Innovation in the most diverse sectors is dependent on technical solutions in the micro field. Medical technology and automotive engineering, logistics and the electrical industry rely on small, light components which achieve high performance in the smallest spaces. Bio- and nanotechnologies, too, can only be utilised if they can be integrated into products via microsystems. Nanostructures need interfaces in order to be detectable. The global turnover for products incorporating micro – systems technology is more than 277 billion euros.With patents like the cochlea implant, Germany is one of the driving forces in innovation worldwide. Cochlea can take over the function of the inner ear so that deafness is no longer an irreversible fate. And hope exists for blind people, too: a retina implant should make it possible to regain sight. But medical technology applications are not the only focus of German microsystems research.
Soon, for example, systems should be marketable which protect pedestrians in car crashes, micro fuel cells which provide longer-term energy for portable equipment, and radio-frequency identification which speeds up logistical processes. These and other applications account for 680,000 jobs in Germany, 50,000 of them in production itself. To improve German companies’ chances of making their microsystems utilisable for products and processes the Federal Government is funding science and industry projects. Up to 2009, a total of 260 million euros will be available for small and medium-sized enterprises to work together with research directly. Furthermore, microtech firms are being given the opportunity to use so-called application centres in order to turn promising ideas into products. Staff and some of the equipment at these centres are being financed by public funding. How directly the development of microsystems influences life and society is demonstrated by the example of household equipment. If we are able to control it via verbal commands, older people will be able to maintain control over their everyday lives much longer. Germany is a leading participant in an EU initia – tive to promote this development.
