Transfer Highlights and Spin-Offs
Technology Transfer ─ Innovations with impact!
The aim of the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf is to conduct world-class research in the fields of energy, matter, and health. In order to address topical issues of the modern industrialised society, we work together in strategic cooperations with partners from research and industry.
Spin-offs from research are among the most challenging forms of technology transfer. Here, scientific findings are transformed into marketable products, services, and business models. The journey from an idea to a successful company requires not only excellent research, but also entrepreneurial thinking, the protection of intellectual property, access to financing, and the development of high-performing teams and networks.
HZDR Startup Pitch-Day at Innovation Campus Radeberg: Research meets Investors
A Successful Debut: At the HZDR’s first Startup Pitch Day, seven promising spin-off teams presented their ideas to an audience of investors, business angels, and mentors at the Innovation Campus in Radeberg. Despite midsummer temperatures exceeding 30 degrees, one thing prevailed in the hall above all else: a spirit of optimism.
More than 20 representatives from the investment community took the opportunity to get to know the startup teams and gain insight into the innovative technologies and business ideas that are set to make the leap from research to the market.
In addition to the pitch presentations, Nikolaus Vollmer from High-Tech Gründerfonds provided insights into the financing of DeepTech startups in a keynote address. During the speed-dating session that followed, the teams were able to receive valuable feedback in one-on-one conversations, network, and meet potential collaboration and funding partners.
The startup teams were prepared for their presentations by the HZDR Innovators School and the startup support service dresden|exists, which provided them with intensive support both leading up to and during Pitch Day.
Click here to view the photo gallery!
Curious to know who’s currently taking the bold step of turning research into a business? We’ll introduce the technologies and the team.
Current projects on the path to spin-off
Siderogain: Metal recovery from industrial waste water
The Siderogain team at the Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology (HIF) offers a patented process for recycling metals using biosorption. Biomolecules, known as siderophores, bind to critical metals such as gallium, indium, and germanium, enabling nearly 100 percent of these metals to be recovered from wastewater - for example, from wafer production.
Team:
- Dr. Rohan Jain
- Dr. Jonathan Engelhardt
- Dr. Peter Boelens
- Aratrika Ghosh
- Contact: siderogain@hzdri.de
WEEEficient: Electronic waste recycling
The HIF’s second spin-off project focuses on recovering technology metals from electronic waste and aims to develop innovative technologies for this purpose. More than 5 million metric tons of electronic waste are generated annually in the EU, yet the recycling rates for many so-called high-tech metals remain low. The team led by HIF doctoral candidate Ali Hassan aims to change this and significantly increase the amount of critical raw materials returned to the cycle using environmentally friendly, efficient technologies.
Team:
- Ali Hassan
- Emma Pustlauk
- Zahra Nourizenouz
- Himanshu Kachroo
- Lakshmi Kanth Viswamsetty
- Dominic Illing
- Contact: a.hassan@hzdr.de
OreBridge Therapeutics – Platform for the translation of radiopharmaceutical innovations
OreBridge Therapeutics is a joint venture between ROTOP Pharmaka GmbH and the HZDR Institute for Radiopharmaceutical Cancer Research. The goal of the joint venture is to systematically translate promising radiopharmaceutical innovations from research into clinically relevant and licensable development programs. By combining the scientific excellence of the HZDR with ROTOP’s long-standing expertise in development, GMP, and translation, a unique platform is created for the early development of radiopharmaceutical compounds—from compound identification through preclinical development to the preparation of first-in-human clinical trials. OreBridge Therapeutics aims to build a sustainable pipeline of innovative radiopharmaceutical assets, thereby accelerating the transfer of scientific findings into clinical application and the international healthcare industry in the long term.
Management-Team:
- Dr. Thu Hang Lai
- Jens Junker
- Francisco Arroyo-Ecobar
Volumetric Engineering: New method for interactive 3D Microscopy
To conduct particularly informative experiments with complex living samples, Dr. Ulrik Günther’s team at HZDR has developed software that allows fluorescence microscopy images to be imported into augmented or virtual reality (AR/VR) and allow human actions to be fed directly back into the microscopy system from there. Using an Apple Vision Pro AR headset and the software running on the microscope’s control PC, this creates an interface that vastly expands the possibilities of microscopy.
Team:
- Dr. Ulrik Günther
- Jan Tiemann
- Krishnan Chandran
- Contact: https://volumetric.engineering
- in cooperation with TU Dresden and the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics (MPI-CBG)
MAGNOLHIA: Magnetic cooling enables decentralized hydrogen liquefaction
Hydrogen can be transported much more efficiently in liquid form than in gaseous form—a single tanker truck can replace up to six compressed-gas vehicles. The problem: Liquefaction requires cooling to -253°C. With large-scale plants, this can be achieved efficiently through high-pressure compression. However, this technology does not scale well, meaning that decentralized systems for volumes of up to 1,000 kg per day are not economically viable. The MAGNOLHIA project is developing a solution: a liquefaction technology based on magnetocaloric cooling that does not require high-pressure compression and scales better in the low-capacity range than conventional methods. The goal is a small-scale liquefier as a containerized solution for decentralized hydrogen producers, with a target energy consumption for liquefaction of 8 to 10 kilowatt-hours per kilogram—comparable to the efficiency of large-scale plants. This will make the advantages of liquid hydrogen accessible to decentralized hydrogen producers as well.
Team:
- Dr. Tino Gottschall
- Thomas Platte
- Dr. André Bucht
- Tina Grüning
- Contact: a.bucht@hzdr.de
DBanD: Cost-effective dual-band optical sensor
Der DBanD-Sensor ist ein Dualband-Optikelement, das eine nahtlose Erkennung vom sichtbaren (VIS) bis zum kurzwelligen Infrarotspektrum (SWIR) ermöglicht – alles in einem einzigen, kostengünstigen CMOS-kompatiblen Bauteil. Dieser Sensor wurde am Institut für Ionenstrahlphysik und Materialforschung speziell für eine Vielzahl von Anwendungen entwickelt und bietet dank seiner niedrigen Produktionskosten eine kompakte und leistungsstarke Sensorlösung. Er wurde für den Betrieb bei Raumtemperatur entwickelt, ist RoHS-konform und lässt sich einfach in bestehende Systeme integrieren.
Team:
- Dr. Yonder Berencen
- Dr. Viktor Begeza
- Dr. Shengqiang Zhou
- Dr. Vladimir Voroshnin
- Dr. Yi Li
- Contact: dband@hzdri.de
FlexiSens: Flexible temperature sensors
Precise temperature monitoring is essential in many fields—from energy storage systems and photovoltaic installations to industrial processes and smart devices. At the Helmholtz Innovation Lab FlexiSens at HZDR, innovative printed temperature sensors have been developed that can be manufactured on various substrates—such as polymer films, glass, or textiles—and easily integrated into existing systems or printed electronics. The sensor technology, which is based on the thermoelectric effect, also enables reliable temperature measurement even under mechanical deformation, thereby opening up a wide range of potential applications.
Team:
- Dr. Tetiana Voitsekhivska
- Dr. Yevhen Zabila
- Conrad Schubert
- Contact: t.voitsekhivska@hzdri.de
Cooperation with Industry
- Joint Research Lab with Amplitude Laser
- Joint Lab with Magnotherm: Collaboration for the development of a hydrogen liquefaction plant
- Clewatec and AirLiquide: Optimum use of oxygen for clean water
- HZDR and SICK: Strategic partnership for process measurement technology and personnel issues
On the road to success with the right wavelength: Dr. Richard Gloaguen awarded with Saxon Transfer Prize 2023
Bringing promising research results into application is what distinguishes successful transfer. Dr Richard Gloaguen, a scientist at the Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology (HIF), an institution of the Helmholtz Centre Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), and his team have succeeded in doing just that. The researchers developed novel, digital mapping methods for sustainable resource exploration and extraction. With their spin-off company TheiaX, they have been offering the technologies on the market for almost two years with steadily increasing demand. The start-up is now the leading innovation driver in the field of spectral exploration. The French researcher was awarded second place in the Saxon Transfer Prize for the successful transfer process. As an outstanding technology mediator, TheiaX managing director Christian Christesen received a special transfer prize.
Spin-Offs
Our Spin-Offs
Succesful Transfer
Better Cancer Diagnostics with ROVER
Positron emission tomography (PET) makes metabolic processes visible. Researchers at the HZDR developed the powerful computer program ROVER to enable easy and fast processing of PET data. The program is mainly used for quantitative evaluation of PET images, but it also allows the combining of PET images with data from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT). The program is constantly being updated to adjust it to ongoing developments. The program, which is distributed by ABX Advanced Biochemical Compounds, is used in hospitals and clinical research worldwide.
DYN3D - Software for More Safety
Already in the 1980s, the researchers in Rossendorf developed the software DYN3D, which enables three-dimensional simulation of malfunctions in nuclear reactors. Together with partners from all over the Europe, the HZDR researchers have continued to work on the further development of the code ever since, adjusting it to suit the latest developments in research and technology. Given that Germany's neighbouring countries are planning to construct new nuclear power plants, the topic of reactor safety will continue to be relevant - although the use of nuclear energy is to be phased out in Germany.
Knowledge Transfer
THEREDA - Database for Nuclear Repository Research
Not only information from the academic literature, but also findings from the research conducted at the HZDR and partner institutitions are collected into the database. Anyone, whether they are a member of a federal authority, scientific organisation, engineering office, environmental association or simply a private individual, can access THEREDA free of charge, upon completion of a simple registration process.
