?’ as we start to push the envelope of what might be possible in terms of design.” www.integratedplace.com

A custom-built service

Innovation has been a watchword for transport company Sales-Lentz from its beginnings, 60 years ago when Mr Lentz decided to place benches in his trucks to take supporters to football matches. Today, expansion into tourism and public transport has resulted in a fleet of 420 vehicles. Night Rider, a more recent service innovation, arose from the company’s concern about the number of late-night traffic accidents. Launched in 2006, this collective transport service picks customers up where and when they want for pre-booked journeys. Satellite fleet management systems optimise the routing in view of the requested pick-up and drop-off points, facilitate communication with the drivers and enhance employee safety. This supportive, flexible service was shaped by a holistic design approach to the entire process of booking and service delivery, based on an analysis of user needs and validated by follow-up surveys. www.nightrider.lu

Focus 6 I 2012

ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND INNOVATION

In January 2012, the government announced its participation in two investment funds. One of these is the Advent Venture Partners’ Advent Life Sciences Fund I (ALSF I), where the state will invest approximately e25 million through the Grand Duchy’s National Society for Credit and Investment (Société Nationale de Crédit et d’Investissement – SNCI). The fund and its highly experienced management team will provide valuable support to further develop the government’s health technology programme. It aims to make 15 investments over 10 years, with about 10 of those in startups and 70 % in Europe. The second project is the creation of a new fund, the Luxembourg Future Fund, which is established through the SNCI and managed by the European Investment Fund (EIF). The EIF will also participate as a minority investor. The total fund size anticipated is e150 million, with e120 from the SNCI and e30 million from the EIF. The fund will invest in innovative SMEs in the development phase in sectors such as ICT and clean technology. www.eco.public.lu

Online gaming industry chooses the Grand Duchy

Further evidence of Luxembourg’s excellent technological infrastructure comes from several companies specialising in online games that have established themselves in the Grand Duchy. The American company OnLive, which uses cloud computing for its online gaming, is launching a technical centre for its European activities in this country, while the US firm Kabam, which develops social games for Facebook, such as The Godfather and Kingdoms of Camelot, will locate its European operational, development,

marketing and public relations divisions in the Grand Duchy. The Korean company Nexon, which specialises in massive multiplayer online (MMO) games, is establishing itself in Europe and having its games translated here. The US gaming company Big Fish is using Luxembourg for its European sales and marketing platform. Finally, Zynga, the creator of Facebook’s popular game Farmville, as well as the Russian computer game firms Innova and i-Jet Media have also chosen Luxembourg because of its favourable environment for ICT companies.

Smart systems for everyday living

homesystem is a young Luxembourg-based company whose core business is to develop and produce innovative building automation systems. These systems consist of a compact controller unit, a weather station and a touchscreen terminal with intuitive, user-friendly menus in English, French, German and Luxembourgish. They are compatible with all standard wiring components.

www.luxembourgforbusiness.lu

Plug and Play Incubator invites startups to Silicon Valley

The Plug and Play business accelerator in Silicon Valley houses 300 innovative high-tech start-ups and provides them with all the resources they need to flourish, from technological infrastructure to investor contacts and market access. Through a partnership with the Ministry of the Economy and Foreign Trade, four young Luxembourg ICT companies can go to California each year and take advantage of Plug and Play’s expertise and know-how for three months, with co-financing of some costs provided by the Ministry. Two young firms, Yappoint and VitalBriefing, have already benefited from this opportunity. In addition, PwC in collaboration with Plug and Play has developed a similar business accelerator on its Luxembourg premises. PwC foresees working with companies in two phases, first providing coaching combined with business plan and strategy development, and later offering access to capital and customers.

The systems can manage and control all electrical devices – including the wireless Sonos multimedia music systems, for which the company has just released a dedicated application. homesystem offers the only home automation solution in the world that fully integrates voice-operated remote control, a free library of use scenarios, automatic energy-saving features and, last but certainly not least, absolute freedom of programming for the customer. homesystem’s head, Patrick Barbedor, won the 1,2,3,GO business plan competition in 2009 and received a Microsoft Business Award in 2011.

GENIAL! For Luxembourg’s next generation of entrepreneurs

GENIAL is a competition aimed at promoting creativity and innovative thinking among Luxembourg’s youth. Geared to students between the ages of 5 and 20, GENIAL seeks to encourage the expression and development of new and creative ideas. Submissions are invited from individuals or from groups such as school classes. Ideas are sought that are original, creative and new to Luxembourg. They can focus on improving daily life by addressing a specific problem, enhance an existing product or propose a novel product or service or even an artwork. All fields are accepted and every format is considered. The GENIAL website provides support for teachers in the form of a digital handbook and tips on techniques that support the development of creative thinking. The competition is an initiative of Luxinnovation, in cooperation with the Ministry of National Education and Vocational Training, and an expression of Luxembourg’s commitment to fostering an innovative society. www.genial.lu © Luxinnovation

Investing in the future of Luxembourg

NEWS

www.homesystem.com

www.plugandplaytechcenter.com

Focus 6 I 2012

ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND INNOVATION

Blitz Agency

ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND INNOVATION

Luxembourg-based Epuramat, founded in 2005, is a pioneer in innovative wastewater treatment solutions. The company’s most popular product is the unique “Box4Water”, a system in a standard container format that has been further compacted and increased in capacity through intensive R&D. The latest version can treat up to 120 m3 of sewage per day – i.e. roughly the amount of wastewater generated by 600 people.

Three streams of R&D Bogdan Serban, CEO, Epuramat

The patented ExSep® device forms a key component of Epuramat’s system. It separates solids from liquids using solely gravity and other means based on fluid dynamics. The advantages are numerous: avoiding the use of chemicals yields environmental and cost benefits, and eliminating centrifugal separation reduces the need for plant investments and the running costs. The technology permits the removal of particles sized up to 15 microns that would otherwise require a time-consuming sedimentation process. Furthermore, by using the ExSep® technology to remove solids upstream of a water treatment installation, it is possible to extend the service life of the filters and other moving parts by 30 to 100 %, which in turn results in savings on replacement parts, maintenance costs and downtime. Epuramat has been picking up accolades for innovation and green technology. With financial backing from local business Chaux de Contern and clean technology group I2BF Global Ventures, the next step was to consider which new innovation efforts would help the company to grow in its target markets.

Focus 6 I 2012

In 2010, Bogdan Serban joined Epuramat as CEO, having previously been involved in the evolution of a local electronics company as it grew from an ambitious research-based start-up into a global tier-two supplier to the automotive industry. His passion for product-centred engineering, technology and innovation is complemented by his customer-focused view of how the company should evolve. “The potential for Epuramat’s technology is considerable, with more than 50 possible applications, but one of my first tasks was to focus our attentions on addressable markets,” comments the CEO who now targets three main areas of application: wastewater treatment, oil/water separation, and re-use of industrial process water. Concentrating on these three areas has enabled Epuramat to develop specific products and associated services for each. “The water industry is very fragmented,” explains Mr Serban, “and, although we are still prepared to sell directly to end users such as public authorities for treatment of domestic wastewater, our focus is increasingly to deal with the intermediary service companies.” In recent years, price pressures have seen those service companies limit their in-house engineering activities to installation, operation and monitoring. The engineering and technology strengths of Epuramat can therefore provide crucial support to service companies that require a complete solution covering the development of technical specifications as well as design, production and commissioning.

The opportunities for growth are also considerable in the oil and gas extraction industry, where there is an obligation to comply with environmental and economic requirements to remove hydrocarbons from the process water. Epuramat solutions are not only capable of processing mixtures of oil and water using a cost-effective, conveniently packaged system; they also purify the water sufficiently for use as process water or in irrigation, addressing an issue that affects many regions where oil or gas is extracted. The value of innovative solutions in this industry of heavy capital investment is often richly rewarded.

Modular wastewater treatment systems

In focusing on three key areas, Epuramat’s RDI efforts turned towards establishing modular concepts that would enable the company to offer standardised “plug-and-play” solutions for a variety of possible applications. This effort has produced exciting product upgrades, simplified the product portfolio and reduced the development costs for individual applications. This outcome was achieved by standardising the formats, sizes and control panels; instead of specific one-off designs for each customer, standardised concepts of variable capability provide a broader range of applications for lower total cost.

as far away as northern Canada. “The benefits are two-fold,” explains Mr Serban. “The client has the comfort of knowing that we will provide an extra pair of eyes during their initial learning curve, and we benefit from the inthe-field feedback of operational effectiveness that is very important for our researchers as they seek new ways to continuously improve our products.” “Our most recent innovation developments,” he concludes, “have been born out of listening to what our customers need, and often their preoccupations are not with the product functionality or technology but rather with how they can continue their operations while respecting the ever-increasing constraints of international legislation. The USA and Canada are currently leading the way in environmental standards, and we set our standards even higher in anticipation that the only way is up.”

Boshua

A water-based solution

Epuramat systems are assembled and tested in Luxembourg before being transported to the client site. This saves time and money for the commissioning team and ensures right-first-time functionality for the client. Close understanding of the end user requirements is an important factor; the design process is conducted in partnership with the clients and based on an indepth analysis of their technical requirements.

Supporting clients on distant shores

Product development continues beyond the handover phase, as Epuramat’s headquarters in Contern are now capable of remotely monitoring their installations via the Internet –

Epuramat S.A. +352 35 70 72 40 birgit.manzoni@epuramat.com www.epuramat.com

Focus 6 I 2012

ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND INNOVATION

Blitz Agency

Agilis Engineering was established three years ago when three entrepreneurial professionals identified a potential for cleaning used graphite parts of high-temperature machinery such as furnaces. This approach limits the need to acquire new components and underpins a comprehensive service that allows clients to assess and reduce the total cost of ownership (TCO) of their equipment. CEO and co-founder Isabelle Saint-Antoine was a finalist in the BIL Woman Business Manager of the Year Award contest organised by the Banque Internationale à Luxembourg (BIL) in 2011. market of high-temperature applications, but the team is continually on the look-out for new approaches and technologies that will provide cost efficiencies to its customers. “By studying the life cycle of graphite and carbon fibre composite material in our customers’ production processes, including logistics and maintenance, engineering and design, we established that instead of replacing furnace components, we could clean them to be reused at a fraction of the cost,” Ms Saint-Antoine explains. Agilis Engineering combines leading-edge competencies and specialised expertise in engineering, component production and cleaning of used components in support of its customers. It has also invested heavily in brand new in-house infrastructure, boosting capacity and reducing corporate risk by placing the enterprise in control of a higher percentage of its service life cycle.

Isabelle Saint-Antoine, CEO, Agilis Engineering

Ms Saint-Antoine and the other co-founders of Agilis Engineering, Baptiste Cristini and Pierre Wolff, were working in the carbon industry when this promising idea was born. “We noticed that there was a large potential for reusing graphite products, which are used in demanding applications that require resistance to high temperatures as well as chemical resistance,” Ms Saint-Antoine says. “Since this was not in line with our employer’s strategy, we decided to start our own business.”

Keen on green processes

Operations began in August 2009, initially with a focus on trading and engineering in the niche

Focus 6 I 2012

The company’s innovative processes include treatments for graphite parts coated with silicon carbide, and they also work with carbon fibre composites. Providing a cost-effective service that re-utilises existing parts is also very environment-friendly, compared to approaches where potentially serviceable components are routinely broken down and the graphite goes back into the environment. This solution ties in with a corporate philosophy that puts a high emphasis on green technologies.

Trimming TCO

Agilis Engineering uses a dry cleaning process to remove a build-up of pollution on production components, cleaning graphite parts for substantial savings against purchasing new parts. This process can be carried out up to a dozen times, each time saving more than 50 % of the cost of a replacement part – an attractive proposition, particularly in the current economic climate. The company’s own TCO tool, Agi-Max, allows customers to evaluate specific advantages already at an early stage.

Ms Saint-Antoine outlines how the components produced and cleaned by Agilis Engineering are used: “Our customers are primarily based in Europe where they operate furnaces at temperatures ranging from 800 to 2,500 °C for their own production processes, including photovoltaic cells, semiconductors, the automotive industry, glass and non-ferrous metallurgy industries.” Source material is procured from around Europe as well as from China, Japan and the US.

High standards

Interestingly, unlike some industries where equipment guarantees may become invalid if non-trademarked spare parts are utilised, this is not the case in high-temperature applications; however, the composition of the graphite material for spare parts must adhere to specific guidelines covering density, porosity, thermal conductivity, thermal resistance and purity. This is where Agilis Engineering’s niche market in spare parts is focused, and the company ensures that its raw materials consistently adhere to exacting industry standards.

the 1,2,3,GO programme, which is run by an interregional network that organises an annual business plan competition, the fledgling enterprise received recognition for its business plan and benefited from strong mentoring. The company currently employs six staff, including two of the three co-founders. Turnover amounted to €1.3 million in 2010 and rose to €2.1 million the following year, an increase that Ms Saint-Antoine views as a direct result of the company’s infrastructure investments in 2011. Inspired by the team’s achievements to date, Ms Saint-Antoine looks forward to taking Agilis Engineering to new heights.

Boshua

Fired up for innovation

This emphasis on compliance is one example of the company’s attention to detail and professionalism. Agilis Engineering also acquired ISO 9001 quality certification, and Ms SaintAntoine herself was on the shortlist of the BIL Woman Business Manager of the Year Award in 2011 in recognition of her entrepreneurial capacity and achievements in these and other areas. Why did Agilis Engineering choose to set up in Luxembourg? Ms Saint-Antoine points to the country’s attractive fiscal regime for intellectual property as one of the key considerations, and lists other factors that played a role in the decision: proximity to the company’s customer base in this central location as well as a conducive environment for research collaboration. The company has developed a close working relationship with CRP Gabriel Lippmann in order to track emerging technologies for hightemperature applications. Ms Saint-Antoine adds that Luxembourg generally offers pro-active state support, delivered notably through Luxinnovation, the National Agency for Innovation and Research, and many incentives for start-ups. These advantages include the business incubator in Foetz, where the company is hosted. Through

Agilis Engineering +352 27 12 52 86 saint-antoine.i@agilis-engineering.com www.agilis-engineering.com

Focus 6 I 2012

ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND INNOVATION

Blitz Agency

Boshua

ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND INNOVATION

used hand gestures to navigate and interact with computer systems where the images were projected onto a glass wall. This was a foretaste of what was to come, and this science fictioninspired method has now become a reality.”

A flair for intuitive interfaces

Olivier Raulot, CEO, iNUI Studio

A small group of bright young Luxembourg entrepreneurs is blazing a worldwide trail in touch applications and gesture recognition technology. By working closely with Microsoft over the past years, they have won a prestigious award from Microsoft in 2003 for an innovative .Net application and have assiduously followed the evolution of multi-touch devices. With showcase installations of their iNUI™ Box already operating at Deloitte and at Luxembourg’s state savings bank, the world is now their oyster.

CEO Olivier Raulot and his co-directors at iNUI Studio, Augusta Guernier and Mathieu Lozinguez, have been working together in the ICT industry here in Luxembourg for several years, primarily in Microsoft technology and specifically on the .Net platform, a software framework supporting development with elements such as Visual Studio tools and SQL databases.

A bold move

“By working closely with Microsoft engineers in the US, one of the things we achieved was winning the Best .Net Packaged Application of the Year award in 2003 (Western Europe), which was presented by Bill Gates himself,” Mr Raulot says. “We had developed a service management tool to manage a ticketing solution. This spurred us on and we were able to follow Microsoft technology and see where it was heading. In 2009, we discovered the future of multi-touch devices when Microsoft developed its Surface technology for touch-tables, like large-scale implementations of what is used for iPhones

Focus 6 I 2012

and iPads. We discussed Natural User Interface (NUI) technology, which Microsoft was starting to push, as the future of Graphical User Interface (GUI) technology, and I saw this as a massive development area.” The trio – Mr Raulot as the Business Unit Manager, Ms Guernier as the Development Manager and Mr Lozinguez as the Software Engineer – came up with a concept and a business plan for NUI applications, with guaranteed Microsoft support. The three pillars of this plan are touch applications and gesture recognition, two areas where the team has already gathered considerable experience, as well as voice recognition. The primary feature which sets these technologies apart from conventional ICT is that they do not rely on controllers, such as a mouse or a keyboard.

Science fiction at your service

Mr Raulot explains the idea: “Remember the 2002 film Minority Report by Steven Spielberg starring Tom Cruise and Colin Farrell? They

Gesture recognition technology uses infra-red cameras to capture the profiles of the users, and iNUI Studio has developed its own algorithms to analyse the images in order to identify the gestures. iNUI™ Fly Folder is the world’s first gesture recognition presentation tool, allowing users to interact with content. The new version of this software can determine the sex of the user and whether they are an adult or a child, resulting in an intelligent system that can therefore push content relevant to the audience in various formats, such as PDF, video, still images, and presentations. Users can interact with the system and can even download content using quick response (QR) codes. Touch applications form the other main strand of the company’s activity. The team develops business applications involving horizontal or vertical (i.e. table- or wall-mounted) touch screens, on demand for customers. The specifications are usually very precise in terms of the user interface, where its expertise in usability and the related metrics comes to the fore. In this domain, the team has established a strong collaboration with both Microsoft and Samsung, world leaders in software and hardware for touch applications, respectively.

Inspired by significant gestures

iNUI Studio S.A. was established in November 2010 with an initial capital of €450,000, with support from the Luxembourg state and from a venture capital fund whose managers believed in the partners and their vision. With its staff of six, including the three directors, the fledgling company’s first client was Deloitte, intrigued by the iNUI™ Box. This product, which is based on the iNUI™ Fly Folder technology, won a prize at the European ICT Innovation of the Year Awards in 2011. It is a stand-alone unit with functionality designed around the client’s specific content and which users can navigate using gesture recognition technology. Shortly afterwards, Luxembourg’s state savings bank (Banque et Caisse d’Epargne de l’Etat – BCEE) installed a €200,000 iNUI system at one of its branch offices, where clients and passers-by can now obtain valuable information on the company and its services first-hand using gesture recognition technology.

iNUI Studio is continuing to improve its own technology and remains a world leader in its chosen field; the company has already established a network of resellers in Belgium, France and Luxembourg and expects to extend this to Germany, Switzerland and the UK in the near future. The team is also involved in an R&D project aimed at expanding its gesture recognition suite to include writing recognition, which it views as an area with high potential. Additionally, the company has been invited to join a European consortium for a research project deployed under FP7 in the context of the Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) programme, where gesture recognition technology is used for remote management of applications in the home. Possibilities in this area include turning appliances on or off, opening and closing doors and raising or lowering window shutters. iNUI Studio S.A. +352 661-512312 olivier.raulot@inui-studio.com www.inui-studio.com

Focus 6 I 2012

PUBLIC RESEARCH

The physics of daily life

Harnessing the sun to power the earth

who heads a team of three PhD candidates and six post-doctoral researchers. The group, which is funded by the FNR and the German Research Foundation, addresses these issues with computer modelling and the development of algorithms. Dr Massimiliano Esposito, one of the team members, was selected by the FNR for an ATTRACT fellowship.

Modelling the mysteries of soft condensed matter

Tanja Schilling, Professor, University of Luxembourg

A visitor to the premises of the University’s Theory of Soft Condensed Matter group finds a very quiet space with no exotic machines throbbing or control panels with lights blinking. Instead, scientists work at desks with computers, and the output of their efforts is displayed to the public on posters showing complex equations and dramatic graphics of molecular structures. The research group studies the properties of soft condensed matter, which includes liquids, polymers, gels and foams as well as some biological substances. Common household examples include silicone, rubber and gelatine. “The phase transitions, structural formation and surface properties of these materials raise fundamental questions and technical challenges,” explains Professor Tanja Schilling,

Focus 6 I 2012

A project that illustrates the work of the group looks at the structure of a polymer resin containing nanoparticles, which can give a material attributes such as superior electrical and thermal conductivity or fire resistance. While these “nanocomposites” are currently used by industry to make products ranging from tyres to paint, the understanding of exactly how the processes work so the materials can be further improved or refined is limited. Thus the goal of the project is to come to a better understanding of the properties of the nanocomposite. Although the work is theoretical, its relevance for industrial users is clear. Professor Schilling studied physics in Frankfurt and then switched her research focus to condensed matter while she continued her PhD studies in Germany. Later, she obtained a postdoc position at the Institute for Atomic and Molecular Physics (AMOLF) in Amsterdam, which is part of the Dutch Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter (FOM). This opportunity kindled her interest in computer modelling, where she currently concentrates on “the simulation of rare events. Many processes are subject to dynamic bottlenecks. A system gets trapped in a transition state for stretches of time that are much too long to simulate by conventional methods. We are looking for new algorithms in order to speed up simulation and identify such bottlenecks.”

The holder of the TDK chair in Photovoltaics at the University of Luxembourg, Professor Susanne Siebentritt, is justly proud of her laboratory. What was a construction site before 2009 now holds complex equipment that includes the machines needed to prepare solar cells, as well as those used to characterise the absorbers and solar cells in terms of photocurrent and quantum efficiency, for example. Another set of equipment is used for defect spectroscopy and band structure analysis of the cells. The goal is to create solar cells that are light, cost effective and efficient, using processes that can be scaled up for industrial use. Originally, Professor Siebentritt’s work focused on developing solar cells using the semiconductor material copper indium gallium (di)selenide (CIGS). It had the advantage of producing a solar cell that was considerably thinner, more efficient and less expensive to manufacture than the standard solar cell. However, indium is a rare element and, with concerns for the environment and about the substance’s toxicity, availability and cost, work has now been extended to the semiconducting compound copper zinc tin sulfide or selenide (CZTS). Similar to CIGS in terms of its electronic and optical characteristics, CZTS is composed of non-toxic and readily obtainable elements.

Professor Siebentritt leads a team of around 20 using funding from the TDK Europe professorship, with additional financing provided by FP7 and by MATERA, the European Research Area Network (ERA-NET) Materials project, as well as by the FNR’s CORE programme. The work has resulted in numerous publications and a patent, with several more patent applications filed or being filed. She is joined in this area by ATTRACT fellow Dr Phillip Dale, who also specialises in the development of thin-film solar cells. Both Professors Schilling and Siebentritt enjoy teaching along with research and expressed excitement about a Masters’ programme in Condensed Matter Physics beginning at the University in the autumn of 2012.

Blitz Agency

While the physicists operating the particle accelerator at CERN may be dominating the headlines, scientists at the University of Luxembourg are doing research that will have a more immediate impact on our everyday lives. From creating algorithms that describe the desired properties of plastics to developing cheaper and more eco-friendly cells for solar panels, researchers in the Grand Duchy are working with materials that have a real potential to change our world.

Professor Siebentritt studied in Hanover and has done postdoc work at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) as well as in Berlin, where she set up a photovoltaics unit at the Helmholtz-Zentrum before coming to Luxembourg in 2006. She attributes her longterm interest in photovoltaics to “its potential to change the world”. It also appeals because it is “scientifically challenging and intellectually very complex”. She adds that, as a physicist, she looks at the electronic structure, but that this can only be done by examining the atomic structure first.

Nanoparticles A nanoparticle is a particle that has one dimension of 100 nanometres or less. As a nanometre is one billionth of a metre, a nanoparticle is very small indeed. Nanoparticles are a field of great interest currently because of their applications in biomedicine, electronics and optics.

Susanne Siebentritt, Professor, University of Luxembourg

University of Luxembourg +352 46 66 44 60 00 communication@uni.lu http://wwwen.uni.lu/research/fstc/physics_and_ material_sciences_research_unit

Focus 6 I 2012

PUBLIC RESEARCH

Boshua

PUBLIC RESEARCH

Medical revolutionaries

Learning to understand the ebb and flow of proteins within a patient would revolutionise medical science. Luxembourg may not have the financial clout to match the billions being invested in proteomics research around the world, but the country’s mixture of openness and flexibility are unique. Renowned specialist Bruno Domon was recruited to exploit the Grand Duchy’s exciting research opportunities by founding the Luxembourg Clinical Proteomics (LCP) Initiative in 2010. Blitz Agency

PEARL: attracting the best research centre for health. It also works closely with other newly created institutions, particularly the Integrated BioBank of Luxembourg and the Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine. As such it is part of a wider effort to design and implement projects that are at the forefront of biomedical research, with the aim of both developing treatments but also boosting the country’s skills and reputation as a research centre. Currently about 15 people work on the project full-time. The necessary skill set is wide, requiring not just clinicians but also analytical chemists and physicists, bio-informatics specialists and statisticians. They are aided by dozens of connections with partners around the world.

A groundbreaking platform

Bruno Domon, Head of Unit, Luxembourg Clinical Proteomics Centre

“Many people around the world are spending billions trying to achieve personalised medicine,” Professor Domon tells FOCUS. “However, we have a big advantage here as everyone is involved, including doctors and surgeons who are very committed to working on our projects,” he enthuses. “This is a major asset that only some of the big centres in the US actually have – the John Hopkins University in Baltimore for example, or the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Research conducted remote from hospital life limits your ability to have the fullest picture of how diseases function.”

Cooperation makes a difference

The LCP Centre is located only a few hundred metres from the capital’s main hospital in the premises of CRP-Santé, Luxembourg’s public

Focus 6 I 2012

The team’s work is currently geared towards creating a proteomics platform to identify, quantify and locate proteins in tissue and body fluid using an analytical technique called mass spectrometry. By analysing lung and bladder tumours as well as blood and urine samples, the platform seeks to analyse the behaviour of cancer-related proteins within a patient. This system allows about 100 tests to be run at once, many times faster than traditional methods, making it easier, quicker and cheaper to trace the evolution of disease. Currently, similar results could only be achieved through a series of complicated and expensive biopsy operations. The LCP Centre has been working on the platform for the past year and so is one of the more advanced laboratories in the world. This is another major advantage of setting up from scratch: being able to start with stateof-the-art equipment. “We aren’t doing much different from most labs in terms of goals,” notes Professor Domon, “but with this new technology we are able to compete with other players and gain a reputation.”

This work has been facilitated by the FNR’s PEARL programme. PEARL was set up to attract internationally respected senior scientists and enable them to establish research programmes in strategically important areas. The objective is to build a critical mass in research around a strong, experienced core. Funds of €3 to 5 million are offered to research institutions, with one or two PEARL awards being granted by the FNR per year. Professor Domon is one of four candidates selected since the scheme was founded in 2009. The LCP project is the brainchild of CRP-Santé. Professor Domon has wide scientific experience both in academia (universities of Lausanne and Lille, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich) and with commercial operations (Ciba/Novartis in Switzerland as well as Biogen and Celera Genomics, both in the USA). He started at the Clinical Proteomics Centre in Luxembourg in January 2010 building the lab from scratch – the fourth time he has started from the beginning on such a project, he says.

Admirable work

Professor Domon points out that the team is about halfway through establishing the platform. “It works but we haven’t yet worked all the processes through,” he explains. Much of this work has been groundbreaking, with Luxembourg’s platform being studied around the world by other proteomics researchers, and he is pleased that his team’s efforts have been well received. Professor Domon predicts that “in 5 to 10 years’ time these platforms will be in hospitals. Mass spectrometry is fairly exotic at the moment but it will become automated.” Rather than an analysis taking days, results would be available in real time. The health benefits would be enormous.

Proteomics – towards personalised medicine Proteomics is the study of proteins, the biochemical substances that are the basic components of cells. The discipline investigates the structures and functions of proteins, as well as seeking to confirm their presence and quantity. This information allows medical professionals to track the progress of a disease in a patient via the “protein fingerprints” left in tissue and fluids as the body fights the illness. Advances in this area would result in earlier diagnoses and drug treatment better tailored to individual needs (so-called “personalised” medicine). They would also improve the effectiveness of drug research. Proteomics is much more complicated than the related discipline of genomics, the study of genes. While an organism’s genome is more or less constant, the proteome differs from cell to cell and changes with time. Moreover, there are around two million proteins in a human body, i.e. about 100 times more than the number of genes.

Luxembourg Clinical Proteomics Centre CRP-Santé +352 26 970 930 aurelia.derischebourg@crp-sante.lu www.crp-sante.lu

Focus 6 I 2012

DID YOU KNOW IT’S FROM LUXEMBOURG? Boshua

DID YOU KNOW IT’S FROM LUXEMBOURG?

A space-age floor for trains

An innovative solution from EURO-COMPOSITES® brings train floors into the space age. Based in Luxembourg, the company offers intermediate floors for double deck coaches operated by railway companies around the world as well as by the Grand Duchy’s national rail group, CFL. This type of flooring is a bonded solution either in aluminium or in steel skins with a honeycomb core, depending on the requirements of the customer. Compared to a standard solution, this self-supporting floor offers increased headroom in both coach levels (due to reduced thickness), enough stiffness to cope with even exceptional loads and, at the same time, much lower weight. Components including optional decorative features and heating are available in lengths of more than 15 m, ready to be installed. EURO-COMPOSITES® supplies a wide range of products for aerospace, military and other applications. The firm has three production sites in Europe and the USA, and a Centre of Excellence and R&D based in Echternach.

EURO-COMPOSITES® S.A. +352 72 94 63 1 info@euro-composites.com www.euro-composites.com

Focus 6 I 2012

FIVE QUESTIONS FOR ... Blitz Agency

FIVE QUESTIONS FOR ...

FIVE QUESTIONS FOR... Jochen Harms, Managing Director of LuxSpace

The Luxembourg aerospace firm LuxSpace has designed and built two satellites launched in October 2011 and January 2012 to reinforce the Automatic Identification System (AIS). Implemented to track ships and avoid collisions, this system involves on-board receivers that capture key information about individual vessels and their cargo and receive corresponding data from ships within range. Satellites are used to track these communications, extending the coverage from coastal stations to the global ocean surface. FOCUS spoke with Jochen Harms, the managing director of LuxSpace, about the VesselSat project and the firm’s other space-related activities.

What were the reasons for launching the VesselSat project?

LuxSpace is part of the OHB Group, which is dedicated to space and very much focused on satellites. And we have been considering various segments that we could get into, beyond our involvement in the OHB Group, and found that the 30 to 100 kg class would be the best fit for us. So we signed this first contract with the American firm ORBCOMM to launch our activities in this segment.

What were some of the challenges you faced with VesselSat and how did you handle them?

We had to build and launch the first satellite in about a year, starting basically from scratch. This was rather new territory for us. I don’t know how many companies have this kind of experience worldwide, but we are one of the few that have accomplished such a task within one year. We are very small – only 30 very dedicated people – so we are much more flexible than larger firms. Our approach was based on commercial off-theshelf components. So we don’t use many spacequalified components, which have an extremely long lead time. They are also more expensive and don’t offer the same performance. Our chosen equipment does have lower radiation tolerance and requires extra shielding, but it costs 8 to 10 times less, and it also has much more advanced capabilities.

Which firms or organisations are your key partners on this project?

We have a number of key partners in the project from the European space industry – 21 major subcontractors in total, from all over Europe. In Luxembourg, we have one supplier who manufactures our receivers and various other parts. In terms of government collaboration,

Focus 6 I 2012

we use Luxembourg’s telemetry frequency and therefore collaborate with Luxembourg’s regulatory agency, the ILR (Institut Luxembourgeois de Régulation). As we operate the satellites, we now have a concession from the government’s Media and Communications Service.

What other space-related R&D activities is LuxSpace pursuing?

We are part of an ESA consortium building the SmallGEO satellite under the Small Geostationary Satellite Initiative. This satellite will enter a geostationary orbit to do telecoms distribution. We are responsible for two subsystems. We also carry out environmental monitoring for the European Investment Bank, and agricultural monitoring for the EU’s statistical office (EuroStat). We supply AIS and other data to various institutional customers.

What makes this country a good place to locate your business?

The government is extremely supportive for innovation and, due to the country’s size, its decisions are generally taken very quickly, which is important for our business. Also, space is one of Luxembourg’s major fields, and that does make a difference. Without SES there would be no space industry in Luxembourg – you need a critical mass. Here in Luxembourg, space is very much related to commercial success, in contrast to other countries, where this is not a major requirement.

LuxSpace Sarl +352 267 890 40 20 harms@luxspace.lu www.luxspace.lu

Focus 6 I 2012

THE RDI DIRECTORY

The RDI directory Governmental portal for innovation and research www.innovation.public.lu

Ministries

Ministry of the Economy and Foreign Trade Directorate of Research and Innovation 19-21, boulevard Royal L-2914 Luxembourg Phone : + 352 24 78 41 28 I Fax : + 352 26 20 27 68 innovation@eco.public.lu www.eco.public.lu

Research and innovation agencies

Luxinnovation GIE National Agency for Innovation and Research 7, rue Alcide de Gasperi L-1615 Luxembourg Phone : + 352 43 62 63 1 I Fax : + 352 43 81 20 info@luxinnovation.lu www.luxinnovation.lu

National Research Fund Luxembourg 6, rue Antoine de Saint-Exupéry P.O. Box 1777 L-1017 Luxembourg Phone : + 352 26 19 25 1 I Fax : + 352 26 19 25 35 info@fnr.lu www.fnr.lu

Ministry of the Economy and Foreign Trade 19-21, boulevard Royal L-2914 Luxembourg Phone : + 352 24 78 43 45 I Fax : + 352 26 20 27 68 contact@investinluxembourg.lu www.investinluxembourg.lu

Société Nationale de Crédit et d’Investissement P.O. Box 1207 L-1012 Luxembourg Phone : + 352 46 19 71 1 I Fax : + 352 46 19 79 snci@snci.lu www.snci.lu

Chamber of Commerce 7, rue Alcide de Gasperi L-2981 Luxembourg Phone : + 352 42 39 39 1 I Fax : + 352 43 83 26 chamcom@cc.lu www.cc.lu

Luxembourg for Business GIE 19-21, boulevard Royal L- 2449 Luxembourg Phone : + 352 24 78 84 31 I Fax : + 352 22 34 85 contact@luxembourgforbusiness.lu www.luxembourgforbusiness.lu

University of Luxembourg 162A, avenue de la Faïencerie L-1511 Luxembourg Phone : + 352 46 66 44 60 00 seve.infos@uni.lu communication@uni.lu www.uni.lu

University of Luxembourg Researcher Mobility Centre EURAXESS Service Centre Luxembourg 162A, avenue de la Faïencerie L-1511 Luxembourg Phone : + 352 46 66 44 66 81 I Fax : + 352 46 66 44 67 60 euraxess@uni.lu www.euraxess.lu

Public Research Centre Gabriel Lippmann 41, rue du Brill L-4422 Belvaux Phone : + 352 47 02 61 1 I Fax : + 352 47 02 64 contact@lippmann.lu www.lippmann.lu

Public Research Centre Henri Tudor 29, avenue John F. Kennedy L-1855 Luxembourg Phone : + 352 42 59 91 1 I Fax : + 352 42 59 91 77 7 info@tudor.lu www.tudor.lu

Public Research Centre Santé Bâtiment Thomas Edison 1A-B, rue Thomas Edison L-1445 Strassen Phone : + 352 26 97 08 93 I Fax : + 352 26 97 07 19 aurelia.derischebourg@crp-sante.lu www.crp-sante.lu

CEPS / INSTEAD 44, rue Emile Mark L-4620 Differdange Phone : + 352 58 58 55 1 I Fax : + 352 58 55 60 communication@ceps.lu www.ceps.lu

Ecostart Enterprise and Innovation Centre c/o Ministry of the Economy and Foreign Trade 19-21, boulevard Royal L-2449 Luxembourg Phone : + 352 24 78 41 85 I Fax : + 352 26 20 27 68 mario.grotz@eco.etat.lu

Technoport Public Research Centre Henri Tudor P.O. Box 144 L-4002 Esch-sur-Alzette Phone : + 352 42 59 91 1 I Fax : + 352 42 59 91 40 1 info@technoport.lu www.technoport.lu

Invest in Luxembourg

Luxembourg business promotion

Main public research organisations

Incubators

Focus 6 I 2012

Ministry of Higher Education and Research Department of Research and Innovation 20, montée de la Pétrusse L-2273 Luxembourg Phone : + 352 24 78 52 19 I Fax : + 352 46 09 27 recherche@mesr.public.lu www.mesr.public.lu www.recherche.lu