On June 17, 2023, Berlin‘s research institutions opened their doors to the Long Night of the Sciences for the 21st time and, for the first time since 2015, Fraunhofer IZM was once again represented with various hands-on highlights. Some of the activities were aimed specifically at very young visitors. They were able to decorate a bag with fabric flowers and LEDs in the textile lab, for instance. Once they’d got warmed up, they were allowed to pick up a soldering iron in the Start-a-Factory laboratory and make a mini metal detector.

Young and old alike were very determined when it came to generating energy on a bicycle. Depending on how hard the pedals were pushed, the energy generated could be used to keep a coffee warm or power a blender, for example.

Our colleagues from the environmental department taught the visitors how to extend the service life of high-tech devices and minimize their environmental impact. Under the heading of »modular design«, it was shown how smartphones could be made repairable and recyclable and how recyclable high-tech devices could be manufactured locally.

With around 400 interested guests, the Long Night of the Sciences was a complete success for Fraunhofer IZM.