Reliability of Electronic Systems

For 30 years the department Environmental & Reliability Engineering at Fraunhofer IZM has been researching, developing and consulting on the subject of environmentally compatible design and reliabilty of electronics and IT.

When developing and bringing new products to market, knowing its lifetime can be essential. Manufacturers want their products to work for a specific period of time or number of uses, but things break and products fail. To know when and why that happens, Fraunhofer IZM uses reliability testing.

An important challenge for society as a whole is to curb the increasing consumption of resources and limiting the amount of electrical waste. The inquiries from the industry, whether for design concepts for specific products or for environmental improvements to basic technologies, are currently increasing significantly.

As environmental experts for electronics and ICT products, Fraunhofer IZM works with partners from industry, research and politics to develop cost and environmental models, create holistic environmental life cycle assessments and devise strategies for reusing raw materials in high-tech products.

Challenges and opportunities: The road to more recycled plastics in electronics products

Little to no recycled plastics are used in the making of high-end electronic devices or electrical appliances (EEE), such as computers, refrigerators, and smartphones. At the same time, these products are among the fastest growing waste categories. How can the…

Electrification in the fast lane: How silicon carbide is driving power electronics forward

The new generations of semiconductors with a wider band gap (WBG), such as silicon carbide (SiC), have the potential to put electric mobility in the fast lane. This is because they yield significantly higher efficiency compared to conventional silicon IGBT…

E-pills: A new approach to diagnosing and treating gastrointestinal conditions

The gastrointestinal tract is of great importance to our health and wellbeing, but many patients are wary about the endoscopic exams that they often associate with considerable discomfort. And indeed, in many cases, the current methods require general anesthesia and…

A question of design: How form and functions support moderate and sustainable smartphone use

RealIZM-Blog-Series “Integrative Circular Economy” – Part 3 Smartphones are both a curse and a blessing. A blessing because they offer us security and enable us to contact our loved ones anytime and anywhere, quickly retrieve information and news, reach any…

MODEST CUBE: A vision of sustainable smartphone product design

RealIZM-Blog-Series “Integrative Circular Economy” – Part 2″ Most high-end smartphones have one thing in common – they all look very similar. Take any device from a leading manufacturer, and you will see  a powerful camera, a large display, and generally…

What makes modular smartphones sustainable for different user groups?

RealIZM-Blog-Series “Integrative Circular Economy” – Part 1 The average working life of a smartphone among the over-16s in Germany lasts only around 7 to 12 months. Users opt for newer models as a result of the fast innovation cycles, driven…

RealIZM: Our top-5 posts by female scientists at Fraunhofer IZM

Even today, women remain underrepresented in science and in research-driven industry. At Fraunhofer IZM, women account for 29.3 % of all employees, with a greater proportion of women in non-scientific (50 %) than in science jobs (23.8 %).* To counter…

Sustainable mobile devices for the environment: Long live smartphones and tablets!

Mobility matters for people and their devices, but increasingly, so does sustainability. But smartphones, tablets, and the like generate considerable carbon emissions when they are produced and when they are used. In addition, valuable raw materials are used to make…

Space Electronics – Fit for Orbit!

The Outer Space Treaty of 1967 stipulates that every nation enjoys free access to space. For the last 20 years, more and more nations have been launching commercial projects in space. Private spaceflight companies are planning to use micro and…

Robust5G – How clever module design slows down the material aging of 5G components

Communication networks like 5G need the many modules and components that make them up to be robust and long-lasting, whatever the environmental conditions or other circumstances may be. Researchers at Fraunhofer IZM have now developed a testing method which allows…