Profile

Fraunhofer USA

Fraunhofer USA, Inc. is a 501 (c) (3) not-for-profit organization incorporated in Rhode Island that is dedicated to the advancement of applied research. Fraunhofer USA was founded in 1994 to conduct applied R & D for customers from industry and state governments and the federal government in the United States. 

Working closely with Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, Europe’s largest application-oriented research and development organization, Fraunhofer USA can offer both domestic and international resources to enhance its portfolio of R & D services. Through a vast global cooperation network, we are well positioned to be a vital part in overcoming regional and global challenges, to uncover potential research areas and support economic development. In an international competitive environment, together with an extensive network of Fraunhofer institutes in Germany and strategic partners, we strive to strengthen transatlantic collaboration in education, applied research and innovation.  

Mission

Fraunhofer USA offers customized, advanced technology research, development and deployment. Fraunhofer USA shall serve market-driven technology needs; promote international cooperation in business; establish strategic alliances with industry, government and academic partners.

Vision

Fraunhofer USA, like its founder and funding partner Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, is a national and international leader of applied research. As an innovation driver, we lead strategic initiatives to master future challenges and thus achieve technological breakthroughs.

 We look forward to working with you!

Strategic Research Goals

Fraunhofer USA develops required innovations and core competences to address technological, commercial, and social imperatives of our time. The topics of these projects are a result of two fundamental driving forces – industry and its technology-pull roadmap, and the government and its technology push-roadmap. These key innovations are then deployed in the U.S. R&D market where Fraunhofer USA engages with industry clients or the public sector in contract R&D projects as well as public-private partnerships (3P) for technology transfer. As a result of this activity, Fraunhofer USA helps the industry sector to de-risk their technology development investments, improve time-to market, enhance their competitiveness while reducing capital and operational expense, and improve quality and quantity of the product, enabling scalability and transferability of a process, reducing technology development and device integration costs. The advantages for the public sector are access to a team of experienced, professional, inter-disciplinary researchers and scientists able to provide scalable and transferable solutions, and access to researchers with both an academic and industrial mindset and experience.

Future Wireless and Related Technologies

  • 5G and 6G
  • IIoT and Distributed Manufacturing
  • Edge Computing and Mobile Edge Computing (MEC)
  • Terahertz Communications
  • Ultra-Low Power AI for IoT Devices

Industry 4.0 and Advanced Manufacturing

  • Digital Twins
  • Additive Manufacturing
  • Vision Inspection and Predictive Maintenance
  • Process Automation, Robotics
  • Collaborative Robots (Cobots)
  • Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) Security
  • Design for Disassembly and Recyclability

Electrification and Hydrogen Technologies

  • Battery Technologies and Energy Storage
  • EVs and Power Semiconductors
  • Industrial Electrification and Decarbonization of Industrial Processes
  • H2-Technologies (H2-Production Efficiency and Application)
  • Smart Grid Technologies
  • Green Hydrogen Production
  • Solid-State Batteries
  • Thermal Energy Storage and Management

 

Programs

  • Trustworthy AI and Ethics
  • AI Ergonomics and Human-AI Interaction
  • AI Robustness Testing
  • Federated Learning
  • Explainable AI (XAI)
  • AI for Cybersecurity
  • Privacy-Preserving AI and Differential Privacy

Climate Technologies, Sustainability and Agriculture

  • Carbon Capture and Carbon to X to Y
  • Renewable Energies and Storage
  • Sustainability in Production and Materials
  • Aquaponics, Aeroponics
  • Agrophotovoltaics
  • Microgrids and Distributed Energy Resources
  • Precision Agriculture and AI-driven Farming
  • Waste and Toxin Processing (PFAS, etc.)
  • Waste-to-Resource Technologies

Quantum Computing, Communication, Sensing and Imaging

  • Quantum Optimization, AI, Numerics
  • Advanced Materials and Diamond
  • Quantum Communications Systems for Space and Terrestrial Networks
  • Quantum Sensors for Precision Measurement

Bioengineering

Plant Based Food and Cultivated Meat

Synthetic Biology and Genetic Engineering

  • Biomedical and Neural Engineering
  • Organ-on-a-Chip Technology
  • Bioinformatics and Computational Biology
  • Microbiome Engineering
  • Biosensors and Wearable Health Monitoring
  • Antibiotic Resistance and Tolerance

Company

Headquarters: Plymouth, Michigan

Date of incorporation: Sept. 14, 1994

Non-profit 501(c)(3) organization

 

Centers

Center Mid-Atlantic CMA

Center Midwest CMW

Center for Manufacturing Innovation CMI

Offices


Digital Media Technologies

Fraunhofer USA Headquarters

South Carolina Fraunhofer USA Alliance Program Office

 

Cooperation Partner Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft

 

Programs

Fraunhofer USA operates two additional programs that work to provide our expertise and technologies to society. 

Research

Our research efforts ultimately aim at having innovative societal impact by providing comprehensive solutions to our industry customers.