Celebrating World Creativity and Innovation Day
New creative ideas and innovations lead to improvements that benefit society. The UN World Creativity and Innovation Day on 21 April is a reminder of the important role creativity and innovation play in human development. In celebrating this day, we are highlighting some of the achievements of our operating companies.
Heraeus believes that innovation is the key to unlocking the extraordinary potential of materials and technologies and to solving complex challenges. Our operating companies embody this philosophy every day, relentlessly pursuing solutions to some of society's most pressing issues. From healthcare to metals and recycling to electronics and industrial manufacturing, innovation at Heraeus is a continuous journey towards excellence and value.
In the spirit of World Creativity and Innovation Day, we shine a light on three achievements of Heraeus employees and three of our operating companies.
Haptic sensations in the virtual world
The possibilities offered by virtual realities are diverse. The metaverse is becoming increasingly present and important in various areas of life. Heraeus Epurio and the Japanese wearable tech start-up AI Silk are making the virtual world even more immersive with their conductive textile technology. For example, the use in haptic Metaverse gloves enhances virtual experiences with the sensory impression of feeling and makes conventional controllers superfluous.
Built of conductive fibers, the gloves function both as sensors and AR/VR/XR controller. Control buttons at the back of the hand make additional controllers unnecessary. They enable users to move around freely and interact with augmented reality objects intuitively, just as they would in the physical world.
Magnetic fusion as a promising alternative
Nuclear fusion is increasingly becoming a promising prospect for future energy supply. In addition to laser fusion, magnetic fusion has also made significant progress in the past three years. Like in laser fusion, synthetic fused silica is used in magnetic fusion, but in a completely different way. Therefore, Heraeus Conamic is also successfully involved in the promising approach of magnetic fusion.
Together with the scientific team at the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy (CCFE), Heraeus Conamic has defined the specifications of the vacuum and inspection window in the reactor to control the fusion process. This means that a small viewing window can have a significant impact on future alternative energy generation.
Making precious metals processing more sustainable
Precious metals are indispensable in many areas of our lives. They also play an important role in the fight against climate change, for example in catalysts for exhaust gas purification or in the production of green hydrogen. At the same time, it takes a lot of energy to extract and process precious metals. To create more sustainable production processes, Heraeus Precious Metals has launched several projects that dispense with fossil fuels and use only green electricity. This is an important milestone - because the operating company aims to be carbon neutral by 2025.
From the chamber furnace to the steam generator and the thermal oil heater: all three types of machines are now to be converted from natural gas to green electricity. This will lead to the optimization of processes and the reduction of energy consumption. These specific initiatives will also be transferred to other sites.
