Last Friday, "10 years of the Research Institute for Innovative Surfaces (FINO)" was celebrated in the Great Hall of Aalen University of Applied Sciences as part of the fourth FINO Forum. Prof. Dr. Katharina Weber, one of the three FINO Institute Directors, acted as moderator and skillfully led through the event (allgemein), which offered a series of entertaining lectures, technical lectures in addition to the celebrations.
Despite the wind and snow showers, numerous guests attended the commemorative event, festive event, of the research institute for innovative surfaces - FINO for short - in the Great Hall of Aalen University of Applied Sciences to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the department, institute in a fitting manner. FINO was founded in 2014 as the first university institute whose regulations, statutes were officially approved by the Senate - a step that highlighted its strategic importance for Aalen University of Applied Sciences from the very beginning. Since then, FINO has developed into a flagship for research in natural and materials science, with the aim of understanding and designing surfaces and optimizing their functionality.
Prof. Dr. Katharina Weber, who joined the department, institute in 2021, welcomed the guests and set the mood for an exciting afternoon dedicated to innovative surfaces. Lord Mayor Frederick Brütting took the opportunity to personally convey the congratulations of the city of Aalen and emphasize the importance of FINO's work for the regional economy, business and companies: "The companies in the region benefit from the innovative strength of the department, institute and also reflect this back." He also picked up on the claim formulated by Institute Director Prof. Dr. Joachim Albrecht in the invitation to want to make the world a little bit better and reiterated: "To make the world a better place on a large scale, you have to go into detail." FINO clearly stands for this. President Prof. Dr. Harald Riegel emphasized the importance of the anniversary, which is not only a milestone for the department, institute itself, but also for the entire institution of higher education: "As Aalen University of Applied Sciences, we are proud to have FINO as part of our research landscape. The department, institute embodies the spirit of our institution of higher education - excellent research, practical solutions, committed teamwork and a clear focus on the future." Between the following lectures, technical lectures dealing with biopolymers and tribology, Dr. Wadim Schulz, the department, institute's "home-grown", gave an amusing review of FINO's ten-year history.
Before the afternoon turned into a convivial evening, Institute Director Prof. Dr. Joachim Albrecht gave a talk; "What good surfaces have to do with natural sciences", in which he told the audience, which included many students from a wide range of degree programs, that the planned reductions in CO2 emissions by 2050 are based to a not inconsiderable extent on technologies that have yet to be developed. This is incentive enough for FINO to continue developing solutions over the next ten years that will sustainably advance society and industry.
