FOCUS on Research and Innovation in Luxembourg no 9

focus

N° 9 / 2014

on Research & Innovation in Luxembourg

Space: Expanding the frontiers of innovation Where history meets creativity Pages 29–32

A journey into the microcosmic Pages 44 – 45

Are you planning a research project?

The Luxembourg Portal for Innovation and Research is the most comprehensive available source of information on research, development and innovation.

The portal offers support and advice on securing ďŹ nance, ďŹ nding research or business partners and protecting and making the most from your research results.

www.innovation.public.lu Innovation and research start here.

editorial

Eric Chenal

EDITORIAL

Over the past centuries, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, originally a rather poor agricultural country, has succeeded in transforming itself twice; first into an industrialised state based on a booming steel industry and thereafter into a highly prosperous service-based economy.

Once named the “Gibraltar of the North” due to its strategic military importance in Europe, today Luxembourg plays a key role in European integration and economy and can fairly be described as a place where history and creativity converge.

Luxembourg currently offers a stimulating business climate that has attracted the global or European headquarters of numerous international groups. The government is strongly committed to continued industrial development and to realising the full potential of its technology and innovation-based sectors. The main body of this edition of FOCUS on Research and Innovation in Luxembourg, which is published

by Luxinnovation, is devoted to one of the most future-oriented of these sectors: space.

Three decades ago, Luxembourg’s space industry did not exist. Today, spearheaded by satellite group SES, it is firmly established as one of the mainstays of our innovation economy. This development is a direct result of the government’s economic diversification strategy.

The decision to join the European Space Agency (ESA) in 2005 was concrete proof of our determination to advance the progress of this innovative sector, and has led to widening employment opportunities for highly specialised engineers and researchers. We are investing heavily in a number of ESA programmes of especial relevance to Luxembourg, in particular in the field of telecommunications, and we are pleased to see our companies participating regularly in joint ESA projects. True to our calling as one of the founding members of the European Union, we are currently sharing the presidency of ESA with Switzerland and responsible for the cooperation between ESA and the EU. The rapid evolution of the space sector would not have been possible without close cooperation between the public and private sectors. Luxinnovation, the National Agency for Innovation and Research, plays a key role in stimulating the competitiveness of the sector, in

Etienne Schneider, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of the Economy

particular by bringing companies and research laboratories together under the aegis of the Luxembourg Space Cluster. This issue of FOCUS offers an insight into the rich variety of activities undertaken by Cluster members in fields including electric propulsion, microsatellites, Earth observation and satellite-based air traffic monitoring.

This edition of FOCUS will also introduce the new Max Planck Institute Luxembourg, the only Max Planck Institute for the theory and philosophy of law to be established to date outside Germany.

It also covers several industrial companies which, through an innovative mindset and strong technological skills, have emerged from modest beginnings to key positions on international niche markets – further proof of the innovative potential, competitiveness and enterprise to be found in the Grand Duchy.

Etienne Schneider

Deputy Prime Minister Minister of the Economy

Focus 9 I 2014

3

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Table of contents News from innovative Luxembourg

05

A culture of ingenuity Interview with Yves Elsen, HITEC Luxembourg

08

Space Space: Expanding the frontiers of innovation Government on a mission: to develop the space sector Clustering for new heights Innovation, technology, leadership Building satellites, atom by atom The future of propulsion is electric Microsatellites from a micro-country Eyes in the skies: Observing the Earth Better air traffic control via satellite

11 12 14 16 18 21 22 24 26

Innovative spaces Where history meets creativity

29

Entrepreneurship and innovation Entrepreneurship and innovation news Making the big and bulky manageable Engineering by design Innovation by demand

34 36 39 40

Public research Contending with complexity A journey into the microcosmic

42 44

Did you know it’s from Luxembourg?

ArcelorMittal sheet piling structures protect Venice from flooding

46

Five questions for …

Rolf Tarrach, President, University of Luxembourg

48

Contacts

50

FOCUS on Research and Innovation in Luxembourg is published by Luxinnovation GIE National Agency for Innovation and Research Director of publication Jean-Paul Schuler Editor-in-chief Lena Mårtensson lena.martensson@luxinnovation.lu Journalists Susan Alexander, Stephen Evans, Kasia Trzcinska-Draper, Michèle Weber Copy-editing Ruth Bloomberg

4

Focus 9 I 2014

Graphic design and layout Comed Communication Cover © 2012 ESA - CNES - ARIANESPACE / Photo Optique Vidéo CSG. Sponsors Luxembourg Ministry of the Economy Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce National Research Fund For a free subscription, please contact info@luxinnovation.lu 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. © 2014 Luxinnovation GIE This publication is cof inanced by :

NEWS FROM INNOVATIVE LUXEMBOURG

NEWS © CRP – Gabriel Lippmann

CRP Henri Tudor and ArcelorMittal extend collaboration agreement

Expanding research on smart materials

The National Research Fund (FNR) has awarded public research centre CRP Gabriel Lippmann a €5 million PEARL (Programme Excellence Award for Research in Luxembourg) grant for the work of Professor Jens Kreisel, Director of the Centre’s Science and Analysis of Materials Department since 2012.

Professor Kreisel will use the new funding to set up a team of around 15 scientists who will conduct detailed research in the field of multiferroic materials. These are multifunctional materials possessing several physical properties; a good example is piezoelectric materials, which generate an electrical charge in response to pressure or other mechanical strain.

The PEARL programme is designed to provide local research institutions with the financial support needed to attract internationallyrecognised senior researchers to Luxembourg.

Professor Kreisel has published over 120 papers in international journals and has been invited to speak at over 50 international conferences. www.fnr.lu www.lippmann.lu

Two of Luxembourg’s leading research players have signed an agreement reinforcing their commitment to an R&D and innovation partnership that goes back 15 years.

CRP Henri Tudor and global steel manufacturer ArcelorMittal will strengthen their existing collaboration in the domains of materials technology, Life Cycle Assessment, sustainable construction, modelling and simulation and new coatings. They will also undertake further joint work in the areas of advanced IT, transport and logistics, and technological and competitive intelligence.

In addition, the partnership aims to team up with local universities and ArcelorMittal’s regional research centres to create a globally significant research network within the Greater Region. www.arcelormittal.com www.tudor.lu

New web resources for cleantech and life sciences

Life sciences and clean technologies are both flourishing sectors with high potential in Luxembourg. Two new websites have recently been launched to help international investors, businesses and researchers interested in establishing relationships with Luxembourg: LetzBio for the life sciences field and LetzGreen for clean technologies.

The websites provide key information about the two sectors, including the main actors and fields of expertise. They also provide guidance on how to set up research activities, businesses or investments in Luxembourg in five simple steps. www.letzbio.lu www.letzgreen.lu

Focus 9 I 2014

5

NEWS FROM INNOVATIVE LUXEMBOURG

Grand Duchy improves innovation performance

The artificial graphene developed by the research team has the same honeycomb structure, but the carbon atoms have been replaced with nanometre-thick semiconductor crystals. The size, shape and chemical nature of these crystals can be changed, making it possible to tailor the material for specific purposes. The findings have been published in Physical Review X, one of the world’s leading physics journals, with Dr Kalesaki as first author.

Luxembourg has been ranked 5th in the EU Innovation Union Scoreboard 2014, a statistical tracker that monitors the implementation of the Europe 2020 innovation initiative by evaluating the research and innovation performance of each member state. Luxembourg’s score ranks it the best of the “innovation followers”, performing above or close to the EU average and lagging just behind the “innovation leaders”, Sweden, Denmark, Germany and Finland.

www.uni.lu

© SnT/scienceRELATIONS

According to the scoreboard, Luxembourg’s relative strengths lie in international scientific co-publications, community trademarks, venture capital investments and community designs. Two areas of comparative weakness were identified: non-R&D innovation expenditure and numbers of students gaining doctorates. All in all, however, the analysis highlights Luxembourg’s international orientation and ability to turn innovative ideas into products and services.

Artificial graphene breakthrough

A team of European research partners has managed to produce and been able to analyse the first artificial graphene from traditional semiconductor materials. This is an extremely significant breakthrough, in which Dr Efterpi Kalesaki of the University of Luxembourg played a leading role.

University of Luxembourg researcher Engineer of the Year

Professor Lionel Briand from the SnT – the University of Luxembourg’s Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust – received the IEEE Reliability Society Engineer of the Year award at the 2014 Annual Reliability and Maintainability Symposium (RAMS) in Colorado Springs, USA.

© University of Luxembourg 2014

Graphene is a two-dimensional material only one atom thick, made up of a honeycomb lattice of carbon atoms. It is strong, flexible, transparent and a very efficient conductor of heat and electricity, and there is huge scientific and technological interest in its potential and a major global push towards understanding its uses and finding ways to produce it reliably.

Professor Briand was appointed Scientific Director of the Software Verification and Validation Laboratory at the SnT in 2012. The laboratory is supported by a National Research Fund PEARL grant, designed to attract senior researchers to Luxembourg.

The award, which is the most prestigious in the field of software verification and validation, recognises Professor Briand’s outstanding contribution to the advancement of the reliability engineering profession, and in particular his achievements in model-based software verification and testing. www.uni.lu/snt

6

Focus 9 I 2014

NEWS FROM INNOVATIVE LUXEMBOURG

PISA tests use Luxembourg platform

The OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), designed to evaluate and compare educational systems worldwide by testing the skills and knowledge of 15-year-old students, relies on the TAO® web tool developed jointly by CRP Henri Tudor and the University of Luxembourg.

TAO®, a collaborative and flexible open source tool which integrates easily with other systems, has been in use since 2009 to create and deliver the PISA computer-based tests. It is currently used in Canada, Luxembourg, Mexico, Switzerland and the United States, as well as in the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), also run by the OECD. Marketing for TAO® is handled by Open Assessment Technologies S.A., set up specifically to build its reputation on the international market. CRP Henri Tudor, which developed the original TAO® platform, is the company’s principal stakeholder. www.tudor.lu www.taotesting.com

Piloting intelligent healthcare

The European Commission has selected Luxembourg as one of six pilot regions for a new initiative designed to show how innovation in service industries can transform national and regional economies and promote sustainable growth. The EC plans to use the experiences of the six regions as a practical demonstration of how this transformation can be achieved in other parts of Europe.

The Luxembourg project is currently focusing on the development of intelligent healthcare and prevention services that can help people stay healthy for longer, improve the everyday lives of those who are ill, contribute to improving efficiency in the public healthcare system and encourage private companies to develop new services for the benefit of both patients and society as a whole. A first pilot project on personalised treatment will be aimed at helping to prevent the onset of diabetes and treating it in its early stages. This initiative brings together several Luxembourg organisations and is coordinated by Luxinnovation, the National Agency for Innovation and Research.

Intensified research collaboration between Luxembourg and the United Kingdom

Luxembourg’s National Research Fund (FNR) has signed a bilateral “Lead Agency” cooperation agreement with the Research Councils UK (RCUK).

This is a type of cross-border agreement which considerably simplifies the process of setting up a transnational research project, as it allows public research organisations from different countries to submit a joint proposal to be evaluated through a single peer review process.

The RCUK, acting as lead agency, will evaluate the proposals and select projects that have innovative goals and meet international quality standards. Funding will be available across a range of disciplines, including arts and humanities, engineering, and the social, physical, medical and life sciences.

The agreement will give Luxembourg researchers the opportunity to collaborate with peers in one of the world’s most fertile research arenas. The FNR also has bilateral research agreements with Germany, Switzerland, Austria, France, Poland and Belgium. www.fnr.lu

www.luxinnovation.lu

Focus 9 I 2014

7

KEYNOTE INTERVIEW

Eric Chenal

Yves Elsen, Managing Partner, HITEC Luxembourg and President, National Research Fund

A culture of ingenuity

“The English say it takes two to tango, the Germans say you have to give and take. This is what Luxembourg is about,” says Yves Elsen, President of the state-backed National Research Fund. ”If you have a vision, we can support you.” Mr Elsen is also Managing Partner of HITEC Luxembourg, one of the country’s most innovative companies, and in that role is heavily involved in promoting Luxembourg’s space sector at international level. Through encouraging local entrepreneurs and forging international links, Luxembourg has a long track record of turning promising projects into winners.

Not many people would have predicted that a rubber-testing start-up founded in 1986 would become one of Luxembourg’s most diverse technology companies. “Innovation is an ongoing process,” says Mr Elsen. “It’s rather like sport – if you want to win, you have to go on getting better.” He adds, “No company is going to succeed without ingenuity and determination, but it is fair to say that without the support we have received in Luxembourg, we would never have come this far.”

Since then, HITEC Luxembourg has stuck to the same and very effective formula, applying its combination of technical expertise and entrepreneurial drive to areas including satellite communications, monitoring and control systems, engineering and maintenance services, custom design and manufacturing, traffic management and project management.

The firm has six core technology competencies and all its employees have a strong background in at least one.

Wide ranging, flexible expertise

A people business

HITEC Luxembourg started small but with a strong foundation. Set up by just three people – one economist and two engineers, both then working at Goodyear’s Luxembourg plant – its first product, a revolutionary instrument for testing a key ingredient in the rubber compound used in tyres, garnered swift interest from the automotive industry. By the early 1990s, it had become an industry standard.

8

Focus 9 I 2014

“People are often amazed that considering the number of different things we do, we seem to have so few staff,” says Mr Elsen, pointing to a payroll of just 48. “This is a people business,” he adds. “Our founders came from a variety of backgrounds – mechanical engineering, physics, electronics and economics – but the point is that they were not only extremely competent, but able and willing to apply their experience to new areas.”

HITEC Luxembourg backs that knowledge base with solid investment, spending around 5% of its annual turnover on research. The Luxembourg government makes a substantial contribution here; in addition to direct state aid for research and innovation projects, it supplies indirect support via its backing for the University of Luxembourg and the public research centres.

Boshua

KEYNOTE INTERVIEW

Research critical mass

According to Mr Elsen, the enthusiasm for research that characterises Luxembourg’s public and academic institutions “creates a lively science and technology environment and helps businesses take a more visionary approach.” Companies looking for new ideas have considerable scope in this setting. The public/private industry clusters provide various forms of support, including networking; firms have access to research specialists with new ideas and skills and there are also local training facilities where staff can improve their expertise. In addition, the National Research Fund (FNR) is running a scheme under which PhD students spend half their time working for a company and the other half on academic research.

Investing in knowledge

The FNR was established in 1999 to promote research and innovation and foster links between private and public organisations and the international research community. The Fund is currently running a series of programmes, including CORE and OPEN, which support high-quality research projects, and PEARL and ATTRACT, designed to attract international research talent. Other FNR schemes are aimed at encouraging international cooperation with Luxembourg academics.

The country’s research and innovation sector has grown at an impressive rate and now supports around 3,000 employees and 1,800 Master’s and PhD students. Mr Elsen, FNR President since 2010, is pleased with the current arrangements but hopes to see a further push towards publicprivate partnerships. “Projects supported by the FNR are peer-reviewed and very often take the form of partnerships between businesses and public research centres,” he says. “This is very important as it gives us sustainable and business-oriented research focused on areas of particular relevance to Luxembourg.”

Space: a growing niche

Mr Elsen is also President of both the Luxembourg Space Cluster, the public-private networking organisation run by Luxinnovation, and the Luxembourg Aeronautic and Space Group, which represents employers in the

space industry. The sector is dominated by SES, initially set up with government backing and now the world leader in communication satellites. “SES resulted from one of the most fantastic, innovative, successful diversification policies ever in Europe,” says Mr Elsen. “With the space sector now accounting for a full 4% of national GDP, this is the model for the other public-private partnerships we are seeking to build.”

Such partnerships have, without doubt, been a major factor in creating critical mass in the sector and gaining global recognition for the country’s expertise. Luxembourg’s membership of the European Space Agency, which began in 2005, has provided further opportunities for businesses to tap into the wider pan-European space programme. In total, some 600 people now work in the high value-added space sector, around two-thirds of whom are employed by SES. HITEC Luxembourg has also been involved in other space-related projects, among them the development of a system now used by the UN to set up full communications systems in disaster-hit areas within 12 hours. The company also designs and manufactures components for satellite ground systems. As Mr Elsen says: “HITEC Luxembourg’s real specialisation is innovation itself.”

Innovation is rather like sport – if you want to win, you have to go on getting better.

HITEC Luxembourg S.A. +352 49 84 78 1 info@hitec.lu www.hitec.lu National Research Fund +352 26 19 25 1 info@fnr.lu www.fnr.lu

Focus 9 I 2014

9

KEYNOTE INTERVIEW

10

Focus 9 I 2014

Boshua

SPACE

Space: Expanding the frontiers of innovation

The birth of Luxembourg’s space sector owes everything to an audacious step taken in 1985 to diversify the economy: the establishment of SES, now the world’s leading satellite operator. Thirty years later, Luxembourg is home to a significant concentration of dynamic space sector companies – among them Euro-Composites, Gradel, HITEC Luxembourg and LuxSpace – while on the academic front, the University of Luxembourg and the Gabriel Lippmann and Henri Tudor Public Research Centres are also involved in space-related research. With the opportunities created by committed government support and membership of the European Space Agency, these companies and organisations are pursuing a common goal: to bring innovative solutions and technologies to the space sector.

Focus 9 I 2014

11

SPACE

government on a mission: To Develop the space sector

Eric Chenal

To boldly go where no man has gone before... since the mid-1980s, Luxembourg has been determined to expand the frontiers of its space sector. Over the last 30 years, the country has firmly supported the industry, providing a combination of policy, programmes and funding targeted squarely at encouraging innovation and entrepreneurship and building products and solutions designed to contribute in full to the human drive to understand the universe. Now serving as co-president of the European Space Agency, Luxembourg continues to demonstrate its commitment to this important national priority. and programmes at the Ministry of the Economy.

One of the Ministry’s objectives is to build on the country’s space heritage, which dates back to the creation in 1985 of SES, now a world-leading satellite operator. “Luxembourg became an ESA member twenty years after that, a decision that highlights the government’s long-term commitment to encouraging innovation and technological advancement and contributing to the diversification and sustainability of our economy,” adds Mr Serres.

Other space policy objectives include leveraging existing know-how in telecommunications, media and ground systems and developing additional skills in the sector, especially via participation in international networks. The financial resources that Luxembourg has committed to these areas are proof of the government's determination to ensure that the local space sector gains full access to a market that has very specific requirements and a very high price of entry.

Joining the European vision Marc Serres, in charge of space affairs, Ministry of the Economy

At the beginning of the new millennium, the Luxembourg government took a further step towards diversifying away from the dominant financial services industry. The space sector was an obvious choice for further development, with world-leading satellite operator and service provider SES already firmly established and other companies, such as HITEC Luxembourg, also creating satellite-related hardware and software.

A space policy of its own

“The space sector accounts for 4% of our GDP,” reports Marc Serres, in charge of space policy

12

Focus 9 I 2014

The European Space Agency (ESA) calls itself “Europe’s Gateway to Space.” The agency is an intergovernmental organisation set up to strengthen European space capabilities by promoting cooperation in space research and technology across its 20 Member States. ESA has developed a long-term European space policy, which it keeps constantly under review, and also undertakes ongoing space-related activities and initiatives. The agency maintains close ties with the European Union; in fact, one of the issues to be addressed during Luxembourg’s co-presidency will be the form this relationship will take in the future.

ESA’s objectives include the development of more advanced satellite-based technologies and services, the promotion of European

Boshua

SPACE

competitiveness in the global space sector and the expansion of knowledge about the Earth, the solar system and the universe. Its numerous projects address space science, manned space flight, exploration, Earth observation, launchers, navigation, telecommunications and technology.

Luxembourg became ESA’s seventeenth member in June 2005 and is its largest contributor in terms of percentage of GDP. Luxembourg and Switzerland assumed the ESA co-presidency in 2012 and, according to Mr Serres, “They are a dream team. Switzerland is one of the founding members of ESA and brings expertise in the industrial area, while Luxembourg contributes its own background as a founding member of the European Union along with its own vibrant space sector.”

Luxembourg is a participant in a number of ESA programmes, including Advanced Research on Telecommunication Satellite Systems, or ARTES, focusing on telecommunications equipment and systems; GalileoSat, development of the Galileo satellite navigation system; GSTP, sup-porting general space-related technology development; and Space Situational Awareness, or SSA, a European initiative to provide independent information and services about the environment, sustainable exploitation of the space surrounding the Earth and natural and man-made planetary threats. Luxembourg also takes part in ESA’s Earth Observation programme.

Taking off with LuxLAUNCH

The Luxembourg government’s LuxLAUNCH programme offers up to a maximum €100,000 to finance the preparatory studies needed by local industrial and scientific organisations planning to enter the space market. Preference is given to the fields of satellite telecommunications, satellite navigation and Earth observation, and studies must be of a duration of no more than six months. A call for ideas is announced every year and the submissions are evaluated by an expert panel.

Companies that pass this stage are invited to submit formal proposals.

Luxembourg supports two other programmes managed by ESA. LuxIMPULSE, which will run until 2017 and has €29 million in funding, helps companies investigate innovative ideas and develop them into products. LuxYGT, designed to provide the space sector with a new generation of experts, offers young graduates training in space-related technologies. The programme includes the opportunity for participants to conduct a specific project under the guidance of an ESA staff member.

“Next year will be particularly exciting for Luxembourg,” Marc Serres concludes. “We will hold the Presidency of the Council of the European Union and the co-presidency of ESA at the time of the debate on the future relationship between the two entities. This will provide us with a unique opportunity to demonstrate our capabilities in the space sector as well as our experience as a founding EU member.”

Luxembourg's decision to join ESA highlighted the government's commitment to encouraging innovation and technological advancement.

Ministry of the Economy Directorate of ICT and Space Affairs +352 24 78 66 43 marc.serres@eco.etat.lu www.eco.public.lu

Focus 9 I 2014

13

SPACE

Clustering for new heights

Eric Chenal

Born less than 30 years ago, the space sector in Luxembourg has grown into an entire industry. Satellite telecommunications is the most advanced field of activity, but other areas such as navigation, Earth observation and space-situational awareness are progressing at speed. Luxinnovation, the National Agency for Innovation and Research, is playing a key role by supporting the development of the sector and promoting internationalisation through the Luxembourg Space Cluster.

The space sector is, of course, a key focus for Luxembourg’s National Agency for Innovation and Research, which is supporting its development by contributing to the implementation of national space policy and providing practical assistance to companies expanding their business activities.

From ground to space

There are currently around 20 companies and several public research laboratories active in the space sector, which can be divided into the space, ground and services segments. Of these, the services segment is the most highly advanced: “The flagship activity is without question the satellite-based communications solutions developed by SES,” says Dr Conti. “SES has developed an impressive range of broadcast and telecommunication services for corporate and government customers worldwide.” Elsewhere, HITEC Luxembourg, SES TechCom and CRP – Gabriel Lippmann are developing applications and services for risk management and environmental monitoring, while LuxSpace is focusing on automatic identification data and services for maritime surveillance as well as satellite-based services for the banking sector.

Patricia Conti, Head of Space Sector and Manager of the Luxembourg Space Cluster, Luxinnovation

“Innovation is in the very DNA of the space industry,” says Patricia Conti, Head of Space Sector and Manager of the Luxembourg Space Cluster, “and our perceptions of what is possible are changing almost day by day. Space sector technology is developing at an incredible pace, partly owing to progress in fields such as microelectronics, ICT and nanomaterials. At the same time, clients’ needs are constantly evolving, which is another driver for innovation.”

14

Focus 9 I 2014

Several companies are active in the ground segment. HITEC Luxembourg and SES TechCom are heavily involved in the development of ground stations – used to control satellites and to download and retransmit data – and related services, while Telindus is working on security solutions for satellite data. On the academic front, the University of Luxembourg’s Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust (SnT), a European centre of excellence and innovation for secure and trustworthy ICT systems and services, is collaborating with the local space sector in its areas of expertise.

In the space segment, according to Dr Conti, the spearhead research in Luxembourg at present is into microsatellites, satellites in the 30-100 kg class used in Earth observation,

telecommunications and science. She continues, “LuxSpace launched the first two Luxembourg microsatellites a few years ago for use in detecting signals emitted by ships, and they are performing very successfully.” Elsewhere in the space segment, Euro-Composites is producing structure and radiator panels for satellites, EmTroniX has developed Automatic Identification System (AIS) data receivers and Gradel has made great strides in the engineering and design of mechanical ground support equipment for satellite integration and testing.

© LuxSpace

SPACE

International outlook

There are myriad reasons for the rapid growth of the space sector. “The whole industry benefits from the presence of SES,” says Dr Conti, “as well as from the skills developed by the public research organisations.” Also of pivotal importance have been government support, Luxembourg’s participation in the European Space Agency (ESA) and the international orientation of the sector. “International cooperation is crucial for our companies. The European space industry is dominated by a few very large firms, and SMEs that want to be part of that business need to demonstrate their skills in cooperation projects.”

The main mission of the Luxembourg Space Cluster, which brings together enterprises and research laboratories, is to increase the visibility of its members, stimulate cooperation at international level and identify and develop new business opportunities through collaborative projects. The Cluster has a strong presence at international conferences and fairs and organises Cluster missions and international industry days to provide opportunities for its members to meet potential partners from other countries. It also actively assists actors from abroad that are interested in establishing activities in the Grand Duchy.

Promoting success

As well as providing services to local companies through the Space Cluster, Luxinnovation acts on behalf of the Luxembourg space industry in Europe. The agency represents Luxembourg on the committees in charge of implementing ESA programmes as well as on those leading the space-related activities of Horizon 2020, the EU’s framework programme for research and innovation. Luxinnovation’s mission is to defend the interests of national stakeholders, propose R&D subjects of particular relevance

to the Luxembourg space sector and facilitate contacts with ESA and European Commission representatives. Conversely, as National Contact Point, the agency provides information and support to those willing to participate in European R&D projects and find suitable partners for developing their space activities.

So how does Dr Conti see the future of Luxembourg’s space industry? “There are great opportunities, but of course there are challenges too,” she says. “Our most important task is to transform our flagship R&D projects into tomorrow’s commercial successes. We have made and are still making very promising progress, especially in microsatellites and electric propulsion for orbit transfer and maintenance, and we need our products and services to gain a firm foothold in the global market. On top of that, the industry will continue to need government support, and to do that, we need to show that the sector can provide economic growth and new jobs.”

Our most important task is to transform our flagship R&D projects into tomorrow’s commercial successes.

Luxinnovation Luxembourg Space Cluster +352 43 62 63 1 patricia.conti@luxinnovation.lu www.luxinnovation.lu | www.spacecluster.lu

Focus 9 I 2014

15

SPACE

Innovation, technology, leadership

Eric Chenal

The Electra full-electric satellite propulsion project is a giant step forward for Luxembourg’s world-leading satellite company SES and a milestone in its relationship with the European space sector. “This is the first ESA partnership to have been initiated by the industry,” says Pascal Rogiest, Vice-President, Head of M&A and Portfolio Management at SES. “We started it and we are leading it.” The project is extremely important for the European space sector industry in terms of its technological outcome, and also highlights SES’s positioning at the heart of a major cross-border innovation partnership.

The newer mid-sized satellites – cheaper, lighter, and in commercial terms, far more flexible than larger models – are, in principle, good news for the space industry. In practice, however, the chemical propulsion method used to power traditional satellites requires a significant volume of fuel. “You need around a ton of fuel, most of which is used to propel the satellite into geostationary orbit after it has separated from the launch vehicle,” says Mr Rogiest. “The resulting launch cost has an enormous impact on the profitability of a commercial satellite project.”

A potential alternative – currently used mainly to enable minor adjustments to satellites once in place – is electric propulsion, a method which harnesses the properties of electric and magnetic fields to accelerate charged particles in the satellite’s exhaust system. Electric propulsion systems need a fraction of the fuel of chemical systems, reducing the weight of the satellite by 30%; obviously, the smaller the satellite, the lighter the weight, which raises the possibility of smaller launch vehicles, or the use of a single vehicle to launch several satellites. In every case, this would lead to enormous savings.

Leadership in action

Pascal Rogiest, Vice-President, Head of M&A and Portfolio Management, SES

The SES/ESA project, Electra, is a European electric propulsion satellite platform around two-thirds the mass of a chemical propulsion system for an equivalent payload. The breakthrough with Electra is that for the first time, electric propulsion will be used to propel the Europe-made satellite from the launch vehicle into orbit.

“The spotlight is really on SES with this project,” says Mr Rogiest, adding that the development of Electra will be a huge step forward for the European space industry, both in terms of technical capability and return on private and public investment. The project involves

16

Focus 9 I 2014

© SES

SPACE

The power of a falling hair An electric propulsion engine produces an average thrust equivalent to the force of a single falling hair, but this is enough to move several tonnes of mass in frictionless outer space. In the Electra system, xenon gas is ionised using electrical energy, accelerated to high velocities through voltage grids and ejected from the satellite to produce the thrust. A traditional chemical propulsion system creates more force in space, but requires a much higher mass of fuel to be launched into orbit in the first place.

three key players: SES, project leader and prime contractor; the European Space Agency, and German space technology engineering specialist OHB, which has been subcontracted to develop and manufacture the new platform.

The team aims to complete Electra by 2018.

The Electra project comes under ESA’s ARTES 33 programme, designed to promote and facilitate cooperation across the European space industry. ESA has implemented several publicprivate partnerships, but Electra is the first space segment project to have been initiated by a private company. The partnership also hopes that the project will encourage further business relationships within the European space sector, a potentially interesting direction for Luxembourg companies, which are particularly open to this type of partnership.

“To date SES has specified and designed about 50 satellites,” says Mr Rogiest. “This is the expertise we are bringing to Electra: defining the technical requirements and managing this very complex programme.” SES currently has members of its own staff on site at OHB's Bremen premises to coordinate the design and

engineering work, while OHB's Luxembourgbased subsidiary LuxSpace is also closely involved with the engineering. For commercial purposes, OHB will be the ultimate owner of the completed design.

Boost for competition and Europe

“We will be the first European company to have an all-electric satellite made entirely to our own specifications,” says Mr Rogiest, adding that Electra should lead the way towards further public-private partnerships. He also predicts that the project will boost competition: “New space equipment suppliers in the European market will give us more choice and should drive down costs in the long term,” he says.

Most of the investment for Electra comes from SES, OHB and the Luxembourg government, which also helped set up the project in 2012. “Electra is a new departure for us and will give us a much closer relationship with ESA,” says Mr Rogiest. “Up to now, we have only worked with ESA on R&D for ground equipment, systems and services.” Electra is a huge, ambitious programme which can only promote Luxembourg’s entrepreneurial reputation within ESA: yet again, Luxembourg is driving new technology through innovative cooperation.

We will be the first European company to have an allelectric satellite made entirely to our own specifications.

SES +352 71 07 25 1 www.ses.com

Focus 9 I 2014

17

SPACE

Building satellites, atom by atom

Luxembourg is widely recognised for its ability to manage full satellite systems, but far less so for its unique expertise in innovative materials that can be used in space. Public Research Centres Henri Tudor and Gabriel Lippmann are adapting and testing materials for a number of potential uses, while advanced materials company Euro-Composites is creating light, sturdy products particularly suitable for satellite casings. While much of the demand for these materials comes from the European Space Agency (ESA), Luxembourg’s client list is expanding to include organisations such as NASA. © Euro-Composites

“Our customers usually have very exacting requirements,” says Filip Toczek, Sales Manager for Industrial Engineered Products at EuroComposites. “Space is tough in terms of heat and stress, and cleanliness is absolutely crucial.

We customise our working practices to ensure we supply exactly what our clients need.”

Light and strong: ideal for satellites

Euro-Composites specialises in the design and manufacture of components and complete units for a wide range of uses, notably panels with honeycomb cores designed to minimise weight. “The lightness, flexibility and strength of our products make them ideal for satellite casings and offset to some extent the high cost of propelling mass into orbit,” adds Mr Toczek.

Synergies with terrestrial projects

Eric Chenal

Around a third of the company’s 680 Luxembourg staff are engaged in planning, research, technical preparation and development at the firm’s base in Echternach in the east of the country, while the remainder work in manufacturing. EuroComposites has a total of 815 staff worldwide, a figure which is increasing due to strong demand.

The company conducts space-related research and innovation as part of its overall effort to find new solutions, and says their space and terrestrial projects reinforce each other. With ESA as an end customer, the company has been active in the space sector since 2006.

“Our space work is a small but significant part of our turnover,” says Erik Markestein, Defence & Space Technology Design & Engineering Manager. “It has also enabled us to build a new clean room, a very important facility for the space sector, plus a new, larger hall and a bigger autoclave [high pressure oven].” He adds: “This equipment can also be used in our work for our aerospace clients.”

Damien Lenoble, who heads the Nanomaterials Research Unit at CRP – Gabriel Lippmann, makes a similar point. “Our space work is extremely beneficial for our terrestrial projects and applications,” he says. “For example, we are working on coatings that have a high degree of transparency and emissivity [the ability to emit energy]. These coatings have numerous other uses, such as in construction glass and the protective layers for solar cells.”

Unique niche expertise Damien Lenoble, Head of Nanomaterials Research Unit, and Thierry Girot, Head of Industrial Projects, CRP - Gabriel Lippmann

18

Focus 9 I 2014

Around five researchers – equivalent to about two full time – are currently working on space

projects at CRP – Gabriel Lippmann. “Very few research groups in Europe can operate in these particular niche areas,” says Thierry Girot, Head of Industrial Projects. The Centre has strong relationships with both ESA and the French space agency CNES, dating back to the late 2000s.

The core of the unit’s work is the development and configuration of raw materials for specific practical uses. For example, the centre is part of a consortium working on the ESA Solar Sail Materials project. The aim of this programme, which was coordinated by Luxembourg-based company LuxSpace, is to develop a method of harnessing radiation pressure from the sun and other stars to propel satellites and other craft into space. “After many years, we are close to the final product,” Dr Lenoble explains. “As part of this, we demonstrated the concept of a configuration of materials which will enable this type of propulsion.”

Local and international cooperation

Also linked to the solar sails consortium is the Advanced Materials and Structures department of CRP Henri Tudor, which worked in collaboration with partners in Belgium, Germany and France. “Our role was to help to optimise the structures and the materials used in the sails,” says Valérie Toniazzo, Research Unit Manager. “We used thermo-mechanical methods to stress-test the integrity of the assemblies, in particular the performance of the joints under various conditions and over different time periods.”

The department also worked on a two-year project to help Euro-Composites develop new Kevlar honeycombs. “As a subcontractor, we shared our expertise in nanocomposites to optimise the electrical and thermal conductivity of the thermosetting resins which embed the honeycomb structure,” explains Dr Toniazzo.

Different nanoparticles were added to various types of resins that could be used in the product and each was tested to find the most appropriate combination for use in space.

The Materials Unit of the department is also currently engaged in three further space sector projects, two of which are supported by the National Research Fund, which is subsidising part of the cost of employing highly-qualified researchers through its Training-Research Aid programme. “At the moment, for example, we are working with ESA and Thales Alenia

Eric Chenal

SPACE

Valérie Toniazzo, Research Unit Manager, CRP Henri Tudor

Space on antistatic nanocomposites for cable insulation to enable the evacuation of damaging static electric charges in the satellite cables,” Dr Toniazzo explains.

Interest for NASA’s Mars mission

Luxembourg’s expertise has recently come to the attention of NASA. For the last ten years, CRP – Gabriel Lippmann has been developing an ultra light mass spectrometer, used to analyse materials at both atomic and molecular levels.

“We had a visit from NASA last year and they were impressed with our 12 kg spectrometer,” says Dr Lenoble. “They need something like this for their Mars exploration programme and we are hoping to sign a cooperation deal in the next few months.”

Our space work is extremely beneficial for terrestrial projects and applications.

EURO-COMPOSITES S.A. +352 72 94 63 1 info@euro-composites.com www.euro-composites.com CRP – Gabriel Lippmann Science and Analysis of Materials (SAM) Department +352 47 02 61 1 contact@lippmann.lu www.lippmann.lu CRP Henri Tudor Advanced Materials & Structures (AMS) +352 42 59 91 1 info@tudor.lu www.tudor.lu

Focus 9 I 2014

19

Space

With a fleet of over 50 satellites

Reach 291 million homes worldwide Where others see challenges, we see possibilities. At SES we do more than transcend physical barriers. We are committed to building relationships that help you reach new markets. Unlock and grow new opportunities with us. www.ses.com

20

Focus 9 I 2014

SPACE

The future of propulsion is electric “Electric propulsion is the future for satellites,” says Mr Emsellem. At present, the fuel supply for a satellite – most of which is used to raise it into its final orbit – constitutes most of its weight.

An electric propulsion system uses far less fuel, raising the potential for much smaller satellites or alternatively, bigger payloads of equipment such as transponders, antennas and switching systems. Consequently, the current ‘holy grail’ of satellite technology is to develop an electric propulsion system that is both failsafe and fast.

Eric Chenal

The most common form of matter in the universe is not a solid, liquid or gas, but plasma.

Like other stars, our sun is a giant ball of plasma that radiates heat and light. Plasma can be harnessed to create force, and the Elwing Company and its CEO Gregory Emsellem are developing revolutionary plasma-based propulsion technologies that can be used to power all types of aerospace vehicle.

Lightness, speed, reliability “The cost of building and launching a satellite can be over €300 million. Of that, the launch alone can account for more than a quarter,” continues Mr Emsellem. “Our propulsion system is designed to raise the satellite to its final orbit from where the rocket drops it off just above the upper atmosphere – quickly, safely and with minimum fuel.”

The other critical issue is the time the satellite takes to reach its final orbit, which with older electric propulsion systems can be more than six months. “Elwing was challenged to shorten this time to 100 days or less, and our first tests convinced us that this was something our technologies could do,” says Mr Emsellem, adding that fast, reliable, all-electric propulsion could not only dramatically cut the cost of most space-based services, but also – with the advantage of far bigger payloads and new launch services designed for smaller satellites – pave the way for entirely new applications.

Mr Emsellem is a plasma physicist as well as an entrepreneur. Before founding Elwing in 2002, he studied at the École normale supérieure de Lyon, worked as a consultant at Thales Germany and later became a Research Fellow at Princeton University, where the idea of a plasma-fuelled propulsion system first emerged. Mr Emsellem has spent the last twelve years establishing Elwing — which to date has been granted over 30 patents — raising capital and developing the E-IMPAcT thruster.

Gregory Emsellem, CEO, Elwing Company

Luxembourg: the perfect choice

Given the international dimension of the satellite business, Mr Emsellem was told early on that he needed to establish an international HQ for Elwing in Europe alongside its US base.

Both Candace Johnson, a major force within the satellite industry, and a “Big Four” management consultant proposed Luxembourg, on the basis of the presence of leading satellite operator SES and the government’s commitment to developing the space sector and supporting innovative businesses.

Our propulsion system is designed to raise the satellite to its final orbit from where the rocket drops it off just above the upper atmosphere – quickly, safely and with minimum fuel.

Focus 9 I 2014

21

Boshua

SPACE

Elwing recently tested its E-IMPAcT thruster with both NASA and ESA and hopes it will be ready for use in satellites by 2018. Mr Emsellem expects to further develop its thruster technology for satellites of all sizes and most types of mission.

In March 2014, Elwing announced a collaboration with young Luxembourg physicist and entrepreneur Xavier Morin, who has developed the concept behind ThOR, a plasma-fuelled aircraft engine which promises to eliminate carbonbased fuel from aeroplanes. “In addition to our expertise with plasma technology, Mr Morin will benefit from our experience of raising private capital and our extensive network in the aerospace industry,” concludes Mr Emsellem.

“Luxembourg was certainly the right choice. The Ministry of the Economy has been accessible and extremely helpful, as has Luxinnovation,” says Mr Emsellem. Elwing is also a member of the Luxembourg Space Cluster.

The Elwing Company +352 20 88 04 71 contact@elwingcorp.com www.elwingcorp.com

Microsatellites from a micro-country © LuxSpace

Local firm LuxSpace has proved that it is possible to use microsatellites to keep track of the whereabouts of every large ship at sea, 24 hours a day every day, providing information of inestimable potential value to both public authorities and private businesses. Commissioned by the European Space Agency and the European Maritime Safety Agency to develop and implement this innovative niche project, the company is using its own expertise and that of local partners such as specialist electronics firm EmTroniX. All large ships – those weighing over 300 gross tons – are fitted with Automatic Identification System (AIS) radio transmitters which are used to monitor their locations and avoid collisions.

This system works well up to a point but is limited because the land-based systems currently in use are restricted to a range of only 40 nautical miles.

Full-time global tracking of all ships, on the other hand, has enormous potential benefits, with implications for law enforcement, customs and excise, search and rescue, fishing industry and environmental monitoring, fleet management and anti-piracy enforcement.

Tracking ships at sea

LuxSpace, which specialises in niche technologies and services, was the first company to demonstrate the commercial potential of picking up ship radio transmissions using low-flying satellites and using the data to map the entire voyage of every large ship in near real time. Ghislain Ruy, LuxSpace’s Pre Development Manager, tells FOCUS: “The European Space Agency (ESA) and the European

22

Focus 9 I 2014

Maritime Safety Agency are currently developing a fully operational space-based SAT-AIS system.

In 2011, they commissioned us to lead the preliminary design and technology phase on the basis of our strong track record in microsatellite design and implementation. We completed that phase last year and are now working towards full implementation in 2019.”

© LuxSpace

SPACE

Attracting and spreading expertise

LuxSpace was founded in 2004 and is a whollyowned subsidiary of European space and technology group OHB Technology AG, which is based in Bremen in Germany. The company has around 50 employees, most of whom are highly qualified engineers, and a network of around 20 subcontractors.

The project that initially attracted the interest of ESA began in 2007, when LuxSpace began to develop a SAT-AIS prototype using microsatellites, tiny satellites that can be as small as 30 cm cubed and weigh as little as 30 kg. “These satellites are cheap and extremely flexible,” says Mr Ruy, “and ideal for performing a range of specialist tasks.” The project’s initial focus was on proof of concept: “We built the basic test models and landbased subsystems in our workshop, launched them successfully and demonstrated that the technology would work.” Senior Project Manager Gerd Eiden adds that: “Since then, we have added services and expertise year on year.”

Not surprisingly, LuxSpace is attracting a considerable amount of engineering talent, a significant factor in its growing prominence in the space industry. The company has also formed partnerships with other local high tech companies following a similar trajectory. One of these is EmTronix, formed 13 years ago by local engineerentrepreneurs and now active in a range of sectors, including space. “We met LuxSpace about six years ago at a networking event organised by the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce,” says Cédric Lorant, co-founder and Electronics Projects Manager. “It was obvious from the start that there was strong synergy between our two companies, and we started working together on satellite receivers and embedded software in 2008.”

World leadership

By the time the SAT-AIS project is fully operational in 2019, the maritime industry will have the benefit of a full constellation of satellites, custom-made receivers and a data processing centre. There is considerable global interest in LuxSpace because, as Dr Ruy explains, “One thing is for certain – in this field, we are amongst the world leaders.”

One thing is for certain – in this field, we are amongst the world leaders.

EmTroniX +352 26 58 17 50 info@emtronix.lu www.emtronix.lu LuxSpace +352 26 78 90 40 00 info@luxspace.lu www.luxspace.lu

Focus 9 I 2014

23

SPACE

Eyes in the skies: Observing the Earth Boshua

Both Public Research Centre Gabriel Lippmann and private company GeoVille are making use of Earth Observation data to help the environment and improve public safety. Using images from satellites and data from airplanes, drones and ground-based instrumentation, the two organisations are compiling critical pictures of urbanisation, agriculture, forestation, soil and water conditions and biodiversity.

EVA uses a wide range of data collection tools, including satellites, airborne sensors equipped with multi-spectral and thermal cameras, spectrometers and ground-based sensors. As Scientific Director Dr Lucien Hoffmann explains: “Data sources must be as wide as possible to provide a complete picture for analysis. We gather images from the three spectral domains – visible, near-infrared and thermal infrared – and across different scales of distance using field, drone and satellite.”

EVA’s main EO activities are geoinformatics (digital imaging analysis), data mining, the development of algorithms and the integration of satellite, airborne and ground remote sensing data, together with global navigation satellite systems and satellite-based communication systems for novel applications. The department has two teams: “The hydrology team is working on the integration of remote sensing techniques and the building of models for flood forecasting and damage assessment, while our ecosystem team integrates science and technology from several disciplines to acquire, monitor and analyse data on forests, agriculture, nature conservation and water quality,” says Dr Hoffmann.

Our ecosystem team integrates science and technology from several disciplines to acquire, monitor and analyse data on forests, agriculture, nature conservation and water quality.

24

Focus 9 I 2014

Earth Observation (EO) is the term used to describe the collection and analysis of information about the state of planet Earth. Various types of data are gathered, including photos and radar images taken by satellites, aeroplanes and drones, and measurements taken by ground-based sensors and instruments such as thermometers and rain gauges. EO data has endless uses; examples include monitoring changes in land use, measuring the growth or decline of biodiversity and managing natural disasters such as floods, forest fires and volcanic eruptions.

Environmental monitoring and risk management

At CRP – Gabriel Lippmann’s Environment and Agro-biotechnologies Department (EVA), the focus of EO activity is primarily on natural resource monitoring and disaster management.

Project participation and knowledge transfer

To date, EVA has participated in 40 joint EO projects in cooperation with public and private sector partners from nine countries. Funding has been provided by organisations including the European Space Agency, the Canadian Space Agency, the Belgian Science Policy Office, ERDF (European Regional Development Fund), Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES, the French National Space Agency) and INTERREG, an ERDF programme designed to promote and assist knowledge transfer between regions.

Luxembourg’s Ministry for Higher Education and Research and the National Research Fund have also provided support.

EVA also holds regular Earth Observation Days in Luxembourg to promote collaboration within the remote sensing field. These events focus in particular on EO’s potential for environmental

Boshua

SPACE

monitoring and management, especially in forestry, hydrology and agriculture.

EVA is keen to share its experience and expertise and is doing this in a number of ways: it has published an impressive total of over 120 scientific journal articles since 2007, and has also teamed up with Canadian imaging firm Telops to offer a summer school in thermal hyperspectral imaging – “the hottest new tool in remote sensing” – to graduates in geographic, scientific and environmental disciplines.

Halting decline in ecosystems

GeoVille Environmental Services, also engaged in Earth Observation work, is a Luxembourg company set up in 2007 and a sister to the Austrian firm GeoVille Information Services.

Recently, GeoVille was named EO Company of the year 2014 by the European Association of Remote Sensing Companies (EARSC).

One of Geoville’s focuses is on Ecological Goods and Services (EG&S), which refers to the naturallyoccurring environmental essentials that can only be produced by a healthy ecosystem. “Goods” might be soils, fresh water or clean air; while “services” are biomass production, biodiversity protection, crop pollination, water and air purification and the simple presence of natural beauty. All living things, not just humans, benefit from EG&S, and those benefits extend to health, culture and society as well as the economy.

At a time of increasing EG&S losses, Geoville conducts environmental mapping that gives policy makers the information they need to monitor progress, set goals and ultimately meet the Biodiversity 2020 targets set by the European Environment Agency (EEA). Stefan Kleeschulte, the company’s Managing Director, explains: “If we are to halt this decline and restore degraded ecosystems, we need to know where those ecosystems are, understand how they are connected and be able to analyse their condition, size and density. This is why you need EO.” He continues: “For the analysis of landscape changes, GeoVille applies the ‘land accounting’ method developed by the EEA; that is, we look at stocks and flows of natural capital.”

Classifying biodiversity

The company also provides quality control for EU projects. Geoville is responsible for verifying the integrity of the database structure and ensuring that datasets conform to predefined specifications, and also for making certain that satellite images are interpreted and classified correctly. Even with high resolution images, it is possible to confuse, say, a coniferous forest in a valley with a river, or an orchard or vineyard with a forest. Moreover, there can be debate about whether a certain area counts as “water” or “wet lands”. All such potential discrepancies need to be verified and checked locally.

GeoVille is a member of two European Topic Centres (ETC) set up by the EEA as technical centres of expertise: the ETC on Biological Diversity, which aims to provide any information needed to support the implementation of European environmental and sustainable development policies, and the ETC-Spatial Information and Analysis, which supports the EEA in the development of seamless Europeanwide spatial reference data.

If we are to halt this decline and restore degraded ecosystems, we need to know where those ecosystems are.

CRP – Gabriel Lippmann Environment and Agro-biotechnologies (EVA) department +352 47 02 61 1 contact@lippmann.lu www.lippmann.lu GeoVille Environmental Services +352 26 71 41 35 info@geoville.com www.geoville.com

Focus 9 I 2014

25

SPACE

Better air traffic control via satellite

Air traffic controllers cannot maintain contact with aeroplanes flying over oceans and deserts, seriously impeding rescue attempts in the event of a crash. A new satellite tracking system developed in Luxembourg not only has the potential to eliminate these “black holes” and prevent loss of aircraft in the future, but also to cut fuel costs and solve at least some of the problems of overcrowded air space. SES TechCom Services, in cooperation with local and international partners, has proved the technology works and is now moving towards full implementation. industry, attracting the interest of the European Space Agency (ESA) and eventually leading to the formation of a consortium with the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the Thales Alenia Space Germany (TAS-D). “We developed the concept and launched our first receiver last year as a hosted payload on board an ESA satellite, PROBA-V,” adds Mr Bethscheider. “We are now 100% certain that these satellites would be a viable air traffic control solution.”

“We started thinking about this project after the Air France disaster in 2009, when a passenger plane travelling from Brazil to Paris crashed in the South Atlantic,” says Gerhard Bethscheider, Managing Director of SES TechCom Services. Because the standard airline Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) tracking system only works over land, it was several months before investigators succeeded in locating the crash site and almost two years before the black box flight recorders were found.

Tracking missing planes

Boshua

“We believed it was theoretically possible to use low-flying satellites to pick up ADS-B signals from missing aeroplanes," says Mr Bethscheider.

The company began discussions within the

The authorities became even more interested after the disappearance in March 2014 of Malaysian Airlines flight MH370. “We were recently invited to a meeting with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the UN agency which defines international standards and recommended practices," says Thierry Draus, Sales Manager at SES TechCom. In the wake of the MH370 crash, the ICAO is planning to introduce controls over nonregulated air space, and Mr Draus is optimistic that there may be a strong role for satellitebased tracking systems.

Potential for major cost savings

Mr Draus also highlights the strong economic case for a satellite-based ADS-B tracking system. Estimates obviously vary, but it appears that the cost of the air-sea rescue work on Flight MH370 could be in the region of $300 million, taking into account undisclosed military expenditure. This compares to an estimated cost of well under $500 million for a global satellite system. “At present, pilots are able to shut down their ADS-B transmitters, which is what they did on Flight MH370,” says Mr Draus.

“If we had had a full system up and running, and the transmitters had been kept open, we are confident we could have located the crash site within days, if not hours.” In fact, it seems that international regulators are very likely to introduce measures preventing the shutting off of ADS-B transmitters during flights.

There are further uses for this technology, many of them commercial. To begin with, says Mr Bethscheider, “Fuel usage comes down by up to

26

Focus 9 I 2014

Incubator for ideas “SES TechCom Services is a satellite technology specialist and an ideas incubator with a mandate to develop and test solutions,” says Managing Director Gerhard Bethscheider. SES Techcom was spun off

by Luxembourg-based SES in 2005, a move that enabled the parent company to focus more strongly on its core communications satellite infrastructure business. “We are wholly-owned by SES,“ says Mr Bethscheider, “and the wealth of engineering know-how it has built up over the years enables us to develop innovative products and services and bring them to market.” SES TechCom has worked with ESA, a collaboration which has led the firm into several new areas, including the Galileo navigation project. The firm has around 90 employees, of which 50 are in Luxembourg and the remainder in two Belgian-based operations. Turnover in 2013 totalled €40 million.

10% if a plane rides the Atlantic jet stream. This air space is now so congested that airlines have to pay for the right to fly through it, and the slots allocated to each plane are much bigger than they need to be because there is no way to guide them through properly. If there were a satellite-based tracking system in place, more planes could fly through, each burning less fuel, which would mean less CO2 pollution and lower fares. At the same time, governments would see increased revenue from the sale of more slots.”

The company cites numerous other potential applications for this satellite-based solution, among them tracking and tracing services aimed at logistics companies.

Mr Bethscheider notes that SES Techcom is currently working on a business plan for the project. “In order to track data 24/7 across the globe, we will need a constellation of 30 satellites, plus ground stations to process the data we collect. Our ongoing relationship with our partners at SES is fundamental to this project, as they have the ground stations.”

Luxembourg-centred partnerships

SES TechCom is also in discussions with other potential project partners in Luxembourg.

Microsatellite specialist LuxSpace may supply the satellites for the proposed constellation, while advanced embedded electronics experts EmTroniX are also linked to the project via their

© SES TechCom Services

SPACE

relationship with TAS-D. “Thales is very strongly involved with the technological development of the ADS-B receiver, while we are working on the computer code that will be embedded in the electronics,” explains Cédric Lorant, EmTroniX co-founder and Electronics Projects Manager, adding that the firm, which employs only eight people, has worked closely with the Thales multinational over the past three years.

SES TechCom is optimistic that its business plan will be strong enough to lead to a Luxembourg-based joint venture. There will be competition, but the team are convinced their dedicated satellite constellation will offer the best coverage. Some very significant air traffic control problems may be on their way to being solved, thanks to more Luxembourg-led innovation.

SES TechCom Services is a satellite technology specialist and an ideas incubator with a mandate to develop and test solutions.

EmTroniX +352 26 58 17 50 info@emtronix.lu www.emtronix.lu SES +352 71 07 25 1 www.ses.com/techcom

Focus 9 I 2014

27

advice ?

To avoid any unpleasant surprises when you get your business off the ground, feel free to contact us. We can help you sort out your legal, administrative, economic or social matters or create, take over or transfer a company. The mission of Espace Entreprises at the Chamber of Commerce is to efficiently and effectively assist those who, through their own initiative, contribute to the expansion of Luxembourg’s economy.

Chambre de Commerce 7, rue Alcide de Gasperi Luxembourg-Kirchberg +352 42 39 39 - 330 info@espace-entreprises.lu www.espace-entreprises.lu

DECHMANNCOMMUNICATION

Need good

Boshua

INNOVATIVE SPACES

Where history meets creativity

Over its 400-year history, Neumünster Abbey in Luxembourg Grund has functioned as a monastery, a hospital and a prison. Today, it is a cultural exchange centre hosting art exhibitions, conferences and receptions.

After a programme of beautiful restoration lasting 10 years, the former abbey is now a UNESCO world heritage site.

About 700 events are organised each year within the buildings, garden and terrace, which together span a total of 12,000 sqm. Permanent and temporary art exhibitions – among them one featuring sculptures by Lucien Wercollier – are housed in the cloister houses and reception area.

With its unique combination of historical flair and contemporary design, Neumünster Abbey is an innovative space that promotes meetings and interactions to facilitate “the dialogue of cultures and culture of dialogue”. www.ccrn.lu

Focus 9 I 2014

29

X

INNOVATIVE SPACES

30

Focus 9 I 2014

Boshua

INNOVATIVE SPACES

Focus 9 I 2014

31

Boshua

INNOVATIVE SPACES

32

Focus 9 I 2014

ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND INNOVATION

NEWS The Franco-Luxembourg production “Mr Hublot” won Luxembourg its very first Oscar at this year’s US Academy Awards. The film, which took the Best Animated Short Film title, was produced and directed by Frenchman Laurent Witz, owner of the innovative Luxembourgbased ZEILT productions, and co-directed by Luxembourgish animation artist Alexandre Espigares.

© ZEILT productions

First Oscar for Luxembourg

Founded in 2007, ZEILT productions specialises in the creation of 3D animations for cinema, TV, internet, mobile phone and video games.

Alexandre Espigares has previously worked as an animator on other well-known productions, including Tarzan 3D and Happy Feet Two. Besides the Oscar, “Mr Hublot” has won 31 other international awards since its release in 2013. This success reflects the quality of Luxembourg’s growing film industry. www.zeilt.com

Oxford Bio-Chronometrics relocates to Luxembourg

Online security and authentication company Oxford Bio-Chronometric is to move its head office to Luxembourg.

The company has set new standards in the ongoing war against computer fraud. Using research carried out at Oxford University, it has developed an online authentication solution that integrates the behaviour of the user, creating a unique signature that cannot currently be replicated by other human beings or spambots. This is the world’s most secure authentication system to date and the first true, continuous, always-on, passive internet security solution.

Biotech spin-off predicts protein structures

The Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB) set up a new biotechnology company, LuxFold, in July last year. Based at the Technoport incubator in Esch-Belval, this is LCSB’s second spin-off enterprise and the first Luxembourg start-up to be financed by venture fund Advent Life Sciences.

LuxFold is using an innovative computational method designed by LCSB to accurately predict the 3D structure of proteins. This technology could be helpful in the understanding of diseases, the identification of new therapeutic targets and the design of new drugs. www.lcsb.lu www.luxfold.com

According to CEO Adrian Neal, the company chose Luxembourg because it is a safe harbour for intellectual property, with one of the most modern data centre parks in the world and low latency connections to all the major European internet hubs. www.oxford-biochron.com

Focus 9 I 2014

33

Š APATEQ

ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND INNOVATION

APATEQ wins Red Herring 100 Europe award

Luxembourg-based clean-tech venture APATEQ has won a place on the prestigious 2014 Red Herring Top 100 Europe list, used by industry experts and investors to identify the year’s most promising private technology ventures.

APATEQ received the award for developing and quickly bringing to market a fully automated oil-water separation system that treats the toxic wastewater that is a by-product of oil and gas extraction processes. The technology is chemical-free, can be used on-site at oil and gas fields and has low operational costs.

The company also develops compact wastewater treatment plants for demanding applications, ultrafiltration/reverse osmosis systems for industrial wastewater treatment and advanced, low energy and chemical-free pre-treatment systems.

Open access for researchers

MyScienceWork is an online scientific communications and social networking platform that provides open access to more than 30 million scientific publications from over 2,500 databases. It also offers a variety of tools, including a collaborative annotation feature, and a social network for researchers.

The brainchild of two young French entrepreneurs, the MyScienceWork company was launched in Paris in 2010. Since then, the firm has expanded its database of content, established communities in every scientific discipline and successfully launched the platform across Europe.

MyScienceWork chose to locate its headquarters in Luxembourg in order to extend its international activities. Since then, it has raised $1.1 million in additional funding, bringing its total investment to $2.6 million.

The company has also received assistance from the Luxembourg Ministry of Economy, which selected it to spend three months at the Plug and Play incubator in Silicon Valley to help it establish new US partnerships. www.mysciencework.com

34

Focus 9 I 2014

Two other Luxembourg firms, All Square and Choice Technologies, were among the 250 finalists nominated for the European award. www.apateq.com

ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND INNOVATION

University of Luxembourg

Diversity is the Spice of Life Studying at our international research university will spice up your life : students and researchers from all over the world, multilingual degree programmes and programmes in English, doctoral schools, a multicultural environment and individual mentoring - it’s all in the mix !

Our Faculties and research centres : •

Faculty of Science, Technology and Communication

•

Faculty of Law, Economics and Finance

•

Faculty of Language and Literature, Humanities, Arts and Education

•

SnT - Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust

•

LCSB - Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine

Multilingual. Personalised. Connected.

seve.infos@uni.lu - T. +352 46 66 44 - 6060 - www.uni.lu Focus 9 I 2014

35

ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND INNOVATION

Making the big and bulky manageable

© CTI Systems

Innovation and flexibility are at the heart of CTI Systems’ product ranges and working methods. Their systems enable heavy, cumbersome items to be handled, processed and stored, mostly using automated, highly-integrated systems.

Almost every client has different requirements, so nearly all solutions have to be designed and built to order. CTI is large and experienced enough to create appropriate systems but remains a people-sized business that can guarantee flexibility and typical Luxembourgish openness to its clients worldwide.

Engineering in all its dimensions is at the heart of CTI Systems. “We specialise in mechanical, electrical and software engineering,” explains Laurent Bissen, the firm’s Chief Technical Officer. “So as well as providing state-of-theart systems to handle big, heavy units, we can make these operations work in sync using process automation.”

Custom-built sophistication

The firm’s custom-built 36,000 sqm Lentzweiler base in the north of Luxembourg is equipped for product design, manufacture and testing. With over 50 years of experience, CTI supplies hightech, highly automated, integrated solutions for heavy loads. Around two-thirds of the company’s 210 staff are engineers who develop and supervise the entire production and testing process. Most clients are in Europe, but the combined turnover from Asia and America is greater.

Intralogistics is the use of information technology to manage and optimise material flows along a supply chain. Interconnected processes coordinate the activities of lifting equipment, cranes, trackbased technologies, storage systems and other machinery.

36

Focus 9 I 2014

“Our clients know their businesses but will not necessarily appreciate everything we suggest,” says Mr Bissen. “We therefore work with them to understand their needs and propose the most efficient solutions.” The company can integrate its systems into existing plant or alternatively install complete turnkey intralogistics and processing systems. “It can take months to find the optimal solution,” says Mr Bissen, adding that the company is fortunate to have a wide range of language skills. CTI’s engineers are on hand to assist with reassembly of the finished articles and the firm also offers a customer support hotline, maintenance services, spare parts and training.

Intralogistics: a specialist niche

CTI has come a long way from its origins. In the 1960s, its leading products were track cranes and monorails used to lift cumbersome raw materials and components and move them around the factory. These days, the firm specialises in complex, integrated systems that rely on information technology to devise the

Eric Chenal

ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND INNOVATION

most efficient ways of transporting items safely and swiftly from one location to another.

“We do anything as long as the loads are heavy or bulky,” says Mr Bissen. Whole plants can be designed to ease the flow of all kinds of materials; metal coils, slabs, tubes, rolls of paper or textiles, cassettes of long goods and metal casting pots.

Key to this is process automation software designed and integrated by CTI to maximise flexibility. Applications include Manufacturing Execution Systems, which handle product definitions, resources, scheduling, dispatching, production data collection, order execution and track-and-trace functionality, and Warehouse Management Systems, which computerise the receipt, storage and movement of goods, calculating all transactions on the basis of realtime information.

The actual machinery is wide-ranging and customised to suit the client’s premises. Monorails, installed overhead to save floor space, operate in concert with stacking mechanisms, cranes and other devices to achieve maximum speed and safety. Lifting machinery is powerful but particularly resistant to wear; the company’s cranes can transport loads of up to 65 tons, move independently or be linked with monorails and operated manually or automatically. CTIdesigned warehouses with automatic storage and retrieval systems move loads of 40 tons at speeds of up to 200 metres per minute.

Surface treatment streamlined

One of CTI’s main product lines is designed to bring optimum efficiency to finishing treatments, with options ranging from specialist systems to fully integrated automated installations. Pre-treatments include shot blasting, degreasing and e-coating, while a number of painting techniques are on offer, including powder painting, and there are several methods of curing and drying the finished product. The loads are moved between these stages on transportation systems controlled by process automation software.

Market leader in aviation

CTI Systems was the inventor of telescopic teleplatforms – elevated telescoping working platforms that provide safe and quick access to raised working areas – and has 90% market share of sales of this product to the aviation industry. The platforms, used in hangars around the world by aircraft manufacturers, airlines and maintenance and repair companies, can be

Laurent Bissen, Chief Technology Officer, CTI Systems

operated from the ground and are suspended from cranes to give access to any part of an aircraft. Beyond this, CTI designs complete hangars and aircraft docking systems and integrates its crane and track systems to enable the movement of items such as jet engines and aeroplane panels.

Perfect public-private partnership

CTI Systems is not only a symbol of Luxembourg’s excellence in innovative engineering, but also an exemplar of its expertise in public-private partnerships. Founded in 1962 as Cleveland Tramrail International, the firm moved on from track crane and monorail systems production to develop a global reputation with products such as the teleplatforms and the world’s first continuously-welded monorail track.

By the 1990s, the operation had ceased to be in tune with its American owner’s core business and the decision was taken to sell. With the company’s potential more than evident to both its management and the public authorities, the Luxembourg State Investment Bank (SNCI) purchased it in 1993. Since then, the revamped and renamed CTI Systems has built new

Focus 9 I 2014

37

© CTI Systems

ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND INNOVATION

CTI Systems – diverse, innovative projects CTI designed, manufactured and installed two double-girder special bridge-cranes for a tube plant in China. The system handles tubes that reach temperatures of 1300°C; the cranes have a capacity of 12.5 tons and a span of up to 38 metres.

engineering and production facilities, moved into new markets and widely expanded its range of specialised equipment and intralogistics solutions for factories, assembly plants and warehouses.

We do anything as long as the loads are heavy or bulky.

In 2013, Luxembourg high-tech engineering company Paul Wurth, for some years previously a majority shareholder in CTI Systems, took a 100% share in the company. Paul Wurth has a strong international focus, with a global network of 20 offices, and the buyout gives CTI the backing of a world class expert in the design and supply of technology to the iron and steel industry. CTI itself has offices in the USA, China and Malaysia; these, in combination with the Luxembourg government’s trade promotion offices abroad, provide considerable global reach for a relatively small firm.

From its base in the Ardennes, CTI Systems offers further proof of Luxembourg’s success in targeting global market niches. The local formula – knowledge workers + open environment + state support – has produced yet another success story.

38

Focus 9 I 2014

In the USA, the company supplied a turnkey system with automated painting and handling equipment for an advanced coatings application centre. The system, which includes 18 unmanned automated guided vehicles, can handle parts of up to 15.9 x 3 x 3 metres in size and up to 3 tons in weight.

A further example of CTI’s state of the art systems is a 24.5 m teleplatform and crane system designed specifically for tail access to the Airbus 380 at Incheon Airport in Seoul, South Korea. CTI is a world leader in this sector, with more than 90% market share.

CTI Systems +352 26 85 20 00 cti@ctisystems.com www.ctisystems.com

ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND INNOVATION

Engineering by design

Set up in 1965, Gradel has almost five decades’ experience in the design and engineering of nuclear plant maintenance equipment, an area which CEO Claude Maack describes as “still the core of our business activities.”

Eric Chenal

Continued innovation drives all the activities of Luxembourg-based Gradel. From its origins in the nuclear industry, the group has diversified into the design and engineering of innovative solutions, products and services in the fields of space, renewable energy and glass, as well as precision sheets and sipes for tyres. Most recently, Gradel has moved into the development and production of neutron generators, an area in which it is already setting new industry standards.

For obvious reasons, this kind of equipment must be controlled from a distance and able to operate in sub-aquatic environments such as nuclear plant pools. Gradel has developed a full underwater equipment range and engineered a patented underwater solution for trapping and removing foreign materials – potential sources of dangerous radiation – in reactors or pools. The company now employs a 20-strong engineering team, focusing on the development of made-toorder prototypes and turnkey solutions.

Space exploration Gradel’s nuclear industry experience has proved invaluable in another important area. “We are using the expertise acquired from the nuclear sector in our space sector solutions,” confirms Mr Maack. These solutions include satellite components such as deployable antennas or thin-walled aluminium structures, and Mechanical Ground Support Equipment (MGSE), including trolleys and remotely controlled hoisting devices.

Gradel has received particular accolades for its innovative technologies; EMPW (electromagnetic pulse welding), binding iridium alloys with laser welding, and other advanced joining techniques, all developed in cooperation with the European Space Agency and used in the assembly of space systems. “Working with ESA has enabled us to provide tailored solutions for space applications and widen our client portfolio,” says Mr Maack. The company is a member of GLAE (Groupement Luxembourgeois de l'Aéronautique et de l'Espace), which brings together the companies involved in the country’s aerospace industry.

Claude Maack, CEO, Gradel

Taking it to the world

Neutron generators are used increasingly in areas such as bulk materials analysis, dark matter research, medicines and explosives detection, and Gradel has made significant innovations in this field with a product that markedly outstrips the competition in terms of life expectancy. “Our neutron generators can work for 20,000 hours, far longer than the standard 1,000-2,000 hours,” says Mr Maack.

“Of all our products, these are the ones which offer the company the greatest potential for growth.”

We are using the expertise acquired from the nuclear sector in our space sector solutions.

The latest developments

Gradel estimates that it invests 7-8% of its turnover in R&D, of which the majority is split fairly evenly between space/nuclear and neutron generator development. The company’s R&D programme also continues in other areas, such as the continuous casting process it has

Focus 9 I 2014

39

Boshua

ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND INNOVATION

developed for sputtering targets, used to form thin coatings on glass and other materials.

Gradel’s progress highlights the opportunities that can be generated by a strong commitment to investing in R&D and an ability to apply knowledge and expertise gained in one area to create further innovation in another. Its move into the neutron generator field may be comparatively recent, but it has already established a firm niche in the global sphere with strong sales and interest from North and South America, Korea, South Africa and the UAE as well as its traditional European markets.

At the same time, it is looking to expand nuclear plant maintenance equipment sales into Russia, India and China.

Gradel s.à r.l. +352 39 00 44 1 gradel@gradel.lu www.gradel.lu

Innovation by demand

In the course of only 40 years, one small, family-run electronics supplier has grown into a multi-platform, high technology provider of systems for the entire production process. From switchgears and mechanical engineering to renewable energy, intralogistics and complex automated systems, innovation is key for KÖHL, a company whose customer-centred strategy generates sales all over the world.

Now based in Wecker, Luxembourg, and with a staff of over 630, KÖHL has developed into a major international provider of products and logistical solutions in areas including energy, construction, tobacco, automation, workflow, packaging and warehouse management.

Our Luxembourg base has enabled us to expand our international business.

According to Wilfried Köhl, company founder and CEO, the expansion from the company’s early roots has been driven by two principal factors. One is market awareness; listening to customers, spotting potential and adopting a highly responsive, innovative approach to steering the business forward. The other is a targeted investment strategy, focusing on people, ideas and technology. As Mr Köhl sums up, “the secret of our success has been our motivated, technically competent staff, our focus on key industries and the strong synergy between our business units.”

With safety in mind

This approach yields positive results throughout KÖHL’s business, particularly in the energy field, where it specialises in arc protection technology.

40

Focus 9 I 2014

Arcing – a spontaneous electrical discharge – can be a particular problem in the manufacturing process, one that KÖHL has resolved by fitting its switching units with Arcon®, which generates a short circuit that stops the arc. The company’s emphasis on safety and stability is a major plus factor for energy distributors, processing plants and building management companies of all sizes.

Rising energy prices worldwide are driving customer demand for cost-effective solutions, especially in the areas of damage prevention and power supply reliability. KÖHL‘s innovative answer is ModuCon, the only ISO-compliant low-voltage switchgear system to have passed stringent accidental arc testing. These systems are fitted with a temperature-monitoring and communications device, TOR (Thermo Observation RFID), which prevents accidental damage to the unit. This device won KÖHL the Fedil – Business Federation Luxembourg Innovation Prize in 2012; as Mr Köhl says, “This is a prestigious award which places our innovative strength as a medium-sized company firmly in the public eye.”

ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND INNOVATION

KÖHL’s use of innovation and attention to detail apply equally to its made-to-order automation systems and complex intralogistical solutions.

Before a client commits to an investment, the proposed solution is tested using material flow simulation. “If you know it costs about five times as much to acquire a new customer as to keep an existing one, you’ll understand why we always offer more than the customer expects.”

© KÖHL

Tailor-made products

KÖHL is also expert in applying innovative solutions developed for one industry to other fields. “Our electrical, power and mechanical engineering areas interlink via our automation applications, creating seamless customer solutions,” says Mr Köhl. The company is further committed to energy efficiency and sustainability and was one of the first companies to bring economical wind turbines to the market. Similar principles are applied in the provision of modular control centres for biogas plants, while KÖHL has also ventured into e-mobility with its e-charging station, and has included electric cars in its own fleet.

KÖHL moved its HQ to Luxembourg because of its central location, neutrality, easy access to the Benelux markets and high number of skilled foreign workers. The company tells FOCUS: “Our Luxembourg base has enabled us to expand our international business. Its performance has been exactly in line with our business ethos – professional, customer-focused and very quick to respond to the market.”

KÖHL Group +352 71 99 71 50 00 contact@koehl.eu www.koehl.eu

Focus 9 I 2014

41

PUBLIC RESEARCH

Contending with complexity

© C. Aschman

The Max Planck Institute Luxembourg opened its doors in May 2013. Just a short walk from the European Court of Justice in the Kirchberg quarter of Luxembourg City, the Institute is in the perfect location for students of European, international and regulatory procedural law, as well as those engaged in research projects and teaching at the Faculty of Law at the University of Luxembourg.

Insight preceding application

Founded in 1948 and named after the Nobel prize-winning originator of quantum theory, the Max Planck Society and its institutes have produced seventeen Nobel Prize winners to date and between them contribute over 15,000 papers a year to scientific journals. Following Planck’s dictum, ”Insight must precede application”, the institutes are dedicated to basic research. Researchers define their own research topics, have access to the highest level of facilities, support and equipment and select their own staff.

Procedural law matters

“Procedural law matters,” says Institute Director Professor Burkhard Hess, who specialises in European and comparative procedural law and dispute settlement. Professor Hess is an advisor to the European Commission, European Parliament, Council of Europe and various national governments. His recent work has focused on the European Insolvency Regulation and the Brussels I Regulation, which addresses issues surrounding cross-border insolvency proceedings and the freedom of circulation of judgments within the European Union.

Burkhard Hess, Institute Director, Max Planck Institute Luxembourg

Luxembourg is one of the most interesting judicial venues in Europe.

42

Focus 9 I 2014

The Max Planck Institute Luxembourg is one of 83 Max Planck Institutes and research facilities (MPI), of which all bar six are in Germany.

Of the ten institutes that focus on law, the Luxembourg Institute is the only one located outside the home country.

In Germany, core MPI funding comes from the federal government and states, while additional funds are raised from the European Union and private individuals. The Luxembourg institute is financed by the Luxembourg government, which recognises the value of the research work undertaken there and the opportunities that arise from its proximity to the European Court of Justice.

Procedural law refers to the rules according to which a court may hear a criminal, administrative or civil case and determine the outcome. MPI Luxembourg is organised around three key areas of procedural law, with departments for public international law, European and comparative civil procedure law and regulatory procedural law.

The department of European and comparative civil procedure law addresses the whole range of judicial and extrajudicial settlement of civil law disputes. It deals, for example, with the question of how EU law affects national procedural laws, but also looks at cross-border cases that come within the scope of Articles 101 and of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), which concern competition and anti-trust procedures.

The department of regulatory procedural law focuses on capital and financial market regulation, with a special interest in the impact of regulatory insufficiency in the context of the ongoing financial crisis. Special attention is given to investment funds, an area of particular interest to Luxembourg, while other key issues are financial market supervision and the US practice of “regulation through litigation”, an issue which begs the question of whether national authorities are not more appropriate protectors of the public interest than private actors.

Boshua

PUBLIC RESEARCH

Finally, the department of public international law focuses on international dispute settlement systems, taking in the World Trade Organisation, International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement, International Court of Justice and United Nations.

There are strong connections between the public international law and European and comparative procedural law departments, especially in areas such as the networking of national and international courts and the execution of international law by local judges.

Another focus is the investigation of the different mechanisms for dispute settlement and arbitration in national, European and public international law, an obvious field for collaboration between the two departments.

An open research infrastructure

Facilities at the Institute include online access to legal journals and a growing library of law books from the EU and elsewhere. The Institute also runs a guest programme, open to international researchers and practitioners undertaking short- or medium-term projects. Guests are invited to use the library, participate in MPI events and meet and hold discussions with the Institute’s Research Fellows.

The Institute currently has around 60 staff members from fifteen nations and Professor Hess expects this number to grow significantly over time. At present, the Institute's Research Fellows are working on their doctorates, while its Senior Research Fellows have completed their PhDs and are conducting post-doctoral research before beginning their work as academics. “As soon as we announced the Institute was opening, we received several hundred applications,” says Professor Hess.

MPI Luxembourg also offers its fellows practical experience and specialist courses. This year, for example, its Research Fellows taught a course in European civil litigation at the University of Luxembourg’s Faculty of Law, and the Institute ran a Post-Doctoral Summer School in conjunction with the International Association of Procedural Law (IAPL). “Luxembourg is one of the most interesting judicial venues in Europe, offering many opportunities for exchanges between procedural theory and practice,” says Professor Hess.

Max Planck Institute Luxembourg for International, European and Regulatory Procedural Law +352 26 94 88 info@mpi.lu www.mpi.lu

Focus 9 I 2014

43

PUBLIC RESEARCH

A journey into the microcosm

Eric Chenal

Microorganisms, including bacteria, are essential to life on Earth but can cause devastation and death. They flourish everywhere – in water and soil, deep inside the Earth’s crust, in radioactive waste, in acidic hot springs and even in the zero-gravity conditions of orbiting space stations. Dr Paul Wilmes’ Eco-Systems Biology group at the Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine investigates the complex interactions within microbial ecosystems to help improve the environment and bring advances in human healthcare.

Luxembourg in 2010 to conduct a research project, “Systems Biology of Natural Microbial Assemblages”, first at CRP – Gabriel Lippmann and from October 2011 at the University of Luxembourg’s Centre for Systems Biomedicine.

Dr Wilmes’ research at Berkeley included an investigation into microorganisms in the Iron Mountain Mine in California. The mine is one of America’s most notorious toxic waste sites due to the extreme acidity of its discharges and the heavy metals in its runoff, some of which contaminates the Shasta County water supply and the Sacramento River.

Paul Wilmes, Head of the Eco-Systems Biology Research Group, Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine

Dr Wilmes explains: “We live in a microbial world.

Naturally-occurring microbial communities play fundamental roles in the Earth’s biogeochemical cycles as well as in human health and disease.

Until very recently, we did not have the means to study these multi-organism assemblages, but modern molecular methodologies enable us to glimpse the ‘microbial dark matter’ inside and around us.”

ATTRACTed back to Luxembourg Dr Paul Wilmes was awarded a National Research Fund (FNR) ATTRACT fellowship while engaged in postdoctoral research at the University of California, Berkeley. He returned to his native

44

Focus 9 I 2014

The microbial communities inhabiting the Richmond Mine are of scientific interest for two reasons. First, they are adapted to an environment – pH less than 1, 48°C and 100% humidity – which we would define as extreme.

Second, they contribute actively to the pollution problem. The microbes stick together to form a vivid pink biofilm that floats on the surface of highly acidic hot solutions. They obtain energy by using oxygen from the air to oxidize sulphurrich iron ores in the rock, creating sulphuric acid which in turn releases further dangerous metals from the mine’s surfaces and leads to the toxic discharges from the mine system.

Complex interaction analysis

Throughout the 1980s, scientific research tended to concentrate on isolating and analysing single microorganisms. Applied to the real world, however, this approach has serious limitations. As Dr Wilmes explains: “A gram of soil from the wild typically contains something like one million different microbial species – with luck, you might be able to isolate about 1% of them.” Instead, his team uses bio-informatic and modelling approaches devised by Dr Wilmes in tandem with modern analytical methods to investigate the complex interactions within microbial ecosystems.

Boshua

PUBLIC RESEARCH

New biotechnological approaches

The team focused initially on lipid (fat) accumulating organisms (LAOs) in biological wastewater treatment plants. Most wastewater treatments are based on the century-old “activated sludge” process which, among other drawbacks, generates significant amounts of greenhouse gases, caused by the LAOs’ feeding on the lipid-rich wastewater and floating to the top of the water column. The project group is developing a way to harness the floating LAOs and use biofuel synthesis to produce biodiesel, a process which could, if used widely, allow the recovery of a significant fraction of the chemical energy present in wastewater. The LAO microbial communities have also proven an ideal model for the development of new analytical approaches and the group is now applying these to more complex microbial communities, including those of human health interest.

Most recently, Dr Wilmes has been studying microorganisms in the human body, particularly the gastrointestinal tract, hypothesising that some diseases may be caused by imbalances in the overall ecology of the body and its microbiome, the ecological community of microorganisms with which humans coexist.

The Eco-Systems Group is currently undertaking a study of families with incidence of Type 1 diabetes to determine whether they have specific gastrointestinal microbiota potentially associated with autoimmunity. A second study will explore the specific differences between the microbiota of healthy individuals and those with colorectal cancer; in particular, whether blood with traces of the bacteria associated with diseases could be a better diagnostic/ prognostic medium than stool. The group has also recently developed an in vitro system which simulates the gut and is using this to test hypotheses which emerge from the clinical studies.

“Further studies of these interactions and the ecological system as a whole will significantly contribute towards the establishment of new biotechnologies and medical approaches,” says

LCSB head Professor Dr Rudi Balling. “The EcoSystems Biology Group, under the direction of Dr Wilmes, has already been granted three patents, while another five are pending. The new process they have proposed for wastewater treatment has real commercial potential, as does a medical device they have developed to study the human microbiota.”

The new process proposed for wastewater treatment has real commercial potential.

ATTRACT programme The National Research Fund’s ATTRACT programme offers researchers the opportunity to undertake a joint research project in Luxembourg with one of the country’s public research institutions. Open to researchers who obtained their doctorates between two and eight years previously, nine ATTRACT fellowships have been awarded since the programme began in 2007. Funding for the period 2011-2013 totalled €9,100,000.

Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine University of Luxembourg +352 46 66 44 61 88 paul.wilmes@uni.lu www.lcsb.lu

Focus 9 I 2014

45

DID YOU KNOW IT’S FROM LUXEMBOURG?

ArcelorMittal sheet piling structures protect Venice from flooding The 150,000 tonnes of sheet piles used in the MOSE project to protect Venice against floods were supplied by Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal, the world’s leader in steel foundation products. The sheets, which were partially manufactured at the company’s Belval and Differdange plants, were used in the construction of 78 mobile flood barriers and three navigation locks situated at the mouths of the three inlets to the lagoon. Steel sheet piles have the advantage over concrete in that they are flexible and supplied ready-made, speeding up construction and reducing costs.

Joao Martins, Head of Engineering and Promotion at ArcelorMittal Sheet Piling, says: “Only a handful of companies worldwide are able to roll out this product. That said, the end-to-end service we offer – design support, custom-made solutions, product optimisation and just-intime delivery – is unmatched.”

46

Focus 9 I 2014

©ArcelorMittal

DID YOU KNOW IT’S FROM LUXEMBOURG?

ArcelorMittal Sheet Piling +352 53 13 31 05 sheetpiling@arcelormittal.com sheetpiling.arcelormittal.com

Focus 9 I 2014

47

FIVE QUESTIONS FOR ...

Five questions for...

Professor Dr Rolf Tarrach, President, University of Luxembourg

Professor Dr Rolf Tarrach, President of the University of Luxembourg since 2005, is to leave his post at the end of 2014.

As Professor of Theoretical Physics, a title he also held at the universities of Valencia and Barcelona, he has published over 100 papers, written two books and successfully supervised 12 PhD theses. Dr Tarrach spoke to FOCUS about his time as President and how he thinks the University will develop in the future.

You joined the university in its very early years. What were your principal challenges at the outset?

From the start, we were committed to ensuring that everything we put in place was of a high enough standard to enable us to pursue our ambitious long-term aims. For example, we appointed only very well-qualified senior professors. Another challenge was to convince society at large that a strictly utilitarian university would not serve it well in the future.

What do you consider the university’s greatest achievements during your years as President?

Several things – many very good and a few outstanding professors and researchers, well over 500 doctoral candidates, the 20% of our research budget that comes from competitive external funding sources, the eight chairs financed by companies and city councils, our growing number of scientific citations every year, our very international character, the fact that the three most widely spoken European languages are used throughout the institution, our many thousands of alumni and the fact that Luxembourg now has a comprehensive research university with some 50 teaching programmes.

What does the university need to do to improve its reputation abroad?

We could do various things – for example, offer international staff and students an even more personal welcome – but the most important factors are what our peers say about the university and its research programmes, and what our students and alumni say about our teaching.

Which research fields do you think have most international potential for the university?

The future is always uncertain, but I believe we can reach world ranking in computer, information and communication sciences and European law within a reasonable timeframe if we put the right – and frankly, not too difficult – measures in place. Multilingual education could develop very impressively if we overcome a few hurdles. Research in age-related neurodegenerative conditions could also be a real success, provided we can obtain the necessary level of continuous external support.

There are also several other disciplines that are beginning to make their mark internationally.

All in all, I think we can all be very proud of what has been achieved in such a short time.

How does the University of Luxembourg rank today compared with universities abroad?

We are only 10 years old and the reputation of any university grows slowly. For example, none of our PhD graduates have had time to become professors. We are becoming more widely known, but are still often seen as a curiosity and this makes a true comparison difficult. We are thinking carefully about which rankings to participate in and will make a decision on that very soon.

48

Focus 9 I 2014

University of Luxembourg +352 46 66 44 60 00 communication@uni.lu www.uni.lu

Eric Chenal

FIVE QUESTIONS FOR ...

Focus 9 I 2014

49

CONTACTS

Contacts National Agency for Innovation and Research Luxinnovation GIE +352 43 62 63 1 info@luxinnovation.lu I www.luxinnovation.lu

Sector contact points Luxembourg Automotive Components +352 43 62 63 653 joost.ortjens@luxinnovation.lu I www.automotivecomponents.lu Luxembourg BioHealth Cluster +352 43 62 63 875 thomas.dentzer@luxinnovation.lu I www.biohealthcluster.lu Luxembourg EcoInnovation Cluster +352 43 62 63 651 marcel.klesen@luxinnovation.lu I www.ecoinnovationcluster.lu Luxembourg ICT Cluster +352 43 62 63 660 jean-paul.hengen@luxinnovation.lu I www.ictcluster.lu Luxembourg Materials Cluster +352 43 62 63 654 johnny.brebels@luxinnovation.lu I www.materialscluster.lu Luxembourg Space Cluster +352 43 62 63 855 patricia.conti@luxinnovation.lu I www.spacecluster.lu

National research funding National Research Fund +352 26 19 25 1 info@fnr.lu I www.fnr.lu

Trade promotion agency Luxembourg for Business GIE +352 24 78 41 16 contact@luxembourgforbusiness.lu I www.luxembourgforbusiness.lu

National university University of Luxembourg +352 46 66 44 60 00 seve.infos@uni.lu I communication@uni.lu I www.uni.lu

Contacts to all RDI actors in Luxembourg Luxembourg portal for innovation and research www.innovation.public.lu

50

Focus 9 I 2014

Research in Luxembourg.

For you. For your life.

Research gives us quality of life. That’s why the National Research Fund (FNR) supports the promotion of science in society. And that’s why the FNR funds national and international research projects. For you. For your life.

See what’s behind on www.fnr.lu

INVESTIGATING FUTURE CHALLENGES

Small size, outstanding effects.

Fall in love. In the heart of Europe the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg gleams with its multitude of facets.

Innovation-driven companies, state-of-the-art technologies and cutting-edge R&D make Luxembourg a diamond of timeless beauty. An irresistible, trustworthy and flawless partner for your international business.

Luxembourg. Small country, safe values. www.luxembourgforbusiness.lu