Behind the Scenes: Introducing the New RealIZM Team

With more than 400 employees at three locations in Germany and laboratory space of over 8,000 square meters, the Fraunhofer Institute for Reliability and Microintegration IZM is working on technologies and making innovative ideas happen in the field of microelectronics. Whether it’s quantum technology, next generation computing, or the future of 5G/6G technologies – microelectronics is an essential component everywhere.

It is in the nature of things that microelectronic components are often (almost) invisible to the user. Nonetheless, they are indispensable. Almost three years ago, Yulia Fedorovich and Marieke Lienert had the great idea to start the RealIZM blog.

Their vision was to make what was invisible visible on an online communication platform. They planned to create a digital stage for the stories behind Fraunhofer IZM’s research and let our readers get to know our researchers and project partners. In autumn 2019, the RealIZM blog was launched – the first Fraunhofer blog for microelectronics. By now, the team has already published 60 posts, conducting countless background discussions and interviews with internal and external experts in microelectronics. And it is not just about their ideas and potential areas of application.

We would like to say a big THANK YOU to the two initiators for the great idea of communicating the topic of microelectronics to a wider audience in a way that is easy to understand and get behind for the general public. Of course, we would also like to thank all of the interviewees for their time and patience. Through the interviews with them, we were able to gain an in-depth insight into their forward-looking research and their everyday work at Fraunhofer IZM. All of this helped us tell their stories to the outside world.

We also need to thank the numerous “helping hands” whose work in the background happens as if by magic every time. From the first idea for a new article, to coordinating interview appointments, to editing and publication, there are countless steps to take. We can see from the more than 10,000 readers that it is worthwhile to walk this path together. The RealIZM blog is a wonderful example of successful interdisciplinary teamwork!

Not only is development and research in the field of microelectronics progressing and evolving all the time, but there are also changes in our blog. From now on, we, Jacqueline Kamp and Katja Arnhold, will be responsible for the editorial design. Together, we will act as a catalyst for communicating exciting topics from the world of Fraunhofer IZM and microelectronics.

Jacqueline has been a working student in Fraunhofer IZM’s Public Relations team since May 2021. Since then, she has not only been conducting interviews with our experts, she also edits them and writes for our blog. Katja has 20 years of experience in corporate communications and B2B marketing. She became part of the marketing and communications team here at Fraunhofer IZM in May 2022.

In future, we, the new RealIZM blog team, will continue to present the researchers behind Fraunhofer IZM developments. As usual, we will let our readers catch a sneak peek into our labs and the research process. Presenting the challenges and opportunities in research projects at three Fraunhofer IZM locations in Germany – Cottbus, Dresden, and Berlin – is just as important to us as reaching out to the international blogging community.

You can look forward to new exciting insights into the world of microelectronics. To stay up to date, subscribe and share our posts! Feedback, suggestions, and new ideas for the design of the blog as well as topic proposals are always welcome.

Katja Arnhold and Jacqueline Kamp