Do you enjoy creating content? Are you fluent in digital media and interested in research, development and innovation projects?

If so, you would fit perfectly into our new open role in AMIRES. We are looking for a Junior Marketing Specialist to help us create and run innovation projects promotion campaigns and their content including social media and email marketing.

Read the whole job announcement HERE and submit your application till 12^th of August 2022.

Watch the new video about the FlexFunction2Sustain project to learn more about the Open Innovation Test Bed (OITB) for sustainable and smart products powered by nano-functionalized paper and plastic. The project aims to support small, medium-sized and large companies in the development and market launch of pioneering products through an ecosystem which:

• provides users an easy access to holistic innovation services through a  Single Entry Point;
• covers the whole range of services in the field of nano-functionalised materials;
• offers complementary technical facilities as well as business solutions.

Enjoy watching!

Nowadays, nanobiomaterials are extremely beneficial in many applications in health and medicine. Whilst nanobiomaterials offer various exciting new opportunities, their translation to the wider application in clinics is still slow. In this context, the #review published in Drug Delivery and Translational Research Journal by Melissa Anne Tutty, Dania Movia, Adriele Prina-Mello from Trinity Dublin College, Ireland presents the state of the art in the pre-clinical assessment of nanobiomaterials. In addition, this article describes the limitations of the current in vitro and in vivo liver models, and how tissue-mimetic 3D cell culture models can overcome such limitations, assisting in the translation of nanobiomaterials to the clinic.

Our project ORGANTRANS was mentioned in this article, as a bright example of the complex liver model creation enabled by innovative technologies, e.g. biofabrication offered by the #bioengineering company REGENHU. ORGANTRANS project consortium, coordinated by the Swiss Center for Electronics and Microtechnology (CSEM) and formed by eight partners, two of which are transplantation centers, generates a 3D bioprinting liver tissue platform to potentially replace liver transplantation for patients with end-stage liver failure. ORGANTRANS will cover the complete cycle of development from cell sourcing and tissue bioengineering to clinical trials. Moreover, it is ORGANTRANS’s ambition that this novel technique can not only be applied to hepatic systems but also to other organ systems in regenerative medicine. Find out more about the review and ORGANTRANS project HERE.

After two and half years of the start of MedPhab, pilot line for photonics-based medical devices, the consortium was able to meet in person again in Oulu, Finland hosted by VTT on 15 and 16 of June 2022. Last time this happened was in January 2020 in Brussels during the kick off meeting, when plans of the pilot line were presented.  From that moment until this meeting many things have happened in the progress of MedPhab: technology map was defined, model cases (in vitro and in vivo diagnostics) finalized and published, use cases (in vitro, in vivo diagnostics: hospital use and home use) defined their specifications and are going into prototyping and integration. In addition, we had the launch of the open calls, receiving so far 20 companies in-take forms and the preparation of the first drafts of business and sustainability models of MedPhab. During this meeting (Month 30) the advancements on each of these topics were presented and deeply discussed.

One and half years are awaiting ahead of us, contributing to MedPhab’s main objective: accelerate the photonic devices development and industrialization for medical applications. Do not miss any updates and consult HERE.

We would like to introduce our new colleague Anna who joined our team May 2022.

Anna responded to our opened position for a Ukrainians and we found her experiences as a great fit for a Junior Marketing Specialist position. We are honestly happy that we can be a support to her in these times. Moreover, we are thrilled to share that AMIRES together sent 2 100 € to the account of the Ukraine Ministry of Social Policy.

More about Anna, originally from Ukraine, she graduated from The Hague University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands with a Bachelor’s degree in Public Administration.

Through her various academic and practical experiences, she obtained thorough knowledge in the fields of policymaking, memory politics and conflict resolution. Anna acquired a profound understanding of EU affairs and policies through her traineeship at EuroClio, where she worked on fundraising and outreach for several EU-funded projects. In her role as a Social Media Coordinator and Research Associate at the Institute for Historical Justice and Reconciliation, she supervised researchers and managed the online presence of the Contested Histories project.

In AMIRES, Anna is involved in H2020 projects Switch2Save and is supporting other projects in Energy & Sustainability programme.

Welcome to the team Anna!

The European Commission has opened on the 16^th June a registrations for this year’s European Sustainable Energy Week (EUSEW) 2022. Under the theme “Going green and digital for Europe’s energy transition”, the event will take place from 26^th to 30^th September.

This year’s EUSEW will be organised in a hybrid format, both online and physical. Participants are invited to register and can chose to join the event on-site at the in Brussels or online to engage in discussions on different issues linked to the overall theme.

EUSEW 2022 highlights include:

• The EUSEW Policy Conference, from 26^th to 29^th September. Main topics include REPowerEU, the digitalisation and integration of energy systems, energy efficiency, renewables, consumers and a fair energy transition, decarbonisation policies and international cooperation. Sessions are organised by the European Commission and energy stakeholders and include high-level speakers to discuss, debate and share best practices.
• The prestigious Awards Ceremony for the European Sustainable Energy Awards, taking place on 26^th September, in the presence of Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson, recognising individuals and projects for outstanding efforts across four categories: innovation, local energy action, woman in energy and young energy trailblazer.  
• The third edition of the European Youth Energy Day , taking place on 26 September within the activities of the 2022 European Year of Youth.  
• A series of networking activities during the whole week where participants can connect with other members of the sustainable energy community, including a hybrid energy fair that gives organisations and associations the opportunity to showcase their initiatives and interact with participants and a series of energy talks.
• The EUSEW extended programme, from 19 to 23 September, featuring 40 sessions leading up to the EUSEW Policy Conference.
• From June to September, locally organised Sustainable Energy Days taking place around the world to promote renewable energy and energy efficiency.

More information is available HERE.

On 4 May 2022, a kick-off meeting took place for the eCAP project: recipient of a €4.7 million grant from the European Union’s Research and Innovation Programme Horizon Europe. The aim of the project is to deliver a novel medical device combining a smart capsule with an e-health platform to enable better diagnostics, patient empowered disease management and hence, improved outcomes for patients with gastrointestinal (GI) diseases, a major source of population morbidity and care costs worldwide.

The consortium, composed of 10 partners from research organisations and industry across Europe and Kenya, will demonstrate the universality of the eCAP solution in clinical trials in France as well as low resource environments by bringing the device to patients who so far have had limited access to GI disease diagnostics.

AMIRES is proud to support the project management and dissemination activities in the project.

Read more on our plans in the press release here.

 

 

 

Do you like challenges and adventures? Do you want to climb with us not only to the mountain peaks?

Go beyond the Horizon with our team and join us!

To reinforce our team, AMIRES (Czech Republic) is opening positions for Project Manager of European R&D&I projects in Energy & Sustainability domain. The chosen candidates will be responsible for the overall administration and management support of H2020 / HE projects and will also actively contribute to the preparation of other project proposals.

Find out more HERE.

We are already looking forward to welcome you on board!

On the 30th and 31st of May, the ORGANTRANS consortium met for the M30 meeting hosted by one of our partners, DWI Leibniz-Institute for Interactive Materials located in Aachen, Germany. The goal of this meeting was to share the latest progress and to discuss further steps needed for the final phase of the project. In principle, the entire development cycle from cell source and tissue engineering to a fully functional liver tissue 3D printing platform is almost finished. Nevertheless, the remained final phase of the project will include the synchronization and integration of work stages of all the systems and further testing in a relevant environment. The platform to create liver constructs developed within the ORGANTRANS project is a future alternative for organ transplantation medicine as it proposes a disruptive alternative to donor organs for patients with chronic end-stage liver diseases. Importantly, this research creates novel technologies that can be applied to other organ systems in the field of regenerative medicine.
To learn more about the project, click HERE.

On 23-24 May 2022, the INSPIRE consortium met in-person for the first time at TU/e to celebrate the 17 months of successful project implementation and to review the progress achieved so far. INSPIRE project responds to the ever-increasing need of high-performance PICs by combining the three dominant photonic platforms, Indium phosphide, Silicon nitride and Silicon (CMOS), with the aim of creating and leveraging volume manufacturing techniques. The industrial viability will be validated through process transfer into a pilot line foundry process and multi-coupon transfer printing to enhance the throughput and yield of the transfer printing process. To gain insights regarding the route to volume production, the consortium invited a member of our Industrial Advisory Board, Hitesh Ballani Microsoft Research Cambridge who shared his views on the topic. As a part of the meeting, partners had the opportunity to visit TU/e´s lab and cleanroom facilities.

We are looking forward to continuing the work on the project for 2 more years!

Discover INSPIRE project HERE. 

The European Commission has announced additional €11.7 million to strengthen the European Innovation Ecosystems.

The European Commission has adopted the amended European Innovation Ecosystems (EIE) 2021-2022 Work Programme under Horizon Europe. It provides new funding opportunities for deep-tech start-ups led by women and the EU angel investment industry on top of existing actions that aim to create more connected and efficient innovation ecosystems.

The amended work programme clarifies the COFUND rate in the context of the forthcoming EIE calls due to open for submission on 14 June:

HORIZON-EIE-2022-CONNECT-02-01: Implementing co-funded action plans for interconnection of innovation ecosystems (budget: €8 million)

HORIZON-EIE-2022-CONNECT-02-02: Stimulating innovation procurement (budget: €4.5 million)

Standard changes to the HORIZON-EIE-2022-SCALEUP-02-01 Expanding Investments Ecosystems call conditions for lump sum topics were applied. 

The call has a total budget of €5 million and will open for submission on 21 June 2022.

More information is available here. The work programme document is available here.

On 19^th – 20^th of May, CONDOR team met to sum up the achievements for the first 18 months and to plan future actions in the project. Hosted by AMIRES in Prague, Czech Republic, the consortium had the chance to reunite after the COVID-19 outbreak, which represented the first in-person meeting for the team.

The CONDOR partners seized the opportunity to show their progress from a scientific perspective with regard to the project’s ultimate goal to develop an innovative renewable energy system for fuel productions. Each work package leader gave a presentation to share insight into the work performed for the development of CONDOR device. The partners reviewed the progress in the synthesis and modelling of molecular catalysts and the preparation of photoanodes for water, chloride or biomass oxidation, and (photo)cathodes for syngas production. The discussions also covered the ongoing parallel activities aimed at syngas conversion to fuels by thermal or photoactivated processes.
Summing up the first 18 months of the project, it is worth saying that the achieved results are aligned with the planned objectives. Overall, the project is well on track and the first 11 deliverables were submitted as well as the planned milestones were reached on time.
Coordinated by the University of Bologna, the CONDOR project connects well reputed technology development teams and key industrial partners. In the project, AMIRES is responsible for the project management and leads the work package dedicated to the communication and dissemination of results and exploitation activities.

More information for CONDOR project can be found HERE.

Glass is considered one of the integral components of modern architectural design. Think about today’s office buildings, airport terminals, train stations and shopping centers – their designs often incorporate glass façades or roofs. Glass is attractive, versatile and provides a visual connection with the outside world, which is why large-area glazing remains a continuing trend.

However, large glass areas can significantly increase the energy demands for cooling and air conditioning in summer. In fact, modern buildings with large glass components consume up to 100% more energy each year than buildings with small windows. With the aim of reducing energy demands in buildings featuring glass façades, roofs or large window-to-wall areas, the EU-funded Switch2save project is holding an Architectural Design Competition to collect energy saving design concepts for such buildings.

The competition focuses on non-residential sites – either new or renovation projects – and sets no design restrictions regarding the site size, location or climate. Participants are invited to submit design concepts which include an optimum exploitation of the Switch2Save electrochromic (EC) and thermochromic (TC) smart glass technologies. These are transparent energy-smart materials with switchable total energy transmission values to control the transfer of solar radiation into the building. EC and TC technologies also have the added advantage of providing greater indoor lighting comfort than conventional mechanical window blinds.

The competition is open to young architects, students, and/or multidisciplinary teams that include building physicists or engineers and are led by young architects or students enrolled in an academic programme from an accredited educational institution. Teams can have up to three members of any nationality.

For more information about the competition terms, important dates and the exciting awards, check the Switch2Save website.

To participate in the competition, register HERE.

The Switch2Save (Lightweight switchable smart solutions for energy saving large windows and glass façades) project aims to help make electrochromic (EC) and thermochromic (TC) smart glass technologies more easily available and affordable so as to contribute to the EU’s goal to become climate-neutral by 2050. The project is demonstrating the potential of its two representative buildings – Greece’s second largest hospital in Athens and an operational office building in Uppsala, Sweden. A total of 50 windows and 200 m2 of glass façades will be replaced with a switchable smart glass solution, following which a “before–after” comparison will be conducted of the energy consumption in both buildings for one year.

The Horizon 2020 project FRIENDSHIP reached the halfway milestone this month and for the occasion the whole consortium met for the first time, in Sweden.

The meeting started with the projection of the film: “Our Planet: Our Business” by David Attenborough, to remind about the vital role companies have in building a sustainable future.

On the agenda, an overview of the progress in the running Work Packages was presented. In addition to that, in the Third General Assembly, the consortium had also the opportunity to discuss management plans and implementations within the project. The second day, instead, was dedicated to technical discussions and to future collaborations among partners.

During the meeting, FRIENDSHIP also received very valuable feedback and suggestions by Mr. Thomas Ammerl, External Advisory Board member from BAYFOR.

The event was hosted by ABSOLICON who provided insight into the concentrated solar collectors they developed.

Future looks bright for FRIENDSHIP!

Two years after the start of the project, FlexFunction2Sustain published an overview highlighting the achievements of the first half of its implementation. AMIRES, together with eighteen consortium members, coordinated by Fraunhofer-FEP , work to attain the ultimate goal to establish a sustainable Open Innovation Test Bed to boost innovations for sustainable plastic and paper products to reach the market faster.

The first half of the project was dedicated to set up both business model and legal structure of the ecosystem. In parallel, the technical facilities of the consortium members have been upgraded for processing of novel bio-based, bio-degradable and/or recyclable plastic and paper based materials that shall replace the state-of-the-art mineral oil based plastic products in e.g. packaging applications. All facilities and technological solutions developed within FlexFunction2Sustain are being verified in six industrial use case scenarios that cover food and non-food packaging, biodegradable security labels, switchable water filter membranes and innovative multi-functional electronic surfaces in automotive applications. At month 24 of the project, the partners successfully demonstrated roll-to-roll processing of bio-degradable micro-structured surfaces for security labels; roll-to-roll manufacturing of conductive PET based membranes for filter applications; demonstrators of fully recyclable drink pouches and operational organic solar cells that were deposited on recycled PET films. In order to accelerate the uptake of the OITB services, FlexFunction2Sustain launched an Open Call targeted to the interested external companies. Following a competitive selection process, up to 20 pre-commercial business cases (pilot cases projects) will be selected to receive discounted services from the OITB members.

Discover more about the main advancements by Month-24 by downloading the overview presentation HERE.

SINTEF and CEA are investigating different innovative solutions for absorption cooling at -20°C and -40°C from 100-250°C solar heat, in particular a GAX (Generator-Absorber heat eXchange) cycle based on commercial components, like Plate Heat Exchangers (PHE). This innovative design improves the heat and mass transfers, thus performance. In addition, manufacturing costs decrease, as the needed components are standardized and available in the market. A numerical study allows identifying the best solutions for the SHIP integration, giving an overview on the operating temperature ranges for each cycle. Thanks to these concepts, which led to the definition of technical sheets, a prototype of a GAX cycle for -20°C cooling will be realized, the choice on the final architecture will be made further on, when the market search will have provided the necessary economic data.

The work on the optimal design of the ejector chiller, targeting cold production down to 5°C (short term) and -10°C (long-term) is also being studied both on the process level and the component level. On the process level, SINTEF is working with the partners to optimize the cycle architecture and the choice of working fluid. On the component level, a detailed ejector model has been developed in a recently submitted publication. This model can for the first time can calculate the local entropy production through the ejector, which allows identifying the optimal ejector geometry as that which minimizes the entropy production.

Today we would like to introduce our team member Yevhen who started working for us in September 2020 as a Project Manager. He has a bachelor’s degree in Applied Physics from the V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University in Ukraine. At the same university he obtained his Master of Science degree with honour from Medical Biophysics in 2014. In 2018 he received his Ph.D. in Cryobiology from the University of South Bohemia in Ceske Budejovice which was a part of the Horizon 2020 research infrastructure project.

During his studies he cooperated with leading specialists from all over the world and took part in several international research projects and development programmes as a coordinator as well as a member of a research team. Apart from that, he was also actively involved in supervising of master’s students, teaching, publication in scientific journals and presentation of research findings at international conferences. He also gained experience in implementation of new standards, legislation, quality assurance codes and audit during elaboration and production phases of medical devices.

In AMIRES, Yevhen is responsible for H2020 project MARVEL (Evolving reversible immunocapture by membrane sensing peptides: towards scalable extracellular vesicles isolation) and acts as a Dissemination Manager of ORGANTRANS project.

About his work Yevhen said: “I was looking for the way how to improve the world – with AMIRES I found it! Contributing to different projects that bring fantastic technologies into reality I feel that I contribute to improving the quality of life in our world, and this is perfectly aligned with my life philosophy”.

In his free time, he likes to invent different things or improve the existing ones. This refers to electronics, computer technologies, tuning of transport such as bikes or cars, and work with design in both virtual and material environments. Apart from this, he’s passionate about mobile photography and video making, which are also quite often applied for project dissemination. It is worth saying that the sports activities are not staying in the last place, cycling and workout are the most enjoyable for him. Traveling, seeing new cities and countries, and hiking in beautiful nature are also on his interest list. 

In September 2021, the FlexFunction2Sustain launched an Open Call for Pilot Case projects. The first round of evaluations resulted in four companies which were successfully selected. The winners will receive subsidized access to the innovation services of the FlexFunction2Sustain Open Innovation Test Bed (OITB) which supports and accelerates the development of novel products and technologies for smart and sustainable plastics and paper solutions. The selected projects will tackle the plastic pollution challenges by developing sustainable and flexible packaging and plastic films for agriculture. The successful applicants are companies from different European countries – France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland.

The FlexFunction2Sustain Open Call is targeted to Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) & start-ups which wants to develop and test novel nano-functionalised plastic and paper membrane and surfaces. The next cut-off dates for application are: 29^th of July 2022, and 27^th of January 2023. Applicants can apply anytime during this period.

In the process, AMIRES is in charge of the preparation and execution of the Open Call and the establishment of a Helpdesk to provide a contact point for the potential applicants and address their enquiries about the application preparation and submission process.

For more information about the FlexFunction2Sustain OITB and the innovation services which will be provided to the Pilot Case projects, visit the project website.

On the 14th April the EIC published a report on realising the deep-tech entrepreneurial talent of Europe. In this report, the expert group recommends that the European Innovation Council (EIC) creates two ambitious deep-tech training programmes – the Trailblazer and the Pioneer – to foster technological solutions and realise human entrepreneurial talent.

The “raison d’être” of the EIC is to realise and accelerate breakthrough innovation for rapid market growth as well as to promote the European Union’s strategic autonomy. The European innovation ecosystem being fragmented, providers of solutions or proto-solutions are sparse and unwilling/ unable to take the necessary risk. The expert group recommends that the EIC takes the responsibility to grow the human talent, the scientific entrepreneurs who can bring the development of breakthrough technologies to the market. To attain these goals, they present how this could be done.

Read the full report HERE.

On the occasion of the first year of ComBioTES implementation, the project team met on 7^th and 8^th  April 2022, in Grenoble (France), hosted by CEA.

At the beginning of the meeting, the coordinator of ComBioTES presented the project’s progress and summarized the first year of work. On the agenda, an overview of the achievements during the last 12 months in the running Work Packages was presented. In addition to that, in the Second General Assembly, the consortium had also the opportunity to discuss some management activities within the project.

The second day, instead, was dedicated to technical discussions and to answer some crucial questions that were still open. One of the partners from China, IEE-CAS, had the chance to present the progress of their work on Bio PCM and ice storage. 

The meetings proved very fruitful on all fronts, and project partners reached a vision of the tasks at hand over the next months.

Visit ComBioTES website to know more about the project.

FRIENDSHIP project is pleased to announce that our newest paper about nanofluids is now published online in the journal of Applied Thermal Engineering.

The paper, written by SINTEF Energy Research and CEA, is based on the research work on the use of nanofluids as heat-transfer fluids in solar collectors.

The article, A review of the use of nanofluids as heat-transfer fluids in parabolic-trough collectors, reviews the application of nanofluids to solar collectors, and parabolic-trough collectors in particular, at temperatures between 100 °C and 300 °C. Recent advances and research on nanofluids are presented, particularly the progress in understanding stability mechanisms, characterization, and preparation methods, as well as their thermophysical properties.

Congratulations to the authors!

In-person dialog and exchange are crucial and for flexible, organic and printed electronics, the LOPEC exhibition and conference is the place to be. LOPEC was able to celebrate a successful return as an on-site event after a two-year break!

A total of 156 exhibitors from 23 countries showed innovations and trends in printed electronics. The focus topics included mobility and smart living.

The Conference was also a great success with around 200 presentations. This makes LOPEC once again the world’s leading communication platform for technology, solutions, knowledge, and research in the printed electronics industry.

AMIRES was lucky to attend the whole week of events – starting by the OE-A meeting on Monday 21^st March and continuing with the conference and exhibition from the 22^nd till the 24^th March – to meet project partners, long-term clients and to establish new connections. Several AMIRES projects were presented in booths, posters and by project partners and it was definitely a unique opportunity to strengthen our collaborations.

OE-A meeting

The OE-A, as the LOPEC organiser, initiated the week by organising a Members’ Meeting, which consisted of presentations and workshops within this year’s theme Mobility & Smart Living. Topics that were discussed were for example on marketing and recyclability of organic and printed electronics. After 3 years, new and existing members of the association could finally meet in person and benefit of this networking opportunity.

Project SmartEEs

The SmartEEs project aims to establish a sustainable EU-wide network in the field of Flexible & Wearable Electronics. The objective of SmartEEs is to help European industries accelerate their digital transition, offering them easy access to Flexible & Wearable Electronics technologies, products, and services throughout Europe.

The SmartEEs project promoted its results and demonstrated on various booths and organised a dedicated workshop focusing in detail on application experiments, training activities, and the presentation of the SmartEEs Marketplace.

LOPEC was also the perfect opportunity to introduce the European Flexible and Wearable Electronics Association (FWEA), which will serve as the continuation of the project, offering RDI & business development opportunities as well as access to finance, education & training, and guidance on electronics for a sustainable economy.

Project Smart2Go

The EU funded Smart2Go project was present at the LOPEC exhibition with the ATOMIC ski demonstrator with an integrated a piezoelectric component. The project coordinator, Matthias Fahland (Fraunhofer FEP) also participated as speaker at the LOPEC Conference, showcasing the project’s results.

Project TINKER

The TINKER project, which targets developing miniaturised RADAR and LiDAR sensors using novel manufacturing techniques, was also lucky enough to be presented to exhibitors from all over the world, research and technology organizations and everyone involved within this rapidly evolving industry. Given this year’s theme of Mobility, the focus on sensor packages for autonomous cars was particularly fitting. The project coordinator Dr. Leo Schranzhofer from PROFACTOR GmbH presented at the Technical poster session on 23^rd March, while the partner Notion Systems GmbH exhibited their products and technologies, along with their work in TINKER.

Project NanoQI

NanoQI project on the other hand, focuses on characterisation technologies, and several project partners also participated in this event, ensuring that their work, technologies and innovations, as well as the project itself could be presented to leading players in the field.

The SmartEEs Association officially launches, opening its doors to companies, including Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), and research institutions to support the production and adoption of Flexible and Wearable Electronics (FWE) technology.

For a first glance at our technology offer, please visit the SmartEEs Association website, where you can also contact our front office . You can also have a look at the extensive SmartEEs2 marketplace, which is fully integrated into the Association’s offerings. Further, to stay up-to-date on all our activities and news from the FWE ecosystem, be sure to follow the new Association on LinkedIn @smartees-fwea and Twitter @SmarteesF.

Read the Press Release HERE!

On the 8th of May, just in time for the International Women’s Day, the European Commission launched the call for application for the EU Prize for Women Innovators 2022. With this prize, the EU intends to celebrate women entrepreneurs behind game-changing innovations, raise awareness of the need for more women innovators and create role models for women and girls everywhere.

Women who are ordinary residents in an EU Member State or a country associated to Horizon Europe are eligible, if they are the founder or co-founder of an active innovative company registered at least two years ago. The Commission wishes to award women who have created the largest impact on the EU innovation ecosystem by transforming ideas into new and advanced products and services to benefit people and planet, and has therefore chosen 3 key criteria:

• Breakthrough innovation –applicants should demonstrate what makes their product or service unique, in relation to other existing solution
• Impact – applicants should describe how their innovation offers significant benefits for people and/or planet, and how the product or service addresses a specific societal need or challenge
• Inspiration –applicants should explain how they personally played a pivotal role in the success of their company, and have the power to lead and inspire other women and girls

Overall, 6 prizes in 2 categories will be awarded:

• Women Innovators: 3 prizes of 100 000€ each
• Rising Innovators (women under 35): 3 prizes of 50 000€ each

Deadline for submission is the 18 August 2022, results will be announced in November / December. Up to 20 highest-ranked applications in each category will be invited to a hearing with the jury.

For more information on the criteria and application click HERE.

Are you passionate about Energy & Sustainability and Deep Tech topics? Is admin work not bothering you? Are you a team player? Do you wish to be part of international team? Do you want to learn and gain new experiences? If you answered YES, then we might be looking for you!

Job overview

To reinforce our team, AMIRES (Czech Republic) is opening positions for Project Managers of European R&D&I projects in Energy & Sustainability and Deep Tech domain. The chosen candidates will be responsible for the overall administration and management support of H2020 / HE projects and will also actively contribute to the preparation of other project proposals.

Main activities and responsibilities

In project administration and management:

• overall responsibility for the complete management of the project in close cooperation with the technical project coordinator;
• daily communication with international project partners;
• project progress monitoring;
• preparation and processing of technical and financial reports;
• maintenance and update of project web page;
• organisation of teleconferences / project meetings / workshops / conferences;
• community management.

In project proposals preparation:

• monitoring of suitable European R&D&I funding schemes;
• proposals structuring, commenting;
• collection of information from partners, processing of written inputs and background documents;
• business analytical activities;
• responsibility for the complete preparation and writing of respective parts of the proposals.

Experience and skills

• Master or doctoral degree (technical field is an advantage);
• experience with project administration, management or projects proposal writing (EU projects or H2020 projects are an advantage);
• fluent in English (both verbally and in written), French or German is an advantage;
• very good computer literacy and skills, professional user of MS Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook);
• strong communication (both oral and written in formal and informal situations), presentation and organisational skills;
• target oriented;
• responsibility, flexibility, ability to work both in team and independently;
• ability to work in multinational environment;
• willingness to travel;
• driving licence;
• knowledge of European R&D&I landscape is an advantage (H2020, HE, Structural Funds etc.).

We offer

• opportunity of self-realization in a small growing company with international focus;
• cooperation on excellent European collaborative R&D&I projects;
• further education and professional development;
• job location in Prague, the Czech Republic;
• expected to start work in spring 2022.

To apply for this position, please send your CV and motivation letter (both in English) to bajarova@amires.eu till March 30^th 2022. Only candidates that will proceed to the next round of the job competition will be contacted by March 31^st 2022.

Are you passionate about Energy & Sustainability topics? Is admin work not bothering you? Are you a team player? Do you wish to be part of international team? Do you want to learn and gain new experiences? If you answered YES, then we might be looking for you!

We are opening position of Project Manager of European R&D&I projects in Energy & sustainability domain:

Job overview

The chosen candidate will be responsible for the overall administration and management support of H2020 / HE projects and will also actively contribute to the preparation of other project proposals.

Main activities and responsibilities

In project administration and management:

• overall responsibility for the complete management of the project in close cooperation with the technical project coordinator;
• daily communication with international project partners;
• project progress monitoring;
• preparation and processing of technical and financial reports;
• maintenance and update of project web page;
• organisation of teleconferences / project meetings / workshops / conferences;
• community management.

In project proposals preparation:

• monitoring of suitable European R&D&I funding schemes;
• proposals structuring, commenting;
• collection of information from partners, processing of written inputs and background documents;
• business analytical activities;
• responsibility for the complete preparation and writing of respective parts of the proposals.

Experience and skills

• Master or doctoral degree (technical field is an advantage);
• experience with project administration, management or projects proposal writing (EU projects or H2020 projects are an advantage);
• fluent in English (both verbally and in written), French or German is an advantage;
• very good computer literacy and skills, professional user of MS Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook);
• strong communication (both oral and written in formal and informal situations), presentation and organisational skills;
• target oriented;
• responsibility, flexibility, ability to work both in team and independently;
• ability to work in multinational environment;
• willingness to travel;
• driving licence;
• knowledge of European R&D&I landscape is an advantage (H2020, HE, Structural Funds etc.).

We offer

• opportunity of self-realization in a small growing company with international focus;
• cooperation on excellent European collaborative R&D&I projects;
• further education and professional development;
• job location in Prague, the Czech Republic;
• expected to start work in spring 2022.

To apply for this position, please send your CV and motivation letter (both in English) to bajarova@amires.eu till March 18^th 2022. Only candidates that will proceed to the next round of the job competition will be contacted by March 21^st 2022.

In WP3, the initial concepts about the heat pump and its integration into SHIP200 are being investigated. Also, evaluations of different heat pump concepts, component, and system TRL level and cost have been performed.

Furthermore, Modelica was used for detailed investigation of both design and off-design operational performance and stability in order to assess operability and integrability of the heat pump.

This allowed for cost and technical estimations from rig vendors, who should modify their designs and products to adapt them for higher pressure ratings, using, among others, new sealing technologies.

An initial of test of the rig prior to modifications was conducted in early November, and the rig was connected to a steam process.

We are happy to announce that the OASIS Catalogue of Services has been turned into an online digital Marketplace using the Ecosystem Management Platform by AMIRES!

This online marketplace allows everyone to browse through the services of OASIS in an interactive manner using filters that make it easier to find the right service. The tool also allows for the customers to directly enquire about the services they are interested in. This Marketplace is a lively environment which will be kept updated with new/adapted services continuously.

This Marketplace tool is the one-stop-shop to find services related to the introduction of nanoparticles and nanointermediates in composite and aluminium materials via innovative production technologies. It also encompasses associated services like design, modelling, simulation, characterization, and also business support services to aid the market adoption of new solutions developed. The ultimate goal is introducing innovative products which are lightweight, smart and have improved mechanical, thermal or electrical properties.

The Marketplace can be found HERE.

ABIMI (AMIRES, The Business Innovation Management Institute) leads the helpdesk for companies to participate in the open calls for demo cases on MedPhab pilot line. The first round of evaluations resulted in three companies which were successfully selected. 220K Euros from EU- MedPhab budget will be allocated for these demonstrator cases. These cases require technologies on biosensors, microfluidics and microscopy and spectroscopy for drug development and diagnostics applications. These companies are located in 3 different European countries! Agreements between the companies and MedPhab partners are ongoing, and the cases are expected to start during February.

If you are interested to receive high quality services in photonics technologies from MedPhab partners for development of your photonics-based medical devices demonstrators, participate in the open calls, contact our helpdesk@medphab.eu  or visit MedPhab’s website. 

We are excited to welcome our new team member Kristin Saar who joined AMIRES as a Project Manager in February 2022.  After graduating from a bachelor’s programme in Politics and Government at University of Tartu, Kristin obtained her master’s degree in European Affairs at Sciences Po Paris where she specialised in Social Policy. She developed a thorough understanding of EU policies while working at the EU Directorate of the Government Office of Estonia, Ministry of the Interior and Permanent Representation of Estonia to the EU.

Kristin has wide-ranging experience in the field of health and pharmaceuticals. Working at the Health Division of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), she co-authored a report on patient safety governance. Prior to joining AMIRES, she was advising global pharmaceutical companies in a public affairs consultancy in Brussels and a regulatory affairs consultancy in Prague.

In her free time Kristin enjoys biking, skiing, and going to the theatre.

In AMIRES, Kristin is involved in proposals and projects in Health & Biotech Programme.

The European Commission adopted the 2022 work programme of the European Innovation Council. It opens funding opportunities worth over €1.7 billion in 2022 for innovators to improve and create new markets.

It will also focus on innovation in:

• Quantum computing
• New generation batteries
• Gene therapy.

Launched in March 2021 as a major novelty of the Horizon Europe programme, the EIC has a total budget of over €10 billion between 2021 and 2027.

The 2022 work programme of the EIC has several new elements, simplifying the application process and contributing to EU policies such as:

• A new EIC Scale-Up 100 initiatives (with having already supported over 2600 SMEs and start-ups in the past since 2018, the aim is to identify 100 promising deep tech EU companies that have the potential to become “unicorns”)
• Equity investments above €15 million
• Stronger support to women innovators

To read full article, visit European Innovation Council newsroom.

Chip Scale Review, one of the world’s leading semiconductor journals, has published our article dedicated to the progress in the TINKER project over the last eighteen months. You can find our article in the January/February issue which is available to download here:

READ CHIP SCALE REVIEW JAN/FERB 2022

The article “Shrinking RADAR and LiDAR sensor packages – an introduction to TINKER” was written in cooperation with the coordinator Dr. Leo Schranzhofer (Head of Functional Surfaces and Nanostructures, Profactor GmbH.) and consortium partners Dr. Martin Eibelhuber (Deputy Head of Business Development, EV Group, Austria) and Martina Chopart, MSc. (Project Manager, AMIRES s.r.o.). Thank you for this opportunity for collaboration.

Even though the turbulent times didn’t allow the NanoQI project partners to meet in person in Eindhoven as originally previewed, they still had the chance to reunite after six months on an online M24 Consortium Meeting on the 8^th and 9^th February 2022.

The goal of the meeting was to share their latest progress, get expert feedback from our External Advisory Board members and discuss all the operational and technical decision for the final phase of the project.

As the third year of the project approaches, we are wishing the whole consortium a great deal of success.

FRIENDSHIP project is glad to announce the publication of a scientific article on absorber coatings, written by our partner Kemijski inštitut – National Institute of Chemistry.

The paper is related to the research work on the development of the spectrally selective absorber coatings and refers to the challenges of selecting a low-cost and effective fabrication method, appropriate for industrial production, and of assessing the degradation rate and service life of these coatings.

The article, indeed, Review of the spectrally selective (CSP) absorber coatings, suitable for use in SHIP, reviews different types of mid- (100 < T < 400 °C) and high-temperature (>400 °C) absorber coatings and their fabrication methods, with an emphasis is on the solar absorptance, thermal emittance and the long-term (>10 years) thermal stability of the coatings.

Congratulations to the authors!

AMIRES is offering a ready to use solution for the creation of digital marketplaces, which are essential for building and management of communities related to technologies, markets or regions. Customizable and user friendly tool is an ideal solution for all European Digital Innovation Hubs and similar projects. Apart from a digital marketplace, the tool allows the full ecosystem management, like sharing posts, tracking samples, simplifies CRM, analytics and more.

Take a look on already implemented marketplaces in:

Flexible and wearable electronics

Photonics-based medical devices

Free-form Microoptics

Training activities in Photonics

Our colleague Jana who joined us in December 2016 and who was on the parental leave returned to strengthen our forces.

Jana stayed work active even when she was on parental leave, in AMIRES we are proud that not only we care about Gender balance, we also support  women with families, by giving them a chance to work as their parental  responsibilities allow. We believe that it is important for women to stay active during maternity or parental leave as it is beneficial for connection with the team and work but also it helps the company to build a loyal team.

Back to Jana, she finished her International Master degree in Asia Pacific Affairs at the National Sun Yat-Sen University in Taiwan and has gained excellent insights into the world of economics and politics, and strengthened her analytical skills. Jana has accumulated good management skills from project management in one of the biggest company’s Research, Innovation and Development centre focused on ODE, OEM of small appliances in Asia. Her core duties were based in international trade and the expansion of businesses in Eastern and Central Europe. Specifically, she had identified and analysed data to determine company trends and new opportunities capable of bringing expansion.

About her job in AMIRES Jana says: “Over the last year, I witnessed enormous transformation of AMIRES in terms of management structure, new employees and new projects. Even though many things have changed I felt involved, and it eased my return after parental leave. Company’s progression, impact that we are doing in our projects and people around have kept me going in AMIRES for 5 beautiful years. I am always happy when I feel that project team trust me and rely on me in management aspect of the project”.

Currently, Jana acts as a project manager of POSEIDON (NanoPhOtonic devices applying SElf-assembled colloIDs for novel ON-chip light sources) projects, Community Manager in SmartEEs2 project and is also contributing to INSPIRE (InP on SiN Photonic Integrated circuits REalized through wafer-scale micro-transfer Printing).

We are happy to welcome Jana back!

Are you a student or a young professional in architecture / building physics or engineering? Do not miss your opportunity and take part in Switch2Save Architectural Design Competition to explore the possibilities offered by lightweight switchable smart glass solutions for energy efficient glass facades buildings.

Switch2Save project proposes advanced, low-weight solutions suitable for direct integration to windows and glass facades for the control of radiation energy transfer, without any impact on the building structure, while enhancing occupants’ comfort.  

Switch2Save Architectural Design Competition aims to collect design concepts of non- residential buildings (new or renovation projects), featuring glass facades, roofs, or large window to wall areas, in any climatic context.

Switch2Save invites students and young professionals to present a design concept in which there is an optimum exploitation of the Switch2Save EC/TC smart functionalities, supported by a clear energy saving concept towards meeting the EU energy saving targets for buildings, while considering occupants’ comfort and wellbeing. In addition, the successful aesthetic integration of the IGUs will be evaluated, as well as the replication potential of the design approach.

Your’ll find more detailed information about the competition on Switch2Save website and in Switch2Save announcement.

Switch2Save competition will be launched 28/2/2022 during an on-line training event. To take part in the traning and competition launch, you can register here.

A new call for proposals to fund projects that can reform and enhance the European research and innovation system is open until 20 April 2022. The applications will be evaluated by experts selected by the European Research Executive Agency (REA).

The call makes available €60.5 million to finance projects under 15 topics that will contribute to enhance:

• Support to policy makers
• Collaboration between national and R&I programmes and ecosystem actors
• Knowledge production, circulation and uptake of R&I results
• Responsible research and innovation
• Open access to research results
• Institutional transformations of higher education institutions
• Researchers’ careers
• Ethics and integrity in research and innovation
• Science education
• Science communication
• Gender equality in research

Links to individual topics can be found HERE.

SPIE Photonics West took place on 22-27 January 2022, bringing thousands of attendees to San Francisco to connect and share the latest research and products. Photonics West is the world´s largest annual optics and photonics conference and marketplace.

SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, prepared a 3 major programme blocks:

BiOS, highlighting new research in biophotonics, biomedical optics, and applications of medical imaging; LASE, with its focus on the laser industry and applications; and OPTO, covering optoelectronics, photonic materials, and optical devices. A total of 4,000 technical presentations were included.

AMIRES has been involved in a number of leading European initiatives supporting the uptake of photonics technologies by industry. Visitors of Photonics West could learn about these projects on the dedicated booth and during Pilot Lines & Photonic Innovation Hubs Breakfast organised by European Photonics Industry Consortium (EPIC):

Mikko Karppinen, from VTT, presented MedPhab Pilot Line, the Europe’s First Pilot Line dedicated to Photonics-based Medical Diagnostics. MedPhab services are open to companies through their open call for demonstrator cases. Further information on MedPhab technologies and offering is available on MedPhab marketplace.
Jessica van Heck presented PHABULOuS Pilot Line, the European Pilot Line for Free-Form Micro-Optics, its one-stop shop for free-form micro-optics and the launch of the Open call for funding opportunities to implement free-form micro-optical components.
Stefano Aina spoke about JePPIX Pilot Line and how it enables fabless businesses to transition from first concept experimentation to industrial prototype and pre-production of Indium Phospide PICs with shared technology investments.  
Anke Siegmeier presented PhotonHub Europe, the European Phototonics Innovation Hub providing companies, in particular SMEs and mid-caps, with open access and guidance to a broad range of services, such as “test-before-invest”, training and upskilling, business support and networking opportunities.

Furthermore, attendees had a chance to hear about INSPIRE project within Discussion on Integrated Photonics: A Key Enabler Driving Advances in Communications, Monolithic, and Hybrid Integration Solutions: Challenges and Opportunities. Project´s coordinator, Martijn Heck, participated as a panelist in the discussion and explained the concept of INSPIRE hybrid integration approach which combines the best of InP and SiN technology through micro-transfer printing, which is a great example of integration solution.

Take a look at the pictures of the event HERE.

On 13th and 14th January, FRIENDSHIP consortium met together to discuss the project advancement in the first 18 months and to have the 1st Review Meeting. The meetings occurred online due to the Covid-19 restrictions in Europe.
On the first meeting day, the M18 meeting took place and the partners concentrated on the progress of the running Work Packages, their highlights, results, and challenges. In the end, the consortium members reached a clear vision of the directions to take and on the objectives to accomplish in the next 6 months.

During the second day, the Review meeting was held, and the discussion focused on past deviations, future risk assessment and mitigation plans. The Project Officer, Charles André Lemarie, also joined the meeting and provided valuable feedback on the behalf of the The European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA).

FRIENDSHIP M18 and Review meetings were characterized by a collaborative and proactive behaviour of all the participants.

Exciting six months are ahead of us. Do not miss our next publications!

We are happy to share that our team is growing!

Weronika joined our team in January 2022 as a Junior social Media Specialist for Innovation Projects.
Originally from Warsaw, Weronika graduated from the International Public Management bachelor programme at The Hague University of Applied Sciences in The Netherlands, where she acquired knowledge on public administration, EU affairs and policymaking. Throughout her practice-oriented studies, she had a chance to gain her academic experience in the Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, as well as professional experience in the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Moscow.

In the last year of her studies, she entered the world of European projects and public funding, joining European Development Agency based in Prague, where she assisted in accessing financing and managing projects under Erasmus+ and Visegrad Fund. After graduation, she worked at EIT Urban Mobility Innovation Hub East, in which she was responsible for partner search, consortia coordination and writing applications for projects such as Horizon Europe, Interreg and Erasmus+ on behalf of the company.

In AMIRES Weronika is mainly contributiong to the preparation of Industrial Technologies 2022 conference.

We are happy to welcome Weronika to our AMIfamily and we wish her all the best!

A 3D bioprinting platform was developed in the ORGANTRANS project for the controlled assembly of live spheroids containing liver organoids into a bioconstruct. This instrument is one of the ORGANTRANS technology building blocks and it enables the mixing of hydrogel bioink precursors with live spheroids. The combination of biodegradable bioinks with a sacrificial biocompatible scaffold will promote medium perfusion and vascularization through the printed bioconstruct. To maintain the bioinks in a functional state the bioprinter comprises complex temperature controls together with integrated stirring that allows keeping live spheroids in suspension during printing. Functional validation of the technology with living spheroids is conducted in a cell biology laboratory to verify the viability of printed spheroids in the bioconstruct. Thanks to 3D bioprinting platform, the ORGANTRANS project aims at the creation of functional 3D liver tissues for the replacement of liver transplantation for end-stage liver failure patients.

QuIC is a not-for-profit association established by several major business actors – large enterprises, SMEs, investors, and startups – from across Europe. The mission is to boost the European quantum-technology industry’s competitiveness and economic growth, and bolster value creation across the continent.

As new members we are excited to share that we will proudly contribute to build this vibrant community.

We are happy to introduce our new colleague Eleonora who joined AMIRES as Project Manager in October 2021. After obtaining her bachelor’s degree in Economics at Federico II University of Naples, she joined the European Master in Business Studies, an International joint degree that is composed of 4 semesters in 4 different European countries: Italy, France, Germany, Spain.

Due to her interest in sustainability and circular economy, she took part in a one-year SVE project in a social cooperative in Belgium, where she organized debates and events on organic food consumption. Before joining AMIRES, she was Schuman Trainee at the European Parliament, Directorate for Security and Safety, where she acquired wide knowledge about EU procedures and activities.

In AMIRES, Eleonora is involved in H2020 projects ComBioTES (Compact bio-based thermal energy storage for buildings) and FRIENDSHIP (Forthcoming Research and Industry for European and National Development of SHIP).

Welcome on-board Eleonora and we wish you good luck in your new role!

ComBioTES attended the Mission Innovation Workshop in Affordable Heating & Cooling of Buildings that was held online on 30th November. The workshop was very rich and constructive and gave a very clear steer on countries and members innovation priorities on heating and cooling. The purpose of the workshop was to look back on the results of Innovation Challenge 7 (IC7, MI 1.0) and look forward to the next phase (Innovation Community, MI 2.0).

Find the recording of the workshop HERE.

Are you a creative soul who thinks out of the box? Are you not scared of a field full of innovations and technologies? If you have good communication skills as well as analytical thinking and digital design is your passion, maybe we are looking for YOU!

To our team we are happy to welcome a new member who will help us to create and run projects promotion campaigns and their content including social media and email marketing.

If you feel that this position might be a fit for you, please see the full advert and let us know by 17/12/2021.

We are looking forward to meeting you!

During November the European Innovation council (EIC) published the EIC Impact Report 2021.

This report contains the results and impact of the EIC pilot phase up to year 2020. During that period, the EIC supported 5500 start-ups and SMEs.

Moreover, in the document you will find information and data from EIC Fund, their investments which were entered in the first six month of 2021, as well as information which scientific breakthroughs as a basis for future innovations is the EIC generating.

Last but not least, the documents include new solutions for healthcare and the Green and Digital transitions.

To learn more, visit the European Innovation Council website.

The programmes are:

• Main work programme: with a budget of €1.38 billion, it will focus on the areas of artificial intelligence (AI), cloud and data spaces, quantum communication infrastructure, advanced digital skills, and the wide use of digital technologies across the economy and society until the end of 2022
• First specific work programme: with a budget of €269 million until the end of 2022, focuses on funding in the area of cybersecurity
• Second specific work programme: with a budget of €329 million until the end of 2023, focuses on the set-up and operation of the network of European Digital Innovation Hubs.

The work programmes will be implemented mainly through grants and procurement procedures.

The first calls for the Digital Europe Programme were published in November, and more calls will be published in 2022.

For original article visit the News site of the EC.

The integration of the PTC and Fresnel solar fields into the whole FRIENDSHIP solution is progressing at a good pace! The BoP (Balance of Plant), P&ID (Piping and Instrumentation Diagram), and BOM (Bill of Materials) for the different types of collectors, as well as the first concepts for their sizing and energy simulations have all been precisely defined. Discussions between partners are ongoing, to adapt these elements to different user cases and select the best HTF (Heat Transfer fluid) – for nanoparticles based HTFs, please refer to this article.

One of the key aspects to enhance the output of the solar fields is to produce better coatings: a kind of material able to absorb the solar rays and transfer the heat to the HTF. Several types of absorber coatings are studied, as you can see in the picture below: ageing studies, as well as absorptivity measurements, are being made by Absolicon, CEA and NIC.

Do you belong to the ecosystem of photonics-based medical devices but you are not part of MedPhab consortium? Do your capabilities complement those from MedPhab partners? Do you have prototypes, products or services that contribute to the ecosystem and would like to share that information with the ecosystem? Register your organisation and your items here on MedPhab marketplace, part of the Community Management Platform (CMP), check the guidelines for publications HERE.

The consortium held its final event on the 25^th November, welcoming a broad public from all over Europe and further, both online and in the premises of CENER in Sangüesa (Spain). Although the day was cloudy, the participants who travelled there had a chance to behold the prototype with their own eyes and follow the operations with the receiver and the tracking system. The online participants could get an impression of what the prototype looks like through a virtual visit, available here.

The event also featured several speakers from the consortium and one guest, who all gave technical details about the different parts of the prototype and the implementation of this innovative technology in the future.

The audience, in particular the members of the External Advisory Board, thanked the whole consortium for their hard work during these past five years and expressed their interest in seeing the further developments of the concepts studied in Sangüesa. It is now time to enhance the MOSAIC technology and pave the way for its commercialization!

Soon a short, final video will be shared, that describes the project as a whole and shows how it can be essential in the energetic transition. Stay tuned for this last piece of the mosaic!

One year after the start of the project finally had first in-person meeting. On 15th and 16th November 2021, the EU-funded MARVEL project team has met at the MARVEL M12 meeting organized by the CNR SCITEC ‘Giulio Natta‘ partner in Milan, Italy. During the meeting, the achievements of the first 12 months of the project were highlighted and it was discussed the next steps and upcoming activities.

On the one hand, the first year was dedicated to the analysis of technical requirements and specifications as well as the selection of the criteria for the system demonstration. In addition to this, specific attention was given to the biological sample’s parameters, their selection, and processing. On the other hand, a strong focus was on the development of new affinity peptide ligands that outclass antibody-based isolation methods in terms of capturing efficiency, versatility, and cost-effectiveness. These achieved targets will introduce a breakthrough in current Extracellular Vesicles (EVs) isolation standards.
The next year will be mostly focused on the integration and optimization of the developed technology into several systems, leading to ground-breaking innovations for EVs deployment in cardiac repair and the non-invasive diagnosis of bladder cancer.

Follow our progress on Marvel Official Webpage.

Watch the new video about the TINKER project to learn more about the use of microelectronics and RADAR and LiDAR sensors for autonomous or self-driving cars and to discover a novel fabrication pathway that will allow further miniaturization, without compromising on accuracy, functionality or efficiency.

The consortium is delighted to invite you to the final event of MOSAIC, in the form of a visit of the prototype and a series of conferences relative to innovative CSP technologies. Given the particular sanitary conditions affecting the whole Europe, the event will be both physical, in the form of conferences and a visit of the prototype in Sangüesa, Spain, and re-transmitted online; but we can only recommend you the physical visit of the prototype, as you will have a unique chance to see it with your own eyes !

Only a few places remain for the physical version ! You can still register for the online version until the day of the event.

Registration takes place HERE.

The final stage of the MOSAIC project has started. With the construction of the solar field completed, the final tests and tune-ups on the prototype are being carried out. The receiver, controlled by a tracking system made of actuated cables and a control loop, moves over the solar field, following during the whole day the path of the sun and collecting the maximum amount of energy.

As you can see in the video below, the receiver shines brightly when in the tracking position. The HTF is circulated through the receiver by the means of two special hoses, which connect the receiver to the skid tower. Temperature probes at the entry and exit points measure the thermal gap achieved by the effect of the solar heating.

Different tests are being carried out to check and improve the accuracy of the tracking system and the global performance of this innovative thermo-solar plant system. If you wish to have more detailed explanations and a closer look on the prototype, don’t forget to REGISTER to the final event.

On 20th and 21st October 2021, the EU-funded ComBioTES team has met up online to sum up and discuss the achievements of the first 6 months of work. In fact, the project ComBioTES was started in November 2019, but due to internal problems of one of the partners, it was immediately suspended for 18 months. Now everything is back on track, first prototypes have been developed and are soon to be tested. The project’s objective is to develop a modular compact thermal energy storage (TES) solution for heating, hot tap water and cooling, fully adapted for electricity load shifting.

One year after the start of the project, the second press release is published to highlight the achievements of the first 12 months of the TINKER project. The partners have been working on developing and perfecting designs, processes and materials required for the two selected use cases.

They have been able to overcome the obstacles that the Covid-19 pandemic posed and collaborated successfully on developing equipment and tools and shared samples, technologies, and processes.

We are already anticipating the results of the upcoming years and we look forward to continuing our participation.

Read the press release HERE.

The teambuilding is an important part of every company culture. In non-professional environment people are more relaxed and opened. This time was well deserved and very much needed. And frankly speaking, we did enjoy to the fullest.

First day starting with breakfast, continuing by a hike to the brewery in Unětice where we find out how to make beer and had a chance to taste it directly from the tank.

Second day we “sweat” our ideas and brainstormed about future.

Well, no more words needed, see for yourself:

This month, project FRIENDSHIP has released three scientific works available in open-access: one article in a specialized journal and two public deliverables. The links can be found here.

The article, Choked liquid flow in nozzles: Crossover from heterogeneous to homogeneous cavitation and insensitivity to depressurization rate, compares two theoretical methodologies, based on delayed equilibrium models, to available experimental data on the critical mass flow rates of CO2 and H2O through nozzles, and achieves a very good predictability. This work is particularly useful for the development of the ejector chillers in WP4.

The two deliverables focus on a literature review of nanofluid based HTF and the integration of the heat pump to the whole SHIP200 system, respectively.

The literature review, D2.4, presents recent advances and research on nanofluids at high temperatures and the application of nanofluids to solar collectors, focusing on their enhanced thermophysical properties, but also the important challenges with the use of nanofluids, especially their stability at temperatures above 100 °C.

The D3.1 presents an evaluation of two initial heat pump concepts and integration principles for SHIP200: a high-temperature concept based on water/steam (R718) for short term heat delivery up to 200°C and a reversed Brayton heat pump concept based on CO2 (R-744) for long-term heat delivery up to 250°C. Model improvements to both concepts will be made to improve simulation accuracy and performance in the next months.

After several months of installation of the electrical and mechanical parts of the prototype, the solar field was the last major element to be assembled on the field. This phase of the works, started in September, was completed and canted by 28th October, and the prototype has finally achieved its final, impressive look:

On the following video, you can observe how some of the latest mirrors were assembled in the outer rings of the solar field.

Additional installations (grounding and sprinklers system) should be executed during the coming days, as well as the final tests of the project, concerning the tracking system and the receiver heating. If you wish to have more detailed explanations and a closer look on the prototype, don’t forget to register to the FINAL EVENT.

MARVEL project partner, CNR-ITM, is currently working on the elaboration of a highly selective membrane that will be integrated into the Tangential Flow Filtration system in order to isolate and purify the specific EVs subpopulations.

Extracellular vesicles (EV) are cell-derived membranous structures ubiquitously found in all biological fluids that act as signaling vehicles in both physiological or pathological mechanisms. Nowadays, the potential applications of these nanoparticles are attracting increasing interest in the fields of medicine, cosmetics, and nutrition. However, the manufacturing of EVs is currently challenging and is characterized by low yields. In addition to this, the main drawback of the existed size-based EV isolation methods is the presence of a large number of nanoparticles with the same size as small EVs (<200 nm) and of other contaminant molecules after the isolation process.

In the MARVEL project, one of the planned goals is to overcome these challenges through the integration of the modified with the hybrid probes membrane unit into the current Tangential Flow Filtration (TFF) system. The membrane will be modified with the specific peptide probes which are characterized by a high affinity for clinically relevant EV protein markers.  In particular, the surface of the membrane is functionalized with the highly selective hybrid probes for specific EVs subpopulations isolation. The planned further optimization of the functionalization process will lead to the development of a highly selective membrane without altering the structural properties, which are responsible for the separation process. This system will offer new opportunities in the design, rationalization, and optimization of EVs isolation and purification processes with significant reduction of contaminants.

More information about the project is available HERE.

It’s been 10 years since we entered the business of supporting inventions and innovations to make better future for all of us. During this time, we enabled many new partnerships and collaborations and had clients from across Europe, from Oulu to Catania and from Dublin to Tel Aviv. We helped fundraise several hundreds of millions € via dozens of collaborative projects.

The real success is, however, when the funded projects bring a strong advantage to European companies and organizations in the form of new products, processes, or services. This is the part when our mission usually ends, but it is profoundly engraved in our early client discussions and approaches. Our continuous aim is to keep repeating this whole process again and again for bringing the best results to Europeans, in the form of digitization and manufacturing, but going to more fundamental needs like clean air, soil and water, access to green energy or having the best possible disease detection or treatment in place for us, our families, our children.

For this mission, we are honoured to work with the most innovative organizations and companies which select us as a partner. This ecosystem brings a rich and productive environment for new concepts and project planning. The world struck by Covid-19 pandemic is showing us the fragility of the system as we know it and allows reflections about many aspects of business. We are available to assist in all forms of innovations towards economical and societal sustainability.

The most important ingredients for the success are our AMIRES colleagues. I can’t thank enough to all of them (including the past colleagues) for sharing the same passion for innovation and for better future at one side and for the support of excellent coordinators and consortia on the other.  Personally, my biggest satisfaction is brought by the AMIRES team full of curious professionals, continuously developing their leadership and empathy skills. The individuals operating in a multinational environment, supporting cutting edge technologies and European companies (irrespective of the size), will be ready to respond to challenges, which we will face in the future. Only with such a team we are now ready to take part in new actions, initiatives, events and ventures.

Congratulations AMIRES!

Rudolf

On 5^th October 2021, FlexFunction2Sustain organized a webinar to introduce the Open Call for Pilot Cases. The event was specifically aimed at informing companies about the possibilities to apply to develop and test novel nano-functionalised plastic and paper surfaces and membrane.

Prior to that there was a session with information about the FlexFunction2Sustain project and details on the Open Innovation Ecosystem – core competencies, service portfolio and application examples.

The video recording that was taken during the webinar is available here:

More information about the conditions of the Call can be found here. Further assistance is available through the Helpdesk by phone to +420 226 217 422 or by email to helpdesk@flexfunction2sustain.eu  (Monday – Friday from 9 AM to 5 PM CEST).

On the 18^th October the European Innovation council announced that the European Innovation Council Summit 21 is open for registration. Due to the Covid restriction there are only limited spots available for attending on-site in Brussels. The summit will be also available online. For registering, click here.

The event will offer an opportunity for European start-ups, innovators in SMEs, researchers, corporates as well as potential investors and venture capitalists to connect and network.

You will have the opportunity to join interactive pitching sessions and participatory workshops where you can find out more about early stage and impact investments, innovation procurement, swarm robotics and space technology.

Mariya Gabriel, the European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth will officially launch the EIC Forum and announce the winners of the EIC Women Innovators Prize and the iCapital Award. Moreover, there is the opportunity to meet the winners of the European Innovation Procurement Awards.

On September 22, MedPhab completed the first EC review meeting after 18 months since the start of the project in January 2020. During this meeting, achievements and highlights of the pilot line were presented to the EC Project Officer (PO) and three external reviewers. The main topics included: the progress of the pilot line operational processes through the establishment of the Front Office, the technology maturation through the model and use cases, the technology modular mapping, launch of the open calls, dissemination to stakeholder groups, and business planning.

The pilot line has encountered some challenges mostly due to the universal obstacle of the pandemic which has delayed the on-site progress.  However, mitigation strategies have been implemented succesfully. During an open discussion, the reviewers and PO have acknowledged the efforts of the consortium and provided valuable feedback to further strengthen the establishment of MedPhab photonics pilot line dedicated for medical diagnostics.

On the 12^th October 2021 after the Summit of European Union and Ukraine, the leaders of the European Union and its Member States finalized the association of Ukraine to Horizon Europe, the EU research and innovation programme (2021-2027) and the Euratom Research and Training Programme (2021-2025). Ukrainian researchers and innovators can now participate under the same conditions as entities from EU Member States.

This alliance between the EU and Ukraine will be strengthen by the cooperation in science, research and innovation. Moreover, it will help to deliver on common priorities, such as the twin green and digital transition.

The full news is available on the European Commission NEWS site.

In September/October, FRIENDSHIP was represented by our partner CEA at two major European events: at Sustainable Places 2021, held both online and in Rome (Italy), on 30^th September; and at SolarPaces 2021, held online from 27^th September to 1^st October. The Project Coordinator, Valéry Vuillerme, highlighted the progress and results achieved during the first year of the project, while Fabio Aste and Pierre Garcia presented the latest achievements in the work packages dedicated to the absorption chillers and the heat storage respectively. Two papers, as well as a presentation, were submitted in the process. You can find more information here and here.

The European Commission has published a guidance on gender equality plan (GEP) which is a new eligibility criterion of the Horizon Europe calls for proposals with deadline of 2022 and beyond. This obligation applies to all public authorities, research organizations and higher education institutions from the Member States and the countries associated to the Framework Program. The equivalent strategy of GEP will also be accepted.

The 54-page handbook was published by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Research and Innovation (DG RTD) on 27 September 2021 and is available HERE.

On the 29^th of September The European Commission launched five new EU missions.

EU missions aim to tackle big challenges in health, climate and the environment, and to achieve ambitious and inspiring goals in these areas.

Five missions will aim to deliver solutions to key global challenges by 2030:

1. Adaptation to Climate Change: support at least 150 European regions and communities to become climate resilient by 2030;
2. Cancer: working with Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan to improve the lives of more than 3 million people by 2030 through prevention, cure and solutions to live longer and better;
3. Restore our Ocean and Waters by 2030;
4. 100 Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities by 2030;
5. A Soil Deal for Europe: 100 living labs and lighthouses to lead the transition towards healthy soils by 2030.

With its Communication on EU missions adopted on the end of September, the Commission is giving them the go-ahead, after the approval of the missions’ individual plans this summer.

Full article is available here.

We were happy to contribute to the preparation of the MARVEL project poster which won the first prize among 76 competitors at the 2nd EVITA symposium organised by the Italian Society for Extracellular Vesicles and held on 20-22 September 2021 in Italy. It is the first in-person meeting that we attended to share our first results since the COVID19 outbreak. The event was attended by more than 150 researchers and scientists presenting their work on Extracellular Vesicles. Our poster titled “Hydrophobic effects in membrane sensing peptides for small Extracellular Vesicle isolation and analysis” showed the important results on the development of a new generation of membrane-sensing peptides for EV isolation and further their analysis. Apart from participating in the poster session, MARVEL project was showcased during the pre-meeting session. You can find more information about the presented result and MARVEL project here.

More information about the event is available here.

This webinar introduces MedPhab, presenting MedPhab technology capabilities and how to work with the pilot line. By registering here for the event, participants may find a solution to a product development problem.  The Webinar will take place on October 28, 2021 and five MedPhab partners will speak about MedPhab, including Mariana Pacheco Blanco, MedPhab project manager and Programme manager at AMIRES who will present MedPhab Community management platform (CMP).

MedPhab pilot-line CMP includes a technical marketplace, the virtual catalogue of capabilities of the whole Photonics-based medical devices ecosystem. Although at this moment MedPhab partners technical services are visible, during October 2021, non-MedPhab partners will be able to register their organisation and offering (prototypes, products and services). This platform is a community building tool that allows lowering the barrier for photonics technologies adoption by companies interested in medical applications. Therefore, through CMP third parties interested in MedPhab services can submit their enquiries via the in-take form.

A fully synthetic PEG-based hydrogel is 3D-bioprinted along with a biocompatible sacrificial material that is used to create channels in the printed construct. The channels will then allow for the formation of a vascular network inside the hydrogel. This construct is an essential block in the ORGANTRANS project in the creation of a liver tissue 3D printing platform which aims to replace liver transplantation for end-stage liver failure patients. Additionally, this platform can be scaled to other organ systems, as organoid technology is one of the largest parts of regenerative medicine.

More information is available on OrganTrans website.

On the 4^th October the European Commission announced a new series of info-day for Horizon Europe Cluster 1 and Cluster 6 will be held virtually between 25^th and 29^th October 2021.

The info-days will present the topics of the Horizon Europe Cluster 1 (Health) and Cluster 6 (Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment) work programme 2022 and will give the opportunity to prospective applicants to learn more about funding under the two clusters of the new programme.

Info-days calendar:

25-26 October 2021: Cluster 6 info-days,

27 October 2021: Cluster 6 brokerage event,

28 October 2021: Cluster 1 info-days,

29 October 2021: Cluster 1 brokerage event.

For a detailed agenda and more information, visit the event website.

On the 24^th of September 2021 the Joint Committee of the European Economic Area (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and the EU) adopted the relevant decision for Iceland and Norway, which makes them the first to be associated to Horizon Europe, which allows the entities in those two countries to participate in Europe’s €95.5 billion research and innovation programme, under the same conditions as entities from the EU Member States.

This is an opportunity to continue and deepen cooperation in science, research and innovation, focusing on common priorities: the twin green and digital transition, public health and Europe’s competitiveness in the global landscape.

Joint efforts will aim to address environmental problems in the Arctic, develop hydrogen and carbon capture technologies, boost data-driven innovation, and more. This early association also enables these partners to get involved from the outset in the European Partnerships.

Iceland and Norway have a long history of association to the EU Framework Programmes for Research and Innovation, starting in 1987 for Norway and 1994 for Iceland, with a win-win cooperation throughout the years.

For the full article click HERE.

In July 2021 it was announced that Switzerland will be treated as non-associated third country in Horizon Europe.

On 17 September 2021, the Federal Council therefore decided to initiate transitional measures until Switzerland achieves its stated aim of full association.

Under non-associated third country status, researchers and innovators in Switzerland are able to participate in most Horizon Europe collaboration projects. The accessible programmes will not be funded by European Commission but will be funded by the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI). However, the participation in individual projects will not be possible – including grants from the European Research Council (ERC), the European Innovation council (EIC) and certain Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA). Submissions from Switzerland under the first calls of 2021 for ERC (Starting Grants and Consolidator Grants) and EIC (Accelerator) projects are still being evaluated by the European Commission. If the evaluations are favourable, SERI can fund these researchers and businesses directly.

The Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research (EAER) is charging the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) with the task of implementing transitional solutions. The transitional solutions will be based as far as possible on the European calls but will have their own deadlines for project submissions.

The transitional solutions should compensate the lack of participation in ERC Advanced Grant and MSCA 2021 Postdoctoral Fellowship calls as well as for ERC Starting Grants and Consolidator Grants for 2022 in the event that Swiss researchers are not entitled to submit project proposals for these calls.

The EAER will launch further transitional measures through Innosuisse, the European Space Agency ESA and other actors.

The planned transitional measures will be submitted to Parliament in the winter session in the form of an addendum to the 2022 budget.

We are proud to announce that the PHABULOuS Pilot Line Association has hired its first official employee and is now fully operational! With the help of Jessica van Heck as Head of Business & Sales, the pilot line front office is ready to offer accelerated innovation and production cycles from prototyping to piloting up to large volume production. Curious to see what free-form micro-optics can do for you? Take a look at www.phabulous.eu or read the full press release at https://lnkd.in/ehBXN.

A major phase of works has started in the MOSAIC project: the solar field assembly. This highly essential element, acting as the concentrator of the solar rays, is composed of 43 modules of mirrors divided in 3 zones: a central skull-cap, and 2 concentrical rings of modules.

Each module is composed by a group of mirrors placed on a metallic frame at a very accurate position. The frame with the mirrors is placed on the correspondent support. Once the module is completed, it is necessary to check and adjust the orientation of the frame, so that it is precisely oriented towards the receiver and provides the maximum heat concentration, allowing for higher temperatures in the heat transfer fluid.

Supports in the central skull-cap are already placed and the first frames with mirrors have also been installed on them. The works are on course and will continue during the following weeks until the entire solar field is completed.

Are you passionate about Energy & Sustainability topics? Is admin work not bothering you? Are you a team player? Do you wish to be part of international team? Do you want to learn and gain new experiences? If you answered YES, then we might be looking for you!

We are opening position of Project Manager of European R&D&I projects in Energy & sustainability domain.

For more information click HERE.

We are already looking forward to welcome you in our team!

Our AMIwomen working on Flexible and Wearable Electronics proudly present the SmartEEs2 Marketplace: a virtual catalogue for products, prototypes and technologies. You can find more information here: https://marketplace.smartees2.eu/

“No matter gender stereotypes are, we follow our interest that is thriven by innovation“

Enjoy watching!

We are pleased to announce officially the release of the FlexFunction2Sustain Project Handbook. It is an advertising material presenting the Open Innovation Test Bed (OITB) for nano-functionalisation technologies that enable sustainable and smart plastics and paper-based products.

The Handbook aims at highlighting the core competencies and unique products and services of the ecosystem and what benefits it brings to their customers. In order to present the capabilities of the OITB, the Handbook provides a quick overview on the facilities covering all major nano-surface processing techniques for flexible plastic and paper surfaces and membranes. In addition to that, six application examples are presented to demonstrate how technical services of the OITB can be combined to solve complex industrial problems involving smart nanotechnologies and materials.

Click HERE to download the Handbook and follow the project website to not miss any project progress!

Lenka is Managing Director of AMIRES in the Czech Republic and in September 2021 she will be celebrating an important milestone, 10 years in the company. Lenka started to work for AMIRES in 2011 shortly before the Czech branch of the company was founded and since then, she has been responsible for overseeing and managing its operations.

Before joining AMIRES Lenka gained her experience in European Union’s Framework Programme for R&D as a National Contact Point for several FP7 priorities. She was working in this position for 5 years and was also a Deputy Head of the Department National Information Centre for European Research, co-leading team of Czech FP7 NCPs. During the Czech Presidency of the Council of the European Union in 2009 she was actively involved in the preparation of two conferences – EUFORDIA 2009 (impact assessment of research and development) and EuroNanoForum 2009.

In AMIRES, during the last 10 years, Lenka was personally involved as Project and Dissemination Manager in many FP7 and H2020 projects such as AMBASSADOR (Autonomous Management System Developed for Building and District Levels), PI-SCALE (Bringing flexible organic electronics to pilot innovation scale), SABINA (Smart bi-directional multi energy gateway) or currently Switch2Save (Lightweight switchable smart solutions for energy saving large windows and glass facades). At the same time, she has been overseeing management activities in other projects with AMIRES involvement. Building on this broad experience, she has contributed to the set-up of internal management procedures for EU projects supported by the company and to the transfer of this knowledge and internal standards to new colleagues. Lenka has been also involved in proposal preparation at this moment especially in the Horizon Europe Widening topics.

About 10 years in AMIRES Lenka says: “It is amazing to see, how the company has grown during the last 10 years, both in scope of the AMIRES team itself (raising from 2 team members at the beginning to 18 employees currently) as well as with the portfolio of the services we are ready to provide to our clients. I am very happy I accepted the challenge Rudolf (our CEO) gave me at the beginning and that I has been able to contribute to this amazing adventure. I had the opportunity to work in different research and innovation topics with people with different background (scientific, industrial, business) and I learned a lot (both professionally and personally) thanks to that. It is great to be part of the AMIRES family that I hope will continue to grow in the 10 years ahead of us.”

Apart from the AMIRES family, Lenka is dedicated also to her own family, to which she currently dedicates all her free time.

Thanks to cooperation with IAESTE that is an international, non-governmental, non-profit organization that brings together students and academics around the world and strives for the professional and personal development of students and young graduates we were happy to welcome during this summer our intern Erik who arrived from Norway. Within six weeks Erik was a great help while working on different tasks related to our projects. Erik is young talented focus-oriented person which we believe will be a great colleague and great employee for any company in a future.

Here is what he says about his internship:

“I am Erik Møller Steen, this year’s summer intern at AMIRES, and I study for a Master of Science in nanotechnology with a specialization in bionanotechnology at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. The background for my choice of studies is an interest in science and technology, and a wish to study a field at the scientific forefront with great potential. This has given me a broad scientific background, but through my studies I have also had courses in project management and finance that made me realize their importance in several aspects of getting research out of the laboratories and to the market and real-world applications. I wanted to explore this further and how it is done in practice. AMIRES is involved in several aspects of research projects and innovation they are highly relevant in that regard, which is why I applied for an internship at AMIRES through IAESTE, an organization that coordinates internships for students throughout the world.

That is a choice I don’t regret! Here I got the possibility and trust to contribute to several aspects of project management previously unknown to me, giving me the opportunity to learn and gain new experiences. Through my various tasks I have worked with projects highly relevant to my field of study and gotten insight into how research is developed into innovative products through cooperation between universities, research institutes and SMEs. By help and guidance from great colleagues I have contributed to the day-to-day organization of projects, market research and reporting, and thus feel that my work is useful and valued.

The diversity of tasks has given me a range of experiences that are truly valuable, and I am certain they will be useful in my future career. My colleagues at AMIRES have done a great job welcoming me, and the international and open environment gave me a wonderful summer in Prague. Thank you, I hope we´ll meet again!”

We would like to thank Erik once again and we hope to meet him in the future. Good luck Erik!

On the 17^th August the European Commission (EC) launched a call for action to stakeholders in the energy sector who would be interested to become members of a new platform on equality in the energy sector. The “Equality platform for the energy sector” will be established in October, therefore the European Commission calls on organizations, governments, private sector, universities and civil society to join. With this platform, the Commission aims to bring together energy stakeholders in their commitment towards equality and offer a forum to discuss and exchange good practices for diverse and inclusive workplaces.

The European Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson will officially launch the platform at the European Union Sustainable Energy Week (EUSEW) on 25^th October 2021.

Registration to the EUSEW will open on 7^th September 2021.

The Commission is asking for applications for membership from any stakeholder in the EU energy sector that:

• has taken action to improve equality in their area of activity or business
• wishes to share experiences and be at the forefront of change in the energy sector
• wants to create innovative approaches and develop inclusive and diverse environments that support progress

To join, applicants should send an e-mail to ENER-EQUALITY@ec.europa.eu which contain:

• the e-mail subject should be “Equality platform – reply to the call to action”
• the body of the email should include a description of the actions implemented to promote equality in the organisation’s activities
• the applicant should include information showing that those actions are SMART – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound.

European Commission, UN, scientists and stakeholders around the world have one same goal: reach gender equality. AMIRES shares the same vision and interest to reach gender equality, within the company and through the organisations with which collaborates.

AMIRES believes that a successful team is based on diversity and acknowledging the importance of a multidisciplinary approach. AMIRES is as well an example of social and cultural diversity. Therefore, we have learned that tackling situations from different angles provides more efficient and effective solutions thanks to a multidisciplinary and enriched vision. Read our Gender manifesto, which is signed by not only our directors, but also by our employees, showing their commitment. Gender equality is possible to be reached together; because we are in this together.

The Manifesto is available HERE.

Our consortium, made of European partners from 6 countries, has regularly published news about the construction site in Spain. To make the process clearer, we have created this explanatory video that sums up the important milestones along the progress of the construction, as well as the roles of each partner and the steps ahead. It will be updated with the remaining steps, once the project is completed in November.

Enjoy watching !

More on https://mosaic-h2020.eu/

The MOSAIC project has reached a new important milestone: the first access of the receiver to the oven for heating-up procedure testing. On 15^th June, the prototype site was ready for this manoeuvre, which allows the receiver to be placed inside the oven for heating process or to prevent high temperature losses from the receiver (during night, for example).

The complete manoeuvre in this specific installation consists of the following steps:

1. The receiver is placed by means of the tracking system control in a vertical position, just in front of the oven. The upper crossbars of the receiver are laid on a specific retractable support.
2. This support moves to the oven, placing the receiver in its right position.
3. The doors of the oven close. The isolation parts of the receiver at its ends fit with the oven doors, so the receiver is kept in an isolated space, where the heating-up process can take place.

When the receiver is needed to move from the oven to the workspace, the inverse manoeuvre is carried out.

See the whole process in this video (accelerated 20 times):

From now onwards, the prototype can be tested with HTF preheating at intermediate temperatures, a previous step before the solar field is built and the higher temperatures are reached.

For more information visit MOSAIC website.

On 27 May, 2021, the European Innovation Council (EIC) launched a call for expression of interest for new EIC board members. The EIC funding worth over €1 billion aims to help scale up start-ups and small and medium-sized businesses that have the potential to achieve high impact. While over half of the funding is open to breakthrough innovations in any field, €495 million are earmarked for innovations that support the European Green Deal as well as digital and health technologies.

The EIC Board acts as the “voice of the innovator”, to ensure all EIC activities are innovator-centric and to promote the EIC as the investor of choice for researchers and innovators with visionary ideas.

The Board advises directly the European Commission, the EIC and European Innovation and SME Executive Agency (EISMEA, henceforth referred as ‘the Agency’) as the dedicated implementation structure, and interacts with a number of full time EIC Programme Managers with leading expertise in their fields. It also liaises with the EIC Fund, as the investment arm of the EIC, as well as with the European Research Council (ERC), the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) and other innovation programmes and initiatives.

EIC is looking for innovators – entrepreneurs, investors and venture capitalists, corporate leaders, researchers and academics with leading expertise in fields relating to future and emerging technologies, breakthrough and disruptive innovation, starting and scaling businesses, innovation ecosystem builders, and innovation experts. The Commission will select between 15 and 20 members with estimated start in September 2021.

The application deadline is 30 June, 2021.

More information available: EC News and European Innovation Council.

During the last months, different systems had been tested by means of a dummy receiver connected to dummy hoses, simulating work conditions. Once the tests were completed, both the receiver and the hoses were replaced by the real ones. The operation was carried out from 20^th to 22^nd April and needed the participation and the cooperation of different partners and their subcontractors. The thermal installation is now complete with its real components.

The elevation of the ensemble was performed by means of a crane which lifted the real hoses, already connected to the receiver, while the receiver itself was lifted by the tracking system cables, in a coordinated operation. The hoses’ end, opposite to the receiver, was connected to the skid installation, on top of the main metallic tower.

In the following days, the system will be filled with HTF, and then the thermal loop system will be ready for the different tests that will assess its fine working. In a few weeks the solar field will be installed, before the final period of set-up tests starts.

AMIRES is excited to offer an additional support for innovation projects! Do you need to show your product or prototype visualization to investors, to funding agency or to test how it will be looking or interacting in modelled environment?

Now we offer to our clients to design and visualize a concept and create attractive images and animations using 3D models. Our consultants will guide you by using the tools (Blender, SketchUp, Solidworks, Dialux) to your needs and propose realistically looking models.

Examples of applications of this service:

• Design and create engineered components and innovative concepts to analyse their structure and interactions
• Visualize the installation of a product or production line in a building or a natural environment, foresee the obstacles and the space available
• Render realistic images of products, infrastructure, interiors, buildings, landscapes
• Plan the illumination of an internal or external space
• Create short animations (under 30 seconds) which are ideal for dissemination purposes
• Test some physical properties in simulations

The service includes the whole process of 3D modelling: design, conversion of 2D plans or images to a 3D geometry, texturing, physics, environment. The fields of applications is very broad, including health and biotech, material sciences, photonics, smart systems, energy generation and energy efficiency.

For more information contact Dr. Rudolf Fryček.

Thematically on the day that is internationally dedicated to women (8.3), the European Commission announced a new initiative called “Women TechEU”.

The aim is to support women leading deep tech start-ups in Europe. It is funded under European Innovation Ecosystem Work Programme of Horizon Europe and it will offer first-class coaching and mentoring to female CEOs and founders. Moreover it will be a targeted funding to help them to take their business to the next level.

“Women-led companies are on the rise” – the full view is that it is not only a matter of fairness, but also a major case of using Europe´s full potential of excellence in science and businesses. As per the latest statistics at least 25% of applications invited for the second stage of evaluation should come from the women-led companies.

To support the idea and fulfill the aim a call for mentors has been launched.

For more information and to view a original article, click HERE.

The consortium aims at constructing the prototype of a fixed semi-Fresnel solar concentrator and an ad-hoc mobile receiver. This novel approach of CSP plants will optimize the cost of the installation per Kwh; besides, it will be modular and scalable to adapt to the needs of the solar industry and energy demands.

The prototype at Cener facilities in Sangüesa is on its way towards its final state, as depicted in this video created by Increscendo:

Here is a brief overview of the last works carried out on the construction site:  

• The mounting towers for the mobile elements and the oven have been erected.
• The mechanical, optical and electrical elements of the tracking system have been installed and are being tested.
• The innovative dummy hoses have been connected to the receiver.
• The meteorological station has been connected to the tracking system, and the DCS of the whole prototype has been updated to achieve a full control of the plant.

The next key step will be the installation of the field of the solar mirrors, along with the evaluation of a watering system for the mirrors.

For more information, do not hesitate to visit the MOSAIC website. For the latest news about the tracking system by Tekniker, click HERE. 

On the 16^th March, 2021 the Webinar on success stories of EU-SmartEEs organized by PrintoCent and VTT presented together seven projects.

AMIRES as a business coaching partner of SmartEEs was proud to support the project IoTflexNode – the IoT device that fits and bends, the project by Fuelium SMARTK7 – Smart cassette, Adaptive Architecture Systems (FLXilight) – MESH – modular adaptive skin for high efficiency buildings and last but not least O.light by ESYST – Modern Smart Lighting.

During the presentation, our CEO Rudolf Fryček presented a digital Marketplace for Flexible & Wearable Electronics.

The Marketplace offers Innovation companies the possibility to explore innovative offerings, based on flexible electronics. Moreover, the digital marketplace offers information and contacts to the leading European organizations involved in flexible & wearable technologies research, development, integration and commercialization. The SmartEEs Marketplace is a place to innovate the business of SMEs, Mid-caps and Large companies while scouting for new business opportunities with flexible electronics technologies and to connect supply (ready to integrate products, prototypes, services) & demand (designers, integrators, solution providers, vendors), and to facilitate the promotion of innovative products.

To learn more about SmartEEs, click HERE.

SABINA was an EU funded H2020 research and innovation project that aimed to develop new technology along with financial models that would connect, control and actively manage thermal and electric networks using generation and storage assets in order to exploit synergies between electrical requirements and the thermal inertia of buildings, whilst allowing aggregators to provide flexibility and balancing services to the grid. SABINA aimed to maximise the usage of variable renewable energy sources by converting excess electrical energy to heat or cold and storing it using the thermal inertia of buildings. Provision for aggregation at district level were provided to maximise the effect of SABINA. SABINA lasted for 4 year and finished in October 2020 with AMIRES as a partner responsible for project management and dissemination.

A set of critical factors are required to enable deployment of any new technology focussed on energy and carbon reduction in any market. While any technology may be proven in test environments deployment in real word settings can often be subject to other outside influences that should be reviewed prior to attempting deployment. Policies already exist in a number of member states that supports the introduction of innovative new technologies to deliver on a common EU carbon target. The interplay between the market, technology development and policymaking align itself well to the wider deployment of SABINA either as a technology supporting market and policy ambition or as a seed for transformative change in countries seeking to scale up ambition in carbon reduction. As part of our work on SABINA the partners assessed which markets in EU member states were already undertaking a reasonable level of demand side response at a national strategic level. Based on IEA data the findings demonstrate that a large proportion of the EU would be viable for SABINA deployment on the basis that flexibility and aggregation markets either already exist or are ramping up activity.

As the SABINA system relies on critical and regular data streams and the ability for swift response to them much of the successful deployment of the system will be dependent on the maturity of smart grids within any EU member state. The viability of SABINA is dependent on a number of key Net Zero transitions within any host member state. The challenge to enable the switch over from gas to electricity for our heating brings a number of critical risks in supply and demand of energy, placing greater pressure on our national energy infrastructure and requiring low and zero carbon generation to provide demand in a way that reduces our contribution to climate change. In order to provide the additional demand required to support the electrification of heating and vehicles in a sustainable way significantly higher levels of renewable deployment is needed.

Coupled with an increase in overall demand it will be important to develop technologies that can support swift demand side response, much greater flexibility in smart energy systems and digitalisation of operational control – SABINA can play a leading role in supporting this.

More information related to SABINA is available here.

We are proud of the work we do, and our success is primarily the result of our passionate team of dedicated people. To support our growth, we are looking for highly motivated people to join our team in Prague for a position of Project Manager of European R&D&I projects.

If you are interested in new technologies, great at communication, familiar with European R&D&I funding, have analytical mind set and organizational skills and like challenges, then our job proposal is for you. Read HERE for more.

There are over 200 projects that deal with flexible electronics within the H2020 programme. The most active organisations are the RTOs and the Higher Education Institutions such as Fraunhofer, VTT, CEA, IMEC, TNO, CNRS, Cambridge, Oxford, EPF Laussane and Imperial College, among others.

Discover more in-depth analysis of flexible electronics within the Horiozon 2020 Programme, created by John Kennedy Mwangi, AMIRES. The analysis includes:

• NUMBER OF PROJECTS OVER THE YEARS
• DISTRIBUTION OF PROJECTS AMONG THE FUNDING INSTRUMENTS
• PROJECT RANKING IN TERMS OF FUNDING
• THE KEY PERFORMERS
• THE DOMINANT PRIVATE FOR PROFIT ENTITIES
• NUMBER OF PROJECTS PER COUNTRY

Full report HERE

Continue reading →

Can flexible and wearable technologies innovate your products and services? How to get technical, business and financial support for testing it?

On December 4, 2020, AMIRES organized a webinar in the framework of the SmartEEs2 project. This webinar was specifically aimed at informing companies in Central Europe about possibilities to participate in the open calls for Application Experiments.

Within SmartEEs2 five Calls for Application Experiments are opened inviting interested companies to submit their application experiment proposals. Selected Application Experiments will demonstrate the transfer of flexible and wearable electronics technologies into new products / series of products, processes, business models and business opportunities. The next, already third, Call for Application Experiments is open until the 15^th of January 2021.

At the workshop, participants were informed about the SmartEEs2 project and its objectives and how to submit a proposal in the Call for Application Experiments. The webinar also included two examples of companies that were supported through the first SmartEEs project.

Webinar presentations

Presentation title	Speaker
Introduction to the workshop	Michael ten Donkelaar, AMIRES
Introduction to SmartEEs2	Rudolf Fryček, AMIRES
Company testimonial 1 – ESYST	Jaroslav Sochor, ESYST, Czech Republic
Company testimonial 2 – IDEA	Gianluca Di Buo, IDEA, Italy
SmartEEs2 registration process	Minja Maric, AMIRES

Webinar recordings

We are proud of the work we do, and our success is primarily the result of our passionate team of dedicated people. To support our growth, we are looking for highly motivated people to join our team in Prague for a position of Project Manager of European R&D&I projects.

If you are interested in new technologies, great at communication, familiar with European R&D&I funding, have analytical mind set and organizational skills and like challenges, then our job proposal is for you. Read HERE for more.

Are you passionate about the newest technological trends in medical technologies and medicine in general? Are you target oriented and responsibility, flexibility, team spirit or time management are no strangers to you? MS Office is your best friend and you are not worried to organize calls, take minutes or prepare presentations? Do you enjoy working in multinational environment with English as the main communication language? Are you ready to cooperate with excellent European R&D&I organisations, SMEs, hospitals and large industries? Then AMIRES is looking for you!

Apply for our newly opened position of Project Manager of European R&D&I projects in Health and Biotech sector by sending your CV and motivation letter (both in English) to bajarova(at)amires.eu till August 14 2020. Only candidates that will proceed to the next round of the job competition will be contacted by August 18 2020.

Are you responsible, proactive, diligent? Do you enjoy working on different administrative and organisational tasks having colourful daily routine? Would you like to support our multinational team and help to strengthen its team spirit? Are you a proficient user of Microsoft Office? Do you speak fluently Czech and English? Then AMIRES is looking for you.

Apply for our newly opened position of Office Manager / Executive Assistant by sending your CV and motivation letter (both in English) to bajarova(at)amires.eu till August 5 2020. Only candidates that will proceed to the next round of the job competition will be contacted by August 7 2020.