Innovation Meetup: Biomedical Sensors & Smart Materials

BiotroNiS is honoured to join forces with the Leistungszentrum Smart Production and Materials, the DIANA Network, and Saxony5 to host the event “Innovation Meet‑up: Biomedical Sensors & Smart Materials” on 26 February 2026. The gathering took place at the Dresden University of Applied Sciences (HTWD), whose generous support provides the ideal setting for bringing together researchers, industry partners, and innovators across Saxony.

The opening remarks were delivered by Dr. Kathrin Harre, a leading figure within BiotroNiS, who underscored the network’s role in uniting researchers from a wide range of disciplines and fostering collaboration across Saxony. The floor was subsequently handed over to Dr. Christoph Tondera, who outlined the goals of our joint efforts and provided an overview of the network and its services. Dr. Udo Eckert from WirsindDIANA and Dr. Jana Tittmann-Otto representing the Leistungszentrum Smart Production and Materials also provided strong introductions, outlining the offerings of their respective initiatives and highlighting the objectives that drive their work within Saxony’s innovation landscape.

The central part of the meeting followed with a series of pitch sessions. Eight concise pitches were presented, each designed to give our partners and engaged researchers the opportunity to actively contribute their ideas and showcase ongoing work.

The first pitch was delivered by Dr. Christian Redlich, who provided a fascinating overview of the work being carried out at Fraunhofer IFAM. He was followed by Richard Kantelberg from the Dresden Integrated Centre for Applied Physics and Photonic Materials (IAPP), who offered a short yet insightful presentation. Dr. Larysa Baraban then took the floor to introduce current research activities at Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR). The fourth pitch was given by Natalia Gromberg of Fraunhofer IWU, who presented promising ideas under development at the institute.

The second half of the pitch session, Dr. Mario Baum presented the activities of Fraunhofer ENAS, followed by Philip Steinhart from Chemnitz University of Technology, who shared updates on their ongoing work. IKM‑Sens was also represented during this segment, and the session concluded with closing remarks from Julia Lüpfert of Senscubator.

Upon concluding the pitch session, participants continued their discussions over coffee and refreshments before transitioning to the InnoSpeedDating platform. This format allowed them to engage in more personalised, one‑to‑one conversations and explore the ideas raised during the earlier presentations in greater depth. The aim of this segment was to maximise participants’ involvement by enabling focused one‑on‑one conversations about potential cooperation and collaborative opportunities.

We would also like to extend our gratitude to all our partners and collaborators for making this event possible, and we look forward to continuing our work together in the future.