New DFG research group with Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jörg Franke as spokesperson approved

From the automotive and aerospace industries to telecommunications and information technology, many successful sectors in Germany are facing the challenge that conventional assembly and connection technology for high-frequency assemblies will reach its technological limits in the near future. The search is therefore on for a design and manufacturing methodology that encompasses three-dimensional substrates, outstanding surface quality, a greater choice of materials and economical manufacturing processes.

The DFG research group “3D-HF-MID” with ESI member Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jörg Franke from the FAPS chair as spokesperson focuses precisely on these previously unsolved challenges. The use of electronic assemblies – so-called Mechatronic Integrated Devices (MID) – opens up completely new possibilities for the spatial design of high-frequency products. An interdisciplinary team from FAU (Chairs of Manufacturing Automation and Production Systems – FAPS, High Frequency Technology – LHFT and Institute Materials for Electronics and Energy Technology – i-MEET) and the Helmholtz Institute Erlangen-Nuremberg will research the entire process chain, including material synthesis, geometric design and manufacturing processes, both simulatively and physically. This will lay the foundations for a newly conceived design methodology and manufacturing process technology for spatial high-frequency systems.

The research group is expected to receive around 3.2 million euros in funding for four years.