Patrick Cramer speaks with Bram Wijlands, Managing Director of Max Planck Innovation, about researchers launching start-ups - and their exciting ventures.
Ingenious twists and turns: The plasma chamber of Wendelstein 7-X (a German thermonuclear fusion experiment) is constructed like a twisted pretzel. The wall is lined with particularly robust graphite tiles.
© Jan Hosan/MPI für Plasmaphysik
To the point:
- Energy Source: Proxima Fusion is developing fusion power plants to create a clean and reliable source of energy. The start-up plans to build the first fusion power plant in Germany within the 2030s.
- Future Technologies: Start-ups like Proxima Fusion are helping to tackle global challenges such as climate change and energy shortages. The Max Planck Society supports the commercialisation of research findings to advance these technologies.
- Technology Readiness Level (TRL): The TRL measures the development status of technologies up to practical application. The Max Planck Society aims to carry out this validation internally to reduce risks for investors.
An infinite, clean and reliable source of energy for humanity: in the global race for cost-effective and CO₂-neutral power generation, the Max Planck start-up Proxima Fusion is leading the way. A spin-off from the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP), the company is developing fusion power plants based on the stellarator concept -inspired by the sun, which generates energy through fusion. The start-up aims to build Germany's first fusion power plant in the 2030s.
The guest in this episode of the video series In Conversation with Patrick 'Cramer is Bram Wijlands, one of the two Managing Directors of Max Planck Innovation GmbH. He offers insights into the dynamic start-up scene within the Max Planck Society. For Max Planck President Patrick Cramer, start-ups such as Proxima Fusion are helping shape the future - and not only in renewable energy. "Policymakers are responding to the major challenges of our time with a technology offensive. The Max Planck Society is already making a decisive contribution with its activities and intends to strengthen this' further, " says Cramer. Wijlands agrees: "Excellent research results are the foundation for successful deep tech spin-offs."
Whether fusion energy, nanorobotics, quantum computing or green hydrogen - future technologies are key to addressing global challenges such as climate change and energy shortages. And many of these innovations originate in basic research. The Max Planck Society explicitly encourages its researchers to validate and commercialise the potential applications of their scientific findings more strongly. "In light of the pressing issues of our time, science is called upon more than ever to contribute. The new knowledge we generate will also contribute to economic development," says Patrick Cramer.
Excellence in basic research and technology transfer
The leadership team at Max Planck Innovation GmbH (MI), the MPG's technology transfer subsidiary, is working to translate the innovation potential of Max Planck Institutes even more effectively into economically and socially relevant applications. One of their key goals is to launch a new internal validation programme this year. The aim: to assess the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of potentially exploitable research results 'and develop them further.
The TRL is a scale that evaluates the maturity of a technology, originally developed by NASA to manage technological risk in its programmes. It also serves to determine how far an innovation has progressed and what steps are still needed to bring it to market. Until now, such validation has often been left to the open market - a factor that can discourage investors due to the high financial risks. "If we take on the first of the nine Technology Readiness Levels in-house, this sends a strong signal that the Max Planck Society is proactively committed to innovation and risk 'mitigation, " says Bram Wijlands.
