Axiotherm GmbH, the overall winner of the 2019 INNOspace Masters, enables industry and service companies to benefit from increased efficiency and effectiveness offered by PCM (Phase Change Materials). The company provides extensive experience in development and application planning, and is a manufacturer and expert partner for leading companies, and a specialist for cost-efficient systems based on approved macro encapsulations.

Regine Heue (RH), Head of Marketing & Communications at AZO, interviews Dirk Büttner (DB), Key Account Manager at Axiotherm GmbH and ESDA Technologie GmbH.

RH: In 2019, you have submitted your project to the INNOspace Masters. What was your motivation to participate in the competition?
DB: For many years, ESDA Technologie GmbH – a typical SME – has been one of the leading producers of technical extrusion blow-moulded parts and innovative plastic products. Due to our spin-off in 2015, we have been able to successfully establish Axiotherm GmbH and, today, we are a leading supplier of macro-encapsulated PCM thermal storage solutions on the market. R&D in this field is of central importance for us. Due to increased customer enquiries in recent years, we have intensified our research in the field of material development for the thermal stabilisation of electronic components and systems. We became aware of the INNOspace Masters innovation competition as we are a member of Space2Motion. This competition for the next space generation seemed to us to be the perfect opportunity to present our development and its application potential in the space industry and to a jury of experts not otherwise to be found in this form.

RH: How did winning the Challenge help develop your project and what kind of support do/did you receive from OHB?
DB: First of all, being the overall winner of the 2019 INNOspace Masters was, of course, fantastic publicity for us, both as a company and for our product, which is already reflected in numerous specific enquiries. But the innovation competition itself also helped us enormously due to the constructive feedback of the expert jury in the different phases in order to get further focused and to consider important, additional aspects.

RH: What is the current development status of your project?
DB: Our development project with OHB has not yet started but, irrespective of this, we have already started a project with the Center for Sustainable Energy Technology (KET) at the University of Paderborn. A FEA/CFD model environment is currently being developed with an interdisciplinary team of scientists from the power electronics and mechanical engineering sectors in order to be able to thermally and electrically simulate specific components and systems in the future and thus evaluate the potential of our PCM polymer in various operating modes, such as, for example, batteries or electronic heat sinks. Nevertheless, OHB already has another project, which is also the same topic of use. The first talks with one of their customers are currently being conducted by OHB.

RH: Last but not least, what are your recommendations for interested participants of the INNOspace Masters competition?
DB: As I mentioned before, I would like to emphasise the uniquely high quality of the entire innovation competition, and I can highly recommend participating in the INNOspace Masters to anyone who wants to place their idea or project in the space industry. Of course, the effort in participating is significant throughout the course of the event but, for me personally, it is in a fair proportion to the outcome. Not only for our company but also on a personal level, it is a true “challenge” that benefitted us all greatly. If I just think back to the pitch coaching by Airbus together with the other finalists, this was a lasting, positive experience, both technically and for us as people.

The thermal control system (TCS) is a critical component of satellites, one that is supposed to regulate the temperature of payloads and satellite buses under varying internal and external heat loads. Conventional TCSes use cooling fluids and mechanical pumps whose vibrations disturb payloads and sensors onboard a satellite. Benny Rievers from ZARM – the INNOspace Masters finalist of the 2018/2019 DLR Challenge – proposed a TCS technology based on ferrofluid cooling liquid that is pumped by magnetic fields to avoid mechanical vibrations.

Regine Heue (RH), Head of Marketing & Communications at AZO, interviews Benny Rievers (BR), Head of the Micro Satellite and Modelling Methods Group at the Center of Applied Space Technology and Microgravity (ZARM) at the University of Bremen.

RH: In 2019, you have submitted your idea to the INNOspace Masters. What was your motivation to participate in the competition?

BR: The INNOspace Masters is the perfect competition for innovative project ideas. A new idea with limited previous experience is often hard to realise since traditional agency funding schemes see it as high risk. The INNOspace Masters realises innovative interdisciplinary projects and thus supports an “out-of-the-box” way of thinking rather than aligning project ideas with funding and political concerns within conventional agency funding schemes.

Another aspect is the character of the INNOspace Masters challenges. When you are in competition with other national and international groups, who are preparing their input, the motivation is extremely high to propose a thoroughly worked through, comprehensive proposal that makes it to the jury. Even if an entry is not successful in the INNOspace Masters, this experience and the work invested is very valuable when looking for other sources of funding or moving forward in other ways.

RH: How did being successful in the Challenge help develop your idea and what kind of support did you receive from the DLR Space Administration?

BR: Having become second in the 2018/2019 DLR Challenge, we were asked to submit a full project proposal. After some more administrative work, funding was granted for our collaborative project with the Center of Applied Space Technology and Microgravity (ZARM), University of Bremen and ZARM Technik AG. The project will be funded for the next 2 years and our goal is to develop a demonstrator setup for a ferrofluid cooling system that can be used for space flight applications.

RH: What is the current development status of your idea?

BR: The project started in October and we will have the official project kick-off in November 2019. We are currently in the process of acquiring the necessary hardware for our laboratory setup and the team is starting its work on the first work packages. The first steps are the setup of the first pumping segment as well as the development of a numerical model for the pumping mechanism based on oscillating electromagnetic fields.

RH: Last but not least, what are your recommendations for interested participants of the INNOspace Masters competition?

BR: First of all, if you have an idea that you are confident about, just participate. The online submission form that we worked with was quite manageable in a moderate time. Besides, adding your solution to the database will help you to sort things out so that your submission will also be understandable for non-experts. In this way, you benefit from participating even if you are not selected to pitch in front of the jury.

If you are selected, preparing a pitch for your solution is definitely a great experience: you have to condense, sharpen and reiterate it in order to meet the requirements, so this will further enhance the quality of your contribution. At the first pitch, you also meet your competitors for the first time.

If selected for the second round, you receive specific training to make your final pitch even more successful. Again, you get to know the other successful teams and their projects and everyone works together on improving each pitch in a very productive and collaborative atmosphere.

You not only benefit from support for your project but also gain new contacts and insights into other interesting projects and endeavours that offer possibilities for new collaborations. In particular, the mixture of the participants from universities, SMEs and startups always offers new opportunities.

In summary, participating in the INNOspace Masters is a very beneficial experience both at a professional and a personal level. Requirements are high, but if things don’t work out the first time, you should definitely apply with a different solution the following year. This is what we did and, today, we are able to develop our solution. I can only encourage everybody with an innovative solution to participate and use the support of the INNOSpace Masters to make it a reality.

Great news to the INNOSpace Masters: The 5th innovation competition round launched with additional challenge of DB Netz AG – the new partner to the innovation competition!

The next round of the INNOspace Masters was kicked-off in Berlin at the 3. StartUp Night! Aerospace by BMWi. On 10 October, the BMWi offered innovative startups the opportunity to present their products and business ideas. As part of pitches, an accompanying exhibition and subsequent networking, interested startups met not only established companies from the aerospace industry but also financial investors, venture capitalists and medium-sized investment companies.

During this high-level event, the INNOSpace Masters 2019/2020 was kicked-of by the initiator DLR Space & Administration as well as all partners. Ideas can be submitted from 28 October 2019 to 7 February 2020.

Space is a driver for new technologies. Companies and scientific institutions in the industry are developing forward-looking innovations – and not only for the space industry itself. Many of the space solutions that have been found have the potential to be transferred to other applications outside the space sector. At the same time, developments from a wide variety of disciplines also offer great potential for the space industry. For the 5th time in a row, the innovation competition is looking for concepts and ideas that address current challenges in space and other sectors through a mutual transfer of knowledge or technology. As a new partner to the competition, DB Netz AG will also be hosting its own challenge in the INNOspace Masters 2019/20.

Read the current press release here.