HERE+NOW.IMPULSE MAGAZINE // Special Edition 2019

HERE
+NOW.
IMPULSE MAGAZINE
Entrepreneurial spirit and research excellence
in Saxony-Anhalt
invest-in-saxony-anhalt.com
SPECIAL
EDITION
Courage.
Innovation.
Self-Starter.

EDITORIAL
HERE
ideas become
successful.
Having good ideas isn’t enough. They
also have to become a reality. For ideas to
become a success, they need opportunities.
Saxony-Anhalt offers these opportunities.
Entrepreneurs don’t just appreciate the central
location and excellent infrastructure of
the federal state, which have made it into a
leading logistics hub in Germany and Europe.
The optimum scientific structure and
a sophisticated cluster management also
offer both those starting new businesses
and established companies the best framework
conditions. The historical local roots
in mechanical engineering and the chemical
industry provide sustainable foundations for
the region and create bridges to relatively
new sectors, such as information technology
and the bio-economy. Saxony-Anhalt is one
of the pioneers in the field of new materials
and materials which are based on renewable
raw materials. Creative people will also find
a stimulating environment and artistic freedom
for their ideas here. The creative economy
is increasingly becoming a driving force
and driver of innovation for other sectors.
The best opportunities count for little,
however, if they aren’t taken. Nothing is ever
possible without people who have the courage
to start a business or bring an innovation
to the market. Such people are supported by
the Ministry of Economics, Science and Digitalisation
and the Investment and Marketing
Corporation Saxony-Anhalt as partners and
pilots – during their search for a suitable
location, with administrative procedures at
public authorities, as well as financial support
and the conceptualisation of projects.
Saxony-Anhalt is well-equipped for
entrepreneurs with courage and ideas. In
recent years, the federal state has made
good progress with its innovation strategy.
The links between business and science
have been strengthened on a sustainable
basis, and the transfer of knowledge and
technology has gained a decisive impetus.
This has also been down to ground-breaking
initiatives such as the State Initiative for
Excellence, the targeted expansion of the
business-oriented research infrastructure,
the establishment of an efficient transfer
infrastructure with the Competence Network
for Applied and Transfer-Oriented Research
(KAT), and the promotion of collaborative
projects and research and development projects
in businesses.
To further improve the position of
Saxony-Anhalt in terms of the international
competition for business locations, education,
research and innovation will continue
to take priority in the future. The success
stories on the following pages show that the
path we have chosen is the right one.
invest-in-saxony-anhalt.com
3

Contents
6
11
16
21
26
29
Food and Agriculture
Roquette + PureRaw:
A genuinely cracking idea
Chemistry and the Bioeconomy
EW Biotech:
Small becomes large
Mobility and Logistics
FEV Continuous Running Testing Centre:
Putting it through its paces
Health and Medicine
neotiv:
A mental matter
Energy, Engineering and Plant Construction,
Resource Efficiency
INTEB-M:
Mechanical engineering in the DNA
Ceterum:
Creating space for innovations
4

CONTENTS
31
36
41
Information and
Communication Technology
mercateo:
Ledermann’s darling
Creative Industry
The Designhaus Halle:
An incubator for creative people
Key Technologies
SmartMembranes:
Success that’s down
to the tiniest detail
5

MARKET
OF THE FUTURE
FOOD AND
AGRICULTURE
A genuinely
cracking idea
Roquette + PureRaw
6

MARKET OF THE FUTURE FOOD AND AGRICULTURE
A strong team wants to
establish a research
and competence centre
for algae in Klötze
Kirstin
Knufmann,
Managing Director
of Knufmann
GmbH, and
Jörg Ullmann,
Managing Director
of Roquette
Klötze GmbH
& Co. LIMITED
PARTNERSHIP
“Somewhere in the east” is where
Kirstin Knufmann was once told by a
customer that there was a good producer of
algae. She was looking for regional alternatives
for her suppliers from China. It was the
time when the cartons and boxes with their
goods were piled up in her parents’ house near
Cologne and the family members could only
squeeze past them holding their arms up. It was
with this information that Kirstin Knufmann
discovered Roquette Klötze GmbH & Co. KG,
and in so doing, a strong partner with whom
she has continuously developed new products.
And in Klötze in the Altmark region, she also
found an attractive location for her company:
Knufmann GmbH, with the PureRaw brand.
PureRaw stands for the products of which Kirstin
Knufmann is personally convinced. After all,
for many years, she has been enjoying raw vegan
food, developing her own recipes and providing
information on the subject of nutrition
in specialist books, at trade fairs and in lectures.
“Algae aren’t just of interest to people who eat
vegan. A lack of vitamin B12, iron or iodine is
now an issue all over Europe,” explains Kirstin
Knufmann. “Soils are exhausted and the search
for high-quality food is becoming a problem.”
Algae provide valuable proteins,
vitamins and fatty acids, grow 10 to 30
times more quickly than terrestrial plants, have
a low nutrient intake and are long-lasting. They
provide answers to many of the urgent questions
regarding the climate, agriculture and
feeding the world’s population. In animal feed,
they can help reduce the use of antibiotics and
are even being discussed as a supplier of fuel.
“With my algae, I always have a solution.
There’s just one problem: almost nobody
knows”, explains biologist Jörg Ullmann. “And
it’s no longer a matter of them being a source
of hope for the future. Algae have already
arrived.” Some 70 percent of all processed foods
already contain algae. At the same time, they
7

Facts
Food and agriculture
in Saxony-Anhalt
100
1.2
Saxony-Anhalt has
approximately 1.2 million
hectares of land which
is used agricultural
purposes, around 85 percent
of which is arable land.
Klein Wanzleben is one
of the oldest locations
for sugar pro duction
in Germany.
Saxony Anhalt is home
to soil of the highest quality.
In many places, the maximum
soil value of 100 is achieved.
In the food industry,
Saxony-Anhalt
is home to 22,500
companies with at
least 20 employees.
have been produced at the industrial level for 65
years. Klötze is home to the first German algae
farm, which remains one of the biggest in Europe
to this day. Since 2004, it is mainly the micro
algae Chlorella that has been cultivated here
in a 500 kilometre long tube system made of
glass. This saves space and energy and provides
protection against contamination. Roquette
Klötze GmbH also cultivates approximately 15
other species of algae to order. A second plant in
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania has recently
begun producing heat-loving Spirulina with the
use of a completely new technology.
“It would be a world’s first.
We want to develop new products for
supermarkets here and to manufacture
and market these products locally.
We also want to educate the public
about what algae can do.”
KIRSTIN KNUFMANN
Jörg Ullmann has been working at the
algae farm since 2004 and assumed
management of the plant in Klötze in 2012.
“We see ourselves here as a biomass producer,”
says the expert for powders and pellets made
from microalgae. “PureRaw, on the other hand,
is closer to the end customer and knows what
people want and what appeals to them best.”
Together, Kirstin Knufmann and Jörg Ullman
are able to develop healthy and popular products
and market them successfully: “BOBEI”
powder replaces the ingredients of butter and
egg during baking. The instant drink mixture
“Unicorn Magic” brings the natural blue
colouring of the Spirulina algae with all of its
valuable ingredients into the glass.
Collaborations are also under way with other
companies and much is in secret preparation.
“We’ve got some cracking ideas in the pipeline,”
says Ullmann, discussing the crunchy algae
snack “Helga” and the organic drink of the
same name, for example. There are also icecream
mixes and algae noodles and they are
also giving pastries a go. A fruit press adds the
algae powder from Klötze to fruit juices, thereby
covering the daily requirement for vitamin
B12. And yet Knufmann and Ullmann are a long
way from having had enough of algae. “We
need more great, sexy products,” they say.
They are both dreaming of their own
research and competence centre in
Klötze. With business partners and courageous
start-ups, they want to concentrate expertise
at the location. “It would be a world’s first.
We want to develop new products for supermarkets
here and to manufacture and market
8

MARKET OF THE FUTURE FOOD AND AGRICULTURE
algomed.de
kirstinknufmann.de
pureraw.de
these products locally. We also want to inform
the public about the things that algae can do,”
explains Kirstin Knufmann. On the internet,
the young woman shows how algae can be
prepared at home. The photographs were
taken in her kitchen at home, which she now
shares with Jörg Ullmann. The two cook, fry
and dry algae. The age-old aquatic plants serve
as vegetables, spices, gelling agents and flavour
enhancers.
There are thought to be some 400,000
different species of algae in the world,
and the research is still in its infancy. “It’s a
treasure chest that we‘re only just opening,”
says Ullmann. Together with his partner, he has
build the foundation for the new competence
centre. In 2018, they launched the AlgaeFood
innovation forum, which lasted several months
and included an international conference in
Magdeburg. The search for additional business
partners has therefore started. Multipliers
such as chefs, bloggers and prominent brand
ambassadors are also needed, however. “It’s
good that Saxony-Anhalt has included algae in
its lead market strategy,” says Ullmann. “Klötze
could become the starting point for an entire
industry.”
When Kirstin Knufmann was looking for a new
location for her company, she had also had
Munich and Hamburg in mind. In Klötze, however,
she didn’t just find cheaper storage and
production space, but 18 employees, a house
and a dog – and in Jörg Ullmann, a strong partner
in both her professional and personal life.
“We’ve had so many successes to toast,” she
says happily. “But we haven’t found the time to
go to the cinema in three years.”
9

MARKET OF THE FUTURE FOOD AND AGRICULTURE
Free from those
pangs of conscience
Well-intentioned and wellmade
chocolate that comes
from Tangermünde
Tangermünder Nährstange, Magde -
burger Kugeln or Tanolo – the Stehwien
confectionery is known for its exceptional
regional specialities. It also has an eye on the
trends of the future, however.
The confectionery was founded in 1899 in Tangermünde,
and remains family-owned to this
day. Its owner, Olaf Stehwien, enjoys the opportunity
to guide visitors through his modern
production facility. He has nothing to hide, but
a lot to show. In addition to its traditional products,
the 20-strong team also serves the “Choc-
Qlate” brand from the Munich-based company
TrustFood GmbH and the nationwide market
of the future: the fine virgin-cocoa-chocolates
are vegan, organic and gluten and lactose-free.
They are sweetened with coconut blossom and
packed in compost-friendly wood foil.
naehrstange.de, chocqlate.com
A library
of life
The extensive gene bank in Gatersleben
is essential for life
Crunchy
ideas
The dried fruits from PÄX Food guarantee
a natural taste
The scientific work in Gatersleben is
based on a green heart: the German
Federal Ex-situ Gene Bank. As one of the
world’s biggest and oldest institutions of
its kind, it safeguards the genetic diversity
of cultivated plants.
In the gene bank at the Leibniz Institute for
Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK)
in Gatersleben, some 151,002 samples from
2,933 species and 776 genera are preserved and
therefore made usable over the long term: with
this collection, research also takes place into
cultivated plants and their related wild species.
The results of the research lead to a superior
understanding of the plants and provide the
basis for new species. Scientists use the Gene
Bank Information System (GBIS) for their
research.
Dried fruits can sometimes sound like
the kind of dry, soft food that you eat
when you’re on a diet. PÄX Food serves them
differently: the long-lasting fruits from Magdeburg
are crunchy and brightly coloured, but
retain almost all their vitamins.
Neither baked, fried, nor freeze-dried: PÄX Food
AG has developed an entirely new process for
preserving fruit: The fruit is dried gently in
a vacuum with the addition of heat. Neither
sugar nor other additives are found in the ingredients.
In the online shop, apple rings are on
offer as well as exotic treats such as mulberry
or physalis. Courgette, onions and beetroot are
ideal for cooking. For healthy vegan cuisine at
any time of the year or simply as a crispy snack
in between meals.
ipk-gatersleben.de
paexfood.com
10

Managing
Director of
EW Biotech,
Dr. Joachim
Schulze
MARKET
OF THE FUTURE
CHEMISTY AND
BIOECONOMY
Small
becomes
large
EW Biotech
11

EW Biotech scales
biotechnological
processes in Leuna
The chemical park in Leuna is a small
world of its own. No one is allowed to
drive on the premises without an identity card
check and safety instructions. Inside, the traditional
industrial area is linked together by a
kilometre-long network of roads, rails, pipelines
and power cables. More than 6,000 people
work at the 1,300 hectare site – Leuna has
made a name for itself in the chemical industry.
One of the many companies based at the
chemical park is EW Biotech GmbH. It is here
that the leap from the laboratory to the
industrial production is rehearsed. An American
company, for instance, commissioned EW
Biotech with the production of small quantities
of 1.3-butylene glycol, which is used as a moisturiser
in a variety of creams. “At our facility,
we are able to scale any biotechnological
process and bring it to industrial maturity. Our
customers commission us with producing the
initial tonnes of a substance. Only two or three
companies in the world are able to do this. That
makes us into a sought-after partner,” explains
Managing Director Dr. Joachim Schulze, while
representatives from an American start-up sit
in the next room and negotiate future projects
with the developers from Leuna. In addition to
scaling and contract manufacturing, the EW
Biotech facility also facilitates research and
12

MARKET OF THE FUTURE CHEMISTY AND BIOECONOMY
“There is a very
interesting spectrum of
chemical companies in
Saxony-Anhalt and our
collaboration is excellent.
I’ve rarely experienced it
in such complexity.”
DR. JOACHIM SCHULZE
development work in the area of bio-based
chemicals for cosmetics as well as food and
feed additives.
EW Biotech regularly attends international
trade fairs with the objective of
bringing customers to Leuna with their projects.
The field of bio-economy is seeing steady
growth.
“In recent years, numerous start-ups have
been set up in Germany and the USA that are
genetically modifying bacteria, yeasts and
fungi in the interests of being able to produce
fine chemicals. That’s exactly where we come
in: to test out what’s possible. At present,
some 60 to 70 percent of American start-ups
in the bio-economy are knocking on our door,”
explains Managing Director Joachim Schulze.
Before arriving in Leuna, Schulze, who hails
from Dortmund, worked in research and development
and as a manager in plant engineering,
with his work seeing him travel the world. “I’m
excited about this new technology and the innovative
capability. The bio-economy has huge
potential. Saxony-Anhalt has embarked on the
right path in this area to be able to be a leading
player worldwide. We are now on the threshold
of introducing biotechnological methods into
industry,” explains Schulze.
EW Biotech currently has more than 30
employees. Attracting experienced
employees to this young industry is considered
difficult. The area of training in this threshold
technology needs to be significantly expanded.
This is one of the reasons why Saxony-Anhalt
has the BioEconomy cluster – a network of
companies, research and educational institutions
working closely together on a bio-based
economy. In this way, value chains can be
expanded and optimised on an efficient basis.
The objective is to create a model region for the
bio-economy throughout Germany and Europe.
At present, more than 70 companies, research
institutes and educational institutions are
organised in the cluster.
“We have the ideal conditions. The
three biggest factories for sugar production
in the world are in Saxony-Anhalt. In
addition, the acceptance of the chemical industry
in the region is also greater because there is
a decades-long tradition here, which is a clear
advantage.
13

Facts
Chemicals and the bio-economy
in Saxony-Anhalt
80,000 13,800
The oldest material
from Central Germany is
80,000 years old – it was
found in Königsaue near
Aschersleben.
One sixth of the total
industrial turnover in the
federal state of Saxony-
Anhalt is generated by the
chemicals industry.
Saxony-Anhalt‘s
chemical industry
employs some 13,800
people and has
a turnover
of approximately
7.5 billion Euros.
The federal state is home
to five chemical parks:
Bitterfeld-Wolfen Chemical
Park, Leuna Chemicals Site,
Dow Value Park Schkopau/
Böhlen, Piesteritz Agro-
Chemical Park as well as Zeitz
Chemical and Industrial Park.
All in all, the chemical companies in Saxony-
Anhalt account for a very interesting spectrum
and our collaboration is very good. I have rarely
experienced this in such complexity,” says Joachim
Schulze, who is also the Board Chairman
of the BioEconomy cluster.
Innovations have a strong tradition in
Leuna. In 1916, Carl Bosch founded the
history of the location for the chemicals sector
with an ammonia plant on behalf of BASF. The
far-sighted plans of the chemist helped Leuna
to gain international renown.
Following from the industrial introduction of
ammonia synthesis, from 1923, methanol was
produced for the first time on a global scale
using the high-pressure process. At the end of
the 1920s, the history of Leuna as a location for
the mineral oil industry got under way with
the development of lignite hydrogenation for
the production of synthetic fuels. The year 1938
marked a milestone in the history of the site: it
was in Leuna that Caprolactam was synthesized
to produce Perlon. Until the Second World War,
the stronghold for technology developed into
what was the biggest operational facility in
the German chemical industry. One example of
this is the world’s first production plant for the
manufacturing of synthetic surfactants, which
entered operations in 1942. Leuna also remained
a synonym for chemicals after the Second
World War. Today’s investors at the site benefit
from the production that took place under the
East German flag. The reputation of Leuna as an
industrial region that pollutes the environment
has long since been a thing of the past. In comparison
with 1989, environmental pollution has
been reduced by 95 percent, and more than 6.5
billion Euros have been invested in the chemical
site. The site has developed into a melting pot
for international chemical companies, where
French, American, Belgian and German businesses
work closely together.
ew-biotech.com
14

MARKET OF THE FUTURE CHEMISTY AND BIOECONOMY
Stable values
The company C3 Technologies GmbH in
Halle (Saale) uses environmentally-friendly
composites without crude oil
Is it possible to build better than
mother nature? Natural materials are
healthy and popular, but are frequently more
expensive than conventional materials and
demanding to use. The GreenTech company
C3 Technologies is responding with environmentally-friendly
composites.
The high-tech materials which are made from
regional, renewable raw materials optimise
characteristics and costs while conserving
valuable resources. They are stable, costef
fective and do not require petroleum or
high-performan ce processes. The solutions
from Halle (Saale) also include the Nature-
Composite panel construction element system
with load-bearing function, which is unique
worldwide. It can be used in the construction
of multi-storey buildings. The C3 products are
developed jointly with the Fraunhofer Institute
for Microstructure of Materials and Systems
IMWS.
c3tec.de
From straw to gold
Global Bioenergies GmbH highlights
alternatives for crude oil in Leuna.
Isobutene is required for the production
of fuel, solvents, rubber and acrylic glass.
Isobutene requires petroleum – or sugar. At a
demonstration plant in Leuna, researchers are
looking for new approaches.
Isobutene is a basic raw material for industry
and is one of the most important petrochemical
raw materials. The resource of oil is finite,
however. The German-French company Global
Bioenergies GmbH and the Fraunhofer Centre
for Chemical-Biotechnological Processes CBP
are demonstrating a way out. In 2017, they built
a pilot plant in which 100 tonnes of isobutene
can be produced annually – thanks to the digestive
processes of a micro-organism. It is based
on renewable raw materials such as sugar beet
and grain. To protect food, the researchers are
also looking at by-products from agriculture
and forestry, such as straw and wood. In the
future, bio-kerosene is set to be produced from
sugar in Leuna.
global-bioenergies.com
cbp.fraunhofer.de
15

MARKET
OF THE FUTURE
MOBILITY AND
LOGISTICS
Putting
it through
its paces
FEV Dauerlaufprüfzentrum
16

MARKET OF THE FUTURE MOBILITY AND LOGISTICS
FEV in Brehna tests
engines 24 hours
a day, 365 days a year.
Hans-Dieter
Sonntag,
Managing
Director of
FEV Endurance
Testing Centre
On more than two dozen monitors,
curves, columns of numbers and bar
diagrams whirr. On the wall, clocks show the
time in the USA, China and Japan. Engineers
routinely click through process logs. In the
control room of the FEV endurance test centre,
you don’t just have a clear overview – you have
a clear perspective.
In the industrial park in Brehna, north east of
Halle, automotive manufacturers from all over
the world put their newly developed engines
“through their paces” before they go into series
production. In configured test cells, a wide
variety of engines are tested for their durability
and function using state-of-the-art measurement
technology. From wear on individual
components to oil or coolant consumption
through to intake air, thousands of data are
documented right down to the second, and
transmitted to the development departments
of car manufacturers.
Hans-Dieter Sonntag is one of two Managing
Directors at the FEV Endurance Test Centre. He
sits in his office and looks out of the window
at the vehicles passing by on the horizon on
the A9 motorway. “Mechanics, technicians and
engineers are on duty here around the clock.
This creates a very high level of efficiency when
completing the inspection tasks. We can also
carry out evaluations, special measurements,
error analyses and appropriate solutions at any
time of the day or night and make them available
to our customers,” explains Hans-Dieter
Sonntag. This high efficiency as well as the 24-
hour service are also the reason why automotive
manufacturers no longer test their engines
themselves, but hand them over to Brehna.
Increasingly rapid model change cycles and the
growing complexity of drive configurations are
increasing the need for the technical securing
of new ranges of engine.
At the FEV Endurance Test Centre,
all combustion engines as well as hybrids
or straightforward electric vehicle drives
can be tested. “It is currently difficult to predict
the form of drive which will prevail in the fu-
17

Facts
Mobility and logistics
in Saxony-Anhalt
With 3,100 kilometres
of track, Saxony-Anhalt
has one of the most highly
developed rail networks
in the world.
6
6 academic departments
at the universities
in the federal state
educate the logistics
experts of tomorrow.
Saxony-Anhalt has one of the
most modern networks of waterways
in Europe, with the Elbe, the Mittelland
Canal, the Elbe-Havel Canal and
the Water Crossing.
ture. We assume that the various technologies
will be developed on a simultaneous basis over
the next ten years. We will naturally benefit
from this multi-track approach”, explains
Hans-Dieter Sonntag. For FEV in Brehna, that
means growth. FEV has invested particularly
strongly in the expansion of test benches for
electric motors – the demand in this segment
is huge.
The company began in the year 2008
with 80 employees, who were responsible
for 31 engine and powertrain testing
systems. The site now has 48 test benches
“Here in the region, a mentality of
getting things done prevails. You come
up with an idea and you get going.
That’s one of the main reasons why
we’re at Brehna today.”
HANS-DIETER SONNTAG
and more than 200 employees. When the
FEV Group, which is based in Aachen, was
looking for a suitable location, Saxony-Anhalt
convinced with its rapid, hands-on approach.
“Here in the region, a mentality of getting
things done prevails. You come up with an
idea and you get going. That’s one of the main
reasons why we’re at Brehna today. Due to
time constraints, we were hard-pressed to
be operational on schedule. The local authorities
held a conference, and what we never
thought was possible happened: we obtained
the approval within a week,” recalls Managing
Director Sonntag, who previously worked for
the company for many years in Aachen. FEV has
now invested 90 million Euros in the Brehna
site and that’s not the end of the story. At
present, there are plans to take the next step
towards e-mobility at the site in 2019 – with up
to 80 new jobs.
To strengthen research and development
in Saxony-Anhalt, FEV is part
of the MAHREG Automotive cluster. This is a
network to which some 170 companies and
research institutions belong. The key task of
network management is to strengthen the
innovation and performance capabilities of regional
suppliers. In addition to the developmental
partnerships, there is an intensive transfer
of knowledge and technology between the
areas of science, service providers and manufacturers.
FEV maintains a wide range of collab-
18

MARKET OF THE FUTURE MOBILITY AND LOGISTICS
orations with the universities of Saxony- Anhalt.
The establishment of a “Centre for Method
Development” together with the Otto-von-
Guericke University Magdeburg is also planned,
for instance. “It is set to become increasingly important
to have good connections with colleges
and universities. The objective is to make sure
that university graduates stay on in Saxony-
Anhalt. Business and science have to move
closer together. Dual courses of study also need
to be expanded with the objective of training
people who are more than just theoreticians,”
explains Hans-Dieter Sonntag.
At the Endurance Test Centre in Brehna, many
young engineers work different shifts. “It isn’t
easy to find good employees these days. In
addition to competitive pay, however, we also
have other services, such as health management,
a laundry service, fresh fruit and coffee
and offer interesting jobs, which make us
attractive. And that’s true, even though we are
competing with Porsche and BMW in nearby
Leipzig for well-trained specialists,” explains the
Managing Director. FEV tries to offer employees
who want to get out of their shift pattern
an alternative in the interests of keeping them
in the company. There is a department in which
the engines are dismantled into their individual
parts and photo-documented after the endurance
test, for example.
Hans-Dieter Sonntag’s office door opens a
little and his assistant reminds him that boarding
for his flight starts in just 30 minutes. And
that’s another advantage of the Brehna location
– Leipzig/Halle Airport is just 20 minutes
away.
fev-dlp.de
19

MARKET OF THE FUTURE MOBILITY AND LOGISTICS
Virtual visions
Nericon supplies customised
designs for automobiles
For many people, their own car is a chic
status symbol. At the same time, new
solutions in terms of drive, performance and
environmental protection are required in the
shortest possible time frames. NERICON is
responding with virtual visions and designing
optimum solutions in 3D.
The history of the company NERICON engineering
& design GbR began with an efficient
solar-powered car, which the students at Anhalt
University developed with huge amounts
The customers of tarakos include Volkswagen,
Siemens and Nestle. The company provides
them with software tools with which complex
logistics and manufacturing processes can be
planned and simulated on a virtual basis. This
cost-effective and user-friendly 3D process visof
enthusiasm. On the basis of this expertise,
they created their own company in 2012.
Since then, they have dedicated themselves
to the car as a form of expression in Gardelegen.
NERICON works for Volkswagen,
Skoda and suppliers on customised designs
and improves the construction of functional
components inside and outside – from the
rear apron, to the seat set through to the
fittings.
nericon.de
Incredibly
helpful
Tarakos GmbH simulates logistics processes
Good planning is half the battle:
With the 3D software solutions from the
Magdeburg company tarakos GmbH, costs to
the value of billions are saved worldwide. The
simulations determine whether and how production
facilities and logistics centres are built.
ualisation allows medium-sized businesses to
plan more accurately, increase their production,
increase their safety and reduce their energy
costs. Tarakos is originally a spin-off of the
Fraunhofer Institute for Factory Operation and
Automation IFF, and also cooperates with the
University of Magdeburg.
tarakos.de
20

Dr. Chris
Rehse,
Managing
Director and
Co-Founder
of the Start-up
neotiv
MARKET
OF THE FUTURE
HEALTH
AND MEDICINE
A mental
matter
neotiv
21

neotiv is taking
its first steps towards
the early detection
of Alzheimer’s di sease
with an app
Concerns about Alzheimer’s disease are
widespread, especially among older people.
The brain disease is currently responsible
for more than 60 percent of all cases of dementia.
The loss of memory gradually worsens over
several years until the sufferer is no longer able
to respond to their environment.
Software from the Magdeburg-based company
neotiv is now giving hope that the disease can
be detected at an early stage. “The symptoms
that can lead to Alzheimer’s disease are still
being detected too late. Today’s approaches
to treatment only start when the damage is
irreparable. With the use of our app, we want
to change all that. Alzheimer’s usually begins
10–15 years before the disease shows noticeable
symptoms. It is necessary for this time
frame to be used for the active prevention and
approaches to treatment,” explains Dr. Chris
Rehse, CEO and one of the four founders of the
start-up company neotiv.
The digital solution from the Magdeburg
company comes in the form of
playful memory tests. With the help of findings
from the field of cognitive research, the tests
carried out by the app focus on the memory
functions affected by Alzheimer’s at an early
stage. Over an extended period of time, specific
memory performances are assessed on a regular
basis so that changes can be determined.
22

MARKET OF THE FUTURE HEALTH AND MEDICINE
“Our location in Magdeburg
is ideal for us. We have
good links with the university
management and are
supported by the ministries
in the federal state. The
close cooperation with the
university is indispensable,
especially for spin-offs from
the world of science and
academic research.”
DR. CHRIS REHSE
At the start of the assessment period, a profile
of the user is created in which risk factors
such as high blood pressure or diabetes are
recorded. While the intervals between the tests
are relatively narrow at the beginning, they
subsequently increase to two times a month.
As it won’t just be possible to slow Alzheimer’s
disease down in the future but it can also be influenced
by lifestyle changes, the app provides
advice on the modification of risk factors, such
as diet or exercise behaviour. “Our app is a kind
of blood pressure monitor for the brain. A oneoff
test is always a snapshot which provides
little information. It is only long-term monitoring
which can support the diagnostic conclusions
in a meaningful way. We want to use
the software to provide doctors with a source
of help, because the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s
often involves uncertainty and many patients
fall through the cracks,” explains Chris Rehse.
To prevent the possible misuse of sensitive
data, there is a sophisticated data protection
concept. Although anyone can download the
app, only a specially chosen research institution
is authorised to evaluate the personal data.
Despite this, however, due to an anonymisation
procedure within the app, neotiv is not able to
connect the collected data with the names of
the users at any point in time.
At present, the use of the app is still
being researched, and is currently being
used by a few hundred people in the USA and
Sweden, for example. Furthermore, at the
beginning of 2019, neotiv launched a citizen
research project together with the German
Centre for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE)
and Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg.
In this respect, citizens actively contribute to
a superior understanding of the influence of
certain lifestyle factors, such as sleep or stress,
on memory function. According to Chris Rehse,
the digital biomarkers developed by neotiv are
set to become the standard in international
dementia diagnostics and therapy in the future.
The objective is to integrate the neotiv app into
the general care system.
“Right now, we still have a lot of educational
work to do. Alzheimer’s disease is subject to a
strong stigma. We would therefore like to contribute
to clarifying the possibilities for prevention
and developing new methods of therapy”,
explains the Managing Director of neotiv.
As a spin-off from the University of
Magdeburg, neotiv has direct access to
the world of science. Its close collaboration with
the Institute for Cognitive Neurology and Dementia
Research (IKND) there and its cooperation
with the DZNE have enabled neotiv to draw
on the support of two internationally acknowledged
research institutions, both of which are
based in the capital of the federal state.
“Our location in Magdeburg is ideal for us. We
have excellent links with the university management
and are supported by the ministries in
23

Facts
Health and medicine
in Saxony-Anhalt
Saxony-Anhalt has an excellent pool of qualified
workers, with more than 55,000 students at 10
universities and colleges, and a large number of
interdisciplinary courses such as biotechnology
and medical technology.
1863
In 1863, the University
Hospital in Magdeburg
became home to the first
operating theatre with
washable surfaces in Europe.
Approximately 1,000
people are currently
conducting research in the
field of red biotechnology
in Saxony-Anhalt.
the federal state. In the case of spin-offs from
the world of science and academic research, a
high degree of integration with the university
is indispensable,” explains industrial engineer
Rehse. The proximity to research is also an advantage
in terms of the search for suitable employees.
Some employees at neotiv previously
worked on the memory app as junior research
assistants during their degree courses.
The 18-strong neotiv team is international and
interdisciplinary: some of the employees are
from France while others are from Venezuela.
“We cultivate a very open and cooperative
corporate culture here. Every employee has to
be able to represent the company and is an
ambassador to the outside world,” highlights
Chris Rehse. The start-up recently left its offices
on the campus of Magdeburg University and
moved to Magdeburg city centre.
Chris Rehse originally learned about
what it means to start a new business
when he was working at Stanford University in
the USA. “Compared with Germany, the concept
of founding a business is far more a matter
of course, including the possibility of, and
how to deal with, failure. Start-ups are also able
to obtain venture capital much more quickly.
If you have a vision and a business idea, you
just get going. This means that spin-offs from
the world of science and academic research in
particular have better access to the healthcare
system, and can ultimately offer patients faster
access to validated solutions for diagnostics,
prevention and treatment.”
There is certainly no lack of ideas and visions at
neotiv. “Due to demographic trends, Saxony-
Anhalt is home to large numbers of older
people, so it would be a good sign if a strong
solution to fight Alzheimer’s could be launched
from Magdeburg,” explains Chris Rehse.
gedächtnis-erforschen.de
24

MARKET OF THE FUTURE HEALTH AND MEDICINE
Healing
at the top
Vaccines from IDT Biologika GmbH
save lives
Biotechnology is a key global technology
for the 21 st century – 1,900 employees
have long agreed on this. Dessau-Roßlau has
been researching vaccines and diseases for
95 years.
Thanks to the products of IDT Biologika GmbH,
rabies has been eradicated in Germany, and also
the first live salmonella vaccine for chickens was
developed in Dessau. There are subsidiaries in
China, the USA and several European countries.
Up to 60 million injection bottles can be pro-
duced each year in a new production hall
in Dessau. This means that IDT Biologika
is prepared for emergencies and makes
an important contribution to human and
animal health.
idt-biologika.com
Human
technology
MediGlove wants to revolutionise
examinations
“Help for your bones”
that’s newly spun
A fleece made from collagen supports the
healing of the body cells
mediglove.de
What happens when designers,
technicians and programmers get together
and consider the topic of making medical
examinations more humane? MediGlove
is developing an intelligent glove which could
revolutionise medical examinations.
Time pressure, orientation to costs and high
numbers of patients mean that medical examinations
can be a little like being on a conveyor
belt. MediGlove aims to alleviate the stress
on both sides: during the application of the
hands, cutting-edge sensor technology records
the desired measurement data. The data is
transmitted directly to a central location via
Bluetooth and prepared on a transparent basis
for both physicians and patients. The workload
is reduced. What remains is more time for the
human encounter.
A breakthrough in regenerative
medicine: at the Fraunhofer Institute
for Microstructures of Materials and Systems
IMWS, using the electrospinning process, the
company SpinPlant GmbH has developed a
new type of fleece made from native collagen.
It is three-dimensional as well as nano- and
micro-porous.
The protein of collagen is one of the basic
building blocks of the body. Despite the
complicated technical process, the fleece from
SpinPlant GmbH retains the natural properties
of the structural protein: it has a regenerative
effect and stimulates the biosynthesis of the
surrounding cells. This helps, for example,
with bone growth, the healing of wounds and
cartilage regeneration. Spinplant manufactures
the platform product SpinBase and the bone
filling material SpinFill at its Halle (Saale)
location.
spinplant.de
25

MARKET
OF THE FUTURE
ENERGY,
ENGINEERING
AND PLANT
CONSTRUCTION,
RESOURCE
EFFICIENCY
Mechanical
engineering
in the DNA
INTEB-M
26

MARKET OF THE FUTURE ENERGY, ENGINEERING AND PLANT CONSTRUCTION, RESOURCE EFFICIENCY
Inteb-M Holding
focuses on the
global markets
Felix
von Nathusius,
Managing Partner
of INTEB-M
When Felix of Nathusius thinks into the
future, he also has a piece of the past in
mind. “Magdeburg is home to a historical sense
of enthusiasm for mechanical engineering,” explains
Nathusius. In this respect, he recalls the
times when, driven by companies such as Polte,
Wolf and Gruson, Magdeburg was the top location
in Germany for mechanical engineering
and had a worldwide reputation. The history
of the Nathusius family is also closely linked to
the industrialisation of the Magdeburg region:
Johann Gottlob Nathusius founded one of the
first industrial groups in Germany at the beginning
of the 19 th century.
“Unfortunately, Magdeburg is no longer on the
global map for mechanical engineering these
days. Despite this, mechanical engineering has
left an incredible amount of DNA behind. It
isn’t dead, it isn’t gone and it certainly can’t
be ignored,” says Nathusius with a sense of
conviction.
Felix von Nathusius and his business
partner Karl-Thomas Klingebiel want
to tap into that successful era of mechanical
engineering. With Inteb-M, the holding company
which was founded in 2017, they have a
vision of revitalising mechanical engineering in
the state capital and establishing it on a global
basis. The holding company brings together
industrial and technology holdings from the
mechanical engineering sector and develops
them further in the form of a network. Inteb-M
initially acquired the mineral casting specialist
IZM Polycast, which uses an intelligent material
to cast components for the European market.
IZM also develops solutions for measurement
and medical technology, however. This was
followed by the holding in the machine tool
27

“Saxony-Anhalt has excellent
project and network funding, and
the distances to the decision-makers
in the worlds of administration
and politics are short.”
FELIX VON NATHUSIUS
manufacturer H&B Omega, with extensive
expertise in friction welding technologies. The
most recent addition to the network is Symacon,
where special machines are developed for
the automation of assembly and manufacturing
processes.
Currently, Inteb-M remains in the initial
phase. “At present, some of the region’s
engineering companies are on the cusp of the
next generation and need to reposition themselves.
This is where we envisage our opportunity
for further targeted acquisitions to exist.
As an internationally competitive machine
tool manufacturer, we require a whole range
of competencies and organisational enhancement,
but it is also necessary for us to grow on
an organic basis,” explains Felix von Nathusius.
The conditions for the plans of Inteb-M in
Saxony-Anhalt are favourable. Several joint
research and development projects are up
and running with colleges and universities
in the federal state, resulting in the earlystage
participation of well-trained engineers.
“Saxony-Anhalt has excellent project and
network funding and the paths to the decision-makers
in the areas of administration
and politics are short,” says the entrepreneur
Nathusius with praise.
inteb-m.de
28

MARKET OF THE FUTURE ENERGY, ENGINEERING AND PLANT CONSTRUCTION, RESOURCE EFFICIENCY
Creating space
for innovations
Ceterum
29

Facts
Energy, mechanical and plant engineering,
resource efficiency in Saxony-Anhalt
2,500
Almost 30 percent of all companies in the
manufacturing industry in Saxony-Anhalt
operate in the field of mechanical engineering
and in the manufacturing and production
of metal products and metalworking.
At least 2,500 engineers
are trained and educated
at the universities in
Saxony-Anhalt every year.
Businesses benefit from
the mechanical engineering
research landscape in the
federal state.
Krebs&Aulich develops and constructs
highly innovative electric drives in
Wernigerode, Magdeburg and Shanghai. In
cooperation with the American NASA and the
German Aerospace Center, for example, the
company developed the drive for an infra-red
stratospheric telescope which is installed in a
Boeing 747 (SOFIA). The infra-red images from
space provide new insights into the birth of
stars and the formation of galaxies.
FAM conveyors and
systems are appreciated
worldwide for their high
quality
The key objective of Ceterum Holding
is to give companies support and
boost their innovative strength. The Wernigerode-based
company currently has investments
in 18 companies, including FAM Magdeburger
Förderanlagen und Baumaschinen
GmbH and Krebs&Aulich in Saxony-Anhalt, a
specialist machine manufacturer for electric
motors. The conveyors and systems from the
traditional company FAM are valued for their
high quality and are used in 80 countries. FAM,
with more than 1,400 employees, is represented
on all continents.
“The companies based here should present
their successes with greater impetus the outside
world. Saxony-Anhalt has nothing to hide
as a business location and it should put itself
across much more self-confidently,” explains
Clemens Aulich, Managing Partner of Ceterum
Holing.
To be well prepared for the future,
the university landscape in the federal
state should be further strengthened. In his
opinion, the dual system of study in particular
needs to be given a clearer focus. “It is important
to strike a balance between science and
working at the practical level among graduates,”
says the Managing Director. Aulich
looks at the increasing bureaucratic rules and
regulations, which often slow decisions down,
with criticism. “To be able to compete at the
international level, we require more space for
innovation.”
ceterum-holding.com
30

Peter
Ledermann,
founder and
chairman
of Mercateo
Germany AG
MARKET
OF THE FUTURE
INFORMATION AND
COMMUNICATION
TECHNOLOGY
IKT
Give
it a go
mercateo
31

An online marketplace
for special
requirements is
growing in Köthen
“Have the confidence to give it a go!”
should be Peter Ledermann’s favourite
saying. With his online marketplace mercateo,
he initially jumped into cold water – and went
under for a while. In Köthen, the visionary and
his company made a brand new appearance.
The story of a virally-scaling system began.
Peter Ledermann has a degree in business administration.
When he talks, he drops numbers
regularly: over 250 million Euros in turnover
per year, 23 million items in the system, 1.4
million business customers ... figures that make
one proud. They don’t seem to impress him so
much, however. “You won’t believe my ideas
for the future,” he says, before smiling in his
friendly way.
The Chief Executive of the mercateo Group
looks more like a friendly neighbour than the
decision-maker at a company which has more
than 520 employees at three locations in Germany
and 13 branches in Europe. The heart of
mercateo beats in Köthen town centre. Here,
some 250 women and men work in the areas of
sales, IT development, accounting and customer
care to make buyers and salespeople from all
over Europe happy. That’s because mercateo is
an online marketplace for business customers.
32

MARKET OF THE FUTURE INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY
“I wasn’t just brave.
I was also naive.”
PETER LEDERMANN
The procurement platform makes work
considerably easier for accountants,
purchasers and decision makers. It enters in
where many people despair: when searching
for specialist products which are only required
in exceptional cases. These cost those responsible
a lot of time, money and nerves in their
day-to-day business and can make the accounting
outlay explode.
Yet the growth rates of a company that
has solutions at the ready can also explode.
“I wasn’t just brave. I was also naive,” says
Ledermann with honesty when talking about
the early days. The company mercateo was
founded in Munich in 1999 and was taken
over by an investor one year later. It was then
that Ledermann joined in.
He and his business partner, Dr. Sebastian
Wieser, were convinced of their idea and did a
little rebuilding: “We believe in a virally-scaling
system.” However, the investor didn’t believe
in such a system. After all, in the beginning, it
wasn’t the case that everything ran smoothly
in the online marketplace. Despite this, the pair
put profitable areas of business on hold in favour
of their ailing favourite. They jumped into
the cold water and did their own thing. It was
a time of uncertainty. The duo had to let many
employees go and Ledermann also became a
father for the second time.
The origins were in Munich. It was in
Köthen, however, that the two entrepreneurs
made a fresh start in the year 2004,
as they received start-up aid for their expensive
staff costs. The first job interviews were
held on Ash Wednesday in the local employment
office of the carnival town of Köthen. A
much-needed accountant pulled out at short
notice, fearing the company was a fly-by-night.
A student, who had only wanted to apply to a
business in which to write his masters’ thesis,
was appointed without further ado and
experienced his baptism of fire with the annual
financial report. He still works for mercateo
today. Ledermann is proud of its employees,
who have remained loyal for many years. And
they are great in number. This could be because
it’s the people in this company who are seen as
the real capital.
As an intermediary, mercateo provides an
exceptionally wide range of products on its
platform without having its own warehouse.
Specially programmed intelligent search
filters allow customers to fulfil their specialist
requests quickly and easily, while at the same
time offering users attractive conditions with
33

Facts
Information and communications technology
in Saxony-Anhalt
500
The universities in
the federal state educate
more than 3,500 students
in IT-specific courses.
More than 500 IT companies
have chosen to make
Saxony-Anhalt their home.
More than 14,000 people are
currently employed in the
IT sector in Saxony-Anhalt.
different suppliers. The software also feeds
back the purchasing decision of the customer
to the individual vendors, and suggests improvements.
The history of the mercateo offices are
also as exciting as that of the company
itself: a former department store and the
erstwhile Heimatmuseum (Museum of Local
History) are now home to welcoming and well
thought-out workplaces to which the term
“office” simply doesn’t do justice. The history
of the buildings shines through everywhere
and the atmosphere seems relaxed. Decisions
are consistently taken by the person who
encounters the problem. The employees are on
informal terms with their boss, they recall the
company parties and talk about the day-to-day
business easily.
Peter Ledermann doesn’t have any time for
formalities or over-the-top politeness. Problems
come and problems go. He only wears a suit
when forced to, and prefers to roll up his shirt
sleeves. Ledermann is a doer, and with what
he does, he isn’t just likely to be popular with
his own employees. Mercateo also enables
smaller companies which don’t have their own
IT infrastructure to establish a large number
of business contacts. At the same time, for all
of the goods ordered on the platform, it is the
only creditor to be reflected in the budget. One
dealer for everything and for all. In the meantime,
with “mercateo unite”, another business
model has come into existence: a network into
which customers also bring their regular suppliers
and framework agreements. They don’t just
purchase directly at mercateo, they also use
the platform as an online system for all their
delivery transactions.
The group of companies is expanding
virally and the sales figures are growing
explosively – from just seven million in
2004 to the current 250 million. No limits are
in sight, and new ideas for further adaptations
are already in the pipeline: just as Ledermann
dreamed that things would turn out.
unite.eu
mercateo.com/corporate
34

MARKET OF THE FUTURE INFORMATION
AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY
The user friends
With the agency UCD+,
you are intuitively right
The customer is king. UCD+ is taking
this principle into completely new
dimensions. The Magdeburg-based design
agency places the user of an application at the
centre of every consideration – and is giving
medium-sized businesses a starting boost for
the digital revolution.
“Usability” and “User Experience” are among
the most important buzzwords at UCD+:
the 14-strong team has specialised on the
interface between people and hardware. It
conceptualises, designs and develops intuitive
user interfaces – from machine control, to
software for measuring instruments through
to websites and mobile apps. Always in view:
the user’s requirements for the respective application.
The result is digital products which
are faster, easier to use and work just as the
user expects. From agricultural machinery to
the control of production lines – the variety of
industries and products that UCD+ has successfully
accompanied into the digital future
is considerable.
ucdplus.com
Know
the ropes
INABE navigates unerringly
through interiors
Florian Thürkow,
Managing Director
of INABE UG
It’s easy to get lost in airports and
other complex buildings. GPS isn’t
available for navigation and wifi is very
expensive for the operators. The company
INABE responds with Bluetooth.
“Beacons” are signal transmitters with which
smartphones can exchange information about
their own location with every standard operating
system. This technology is used by the
team of the Halle-based company INABE. It
has developed a navigation software package
for complex buildings which is used for the
purposes of orientation at airports and trade
shows, in hospitals, in zoos and at amusement
parks. The system can also evaluate the data
streams that are obtained anonymously and
create motion profiles. What paths do people
take, where do they stop? Supermarkets know
where their goods attract the most attention,
and in the museum, the smartphone is able to
automatically display information about each
exhibit.
inabe.de
35

MARKET
OF THE FUTURE
THE CREATIVE
INDUSTRY
An incubator for
creative people
Designhaus Halle
36

MARKET OF THE FUTURE THE CREATIVE INDUSTRY
The Halle Designhaus
helps start-ups
with their initial steps
Simon
Santschi,
project
manager of
the “Burg
gründet”
initiative
A sewing machine rattles in the room
with the number 003. Rolls of fabric,
dresses, needles, jackets, buttons, scissors,
drawings and photos with designs – Alexandra
Börner’s studio is teeming with sewing boxes.
The multi-media fashion designer recently flew
back to Halle from the USA.
Her works alternate between fashion and
performance. These include dance productions
such as “Cry Up” by Nina McNeely or an opera
at the Red Cat Theater in Los Angeles for which
she is creating the costume. She also worked
on the music video “free drink ticket” by the
Canadian electroclash singer Peaches, however.
“It is here that I find the peace and quiet for
my ideas. I can also use the workshops, which
is a great advantage,” explains Alexandra
Börner. She is one of currently 30 tenants in
the Designhaus, the business incubator at Burg
Giebichenstein Art Academy in Halle.
The stately home which is situated on Peißnitz
Island is akin to a labyrinth inside. Crooked
corridors and stairs run through the building like
a network of veins. Simon Santschi has a good
overview of this labyrinth. Santschi, who hails
from Switzerland, is the project manager of the
“Burg gründet!” initiative. Before relocating to
Halle, the communications designer had previously
worked for a start-up initiative in Lucerne.
“I was tempted by the idea of a business incubator
for creative people at an art school. After
all, Giebichenstein is also a well-known name in
Switzerland,” explains Simon Santschi.
The direct link between the art school
and business incubator is unique in
Ger many. “The creative industry is a very broad
concept. When it comes to networks, we
there fore have to focus on sub-sectors such as
37

Facts
Creative industries
in Saxony-Anhalt
300
20 courses of study in
design and art are on offer
at Burg Giebichenstein
Kunsthochschule Halle.
More than 300 creative
companies from
Saxony-Anhalt have
registered in the database
at www.kreativsachsen-anhalt.de.
7 universities in Saxony-
Anhalt offer courses of
study with creative content.
With the “BESTFORM”
competition, the state of
Saxony-Anhalt raises the
profile of the important
“raw material” of creativity
and promotes the industry.
“Most of the founders who started
out in the Designhaus stay in the
region because they have established
themselves well and don’t want to
give up their locational advantage.”
SIMON SANTSCHI
gaming, fashion or communication design, because
each sector has its own specific topics,”
explains Santschi.
The Designhaus organises lectures
and workshops on topics such as accounting,
taxes and law that are customised
to the needs of creative people, in a variety of
formats. “Creative people tend to be good at
things like networking and presenting, these
are areas in which the entrepreneurs don’t
have so much catching up to do. One of the key
topics is understanding the market, i.e. how do
I position myself with my product or service,”
says the project manager. The tenant of the
Designhaus CALYRA has successfully found its
market niche in the service sector for musicians.
The music publisher represents artists
from the entertainment industry in commercial
and legal matters and manages the management,
booking and promotion. “In the Designhaus
there is a cool and creative environment in
which we have been able to develop successfully,”
explains the Managing Director of CALYRA
Alexander Wolff, who will soon have to look for
bigger offices in Halle with his team.
“Most of the founders who started out
in the Designhaus stag in the region
because they have established themselves
well and don’t want to give up their locational
advantage,” explains Simon Santschi. The team
of the “Freiraumgalerie – Kollektiv für Raumentwicklung”
(Open space gallery – collective
for spatial development) is also firmly rooted
in Halle. The five young urban planners and
educators work in a spacious and stylishly
furnished office on the ground floor of the
Designhaus. The planning office is dedicated to
creative urban development and the reconfiguration
of urban spaces. In this respect, the team
mainly implements large-scale murals, educational
offerings and citizen participation processes.
For Halle-Freiimfelde, for example, a district
that nestles between the railway station
and the industrial area with little greenery and
a lots of vacant space, they have successfully
implemented a neighbourhood concept which
has seen a noticeable fall in the vacancy rate.
“We benefit hugely from the creative spirit in
38

MARKET OF THE FUTURE THE CREATIVE INDUSTRY
“The desire to become self-employed
is also very pronounced among graduates
of creative study courses. The freedom to
do one’s own thing is associated closely with
independence. There are also many graduates
who want to have a look around an agency,
however. That’s where the idea of self-employment
comes from after the first few years
in the job, when you know how it works,”
Santschi explains.
designhaus-halle.de
alexandraboerner.com
calyra.de
freiraumgalerie.com
ratking.de
the Designhaus. In our projects, we are heavily
dependent on the cooperation of artists,” says
Philipp Kienast of the Freiraumgalerie.
Although the business incubator is mainly
intended for graduates of the art college,
other creative people can also apply for an
office in the design house. When allocating
the space, however, care is taken to ensure
that the business idea has potential and that
a mix of creative industries is represented in
the building. The maximum length of stay
for the entrepreneurs is five years – in this
period the young creative professionals only
have to pay a very low and staggered rent.
Jana Reinhardt and Friedrich Hanisch also took
the plunge into self-employment immediately
subsequent to their studies. The multimedia
designers launched the computer game studio
RAT KING and have made a name for themselves
with computer games such as “TRI:
Of Friendship and Madness” in which playful
freedoms are combined with crazy characters.
“From the game idea through to the marketing,
we offer the complete package. At the same
time, we try to secure a mixture of our own
projects and contract work. We have great
companies in the games sector here in Saxony-
Anhalt, but we don’t get the same amount of
attention as the companies in Berlin or Hamburg.
The Designhaus can help bring people
together.”
To ensure that not only a creative but also a
community spirit prevails, meals are regularly
eaten together and an exhibition takes place
once a year. “That means all of the residents
know what is created here in the house,” says
Simon Santschi.
39

MARKET OF THE FUTURE THE CREATIVE INDUSTRY
Visionary
cerebral acrobats
The designers behind prefrontal
cortex are virtual virtuosos
People require visions. The recentlyfounded
agency prefrontal cortex
in Halle (Saale) delivers them to order: the designers
and programmers think marketing and
entertainment in completely new dimensions.
The way in which we perceive our surroundings
and adapt our actions to them is determined by
part of the cerebral cortex: the prefrontal cortex.
The cerebral acrobats behind “prefrontal
cortex” have specialised on innovative applications
and interaction concepts in the field of
virtual and augmented reality. Its references
include a room-filling, interactive water specta-
cle in the lobby of Intel headquarters in Silicon
Valley and the AR visualisation of an archaeological
excavation site. The Halle-based business
offers everything from one single source:
planning, concept, design, development. With
considerable joy in experimentation, they find
their ideas in the interplay between science
and art.
prefrontalcortex.de
Out of nowhere
The company a&m creative services
creates photos from design data
A product can be shown on a realistic
basis and in all of its possible variations
without actually existing. With the pictures
from a&m creative services, businesses advertise
before production.
Digitalisation wasn’t a familiar term when
Karsten Angermann and Alexander Michaelis
began visualising things on their computers in
2002. With the “Computer Generated Imagery”
(CGI) process, they create realistic photographic
images and animations using CAD data. This
data arises during the construction or design
process of products anyway. Businesses advertise
with the image material from Halle (Saale),
even though the real product is yet to exist.
This saves money and resources – a tangible
added value of digitalisation.
The customers of a&m creative services include
automotive manufacturers and mechanical
engineers as well as architects, agencies
and businesses in the entertainment industry.
In addition to creating image material for advertising
campaigns, brochures and trade fairs,
the Halle-based company is, above all else, an
expert for configuration tools.
am-cs.de
40

Dr. Petra Göring,
co-founder of
SmartMembranes
MARKET
OF THE FUTURE
KEY
TECHNOLOGIES
Success
that’s down
to the tiniest
detail
SmartMembranes
41

SmartMembranes
launches nano-membranes
onto the world market
The history of SmartMembranes began
with a workshop at which the two
founders met. That is now more than ten years
ago. At the time, Petra Göring was conducting
research at the Max Planck Institute for Microstructure
Physics in Halle, and Monika Lelonek
was working at the University of Münster. The
“nano4women & Entrepreneurship” workshop
was oriented to young female scientists, to
teach them how to draw up a business plan.
“My then boss told me to sign up for the workshop.
At that time, far fewer women from the
world of science and academia started businesses
than today,” recalls Petra Göring. Today,
she is sitting at her desk at her company in the
Weinberg Campus Technology Park. Monika
Lelonek’s desk is opposite her. In a male-dominated
field like nanotechnology, a business
which is led by two women remains something
of a small sensation.
The past ten years have been a turbulent
and instructive time for both of them.
Despite this, their plan has worked out: Smart-
Membranes is the world‘s leading manufacturer
of porous, highly ordered materials made
from aluminium oxide and silicon. At the time,
the porous membranes with nano-sized air
42

MARKET OF THE FUTURE KEY TECHNOLOGIES
“Here in Saxony-Anhalt
we have the necessary
infrastructure and a closeknit
network with local
research institutions, such as
the Fraunhofer Institute for
Microstructure of Materials
and Systems IMWS and
Martin Luther University.
After setting up here,
we were able to get started
straight away.”
DR. PETRA GÖRING
holes that are manufactured by the company
were so innovative that potential customers
first had to be told that they existed.
The membranes are characterised by
their highly ordered structure and a narrow
distribution of the pore diameters. Structural
parameters such as the pore size, lattice
constant, porosity or membrane thickness can
be made at the nanometre level according to
customer requirements.
Whether it is the filtration, sensor technology
or diagnostics: the possible applications of the
tiny structures are almost unlimited. on the one
hand, the membranes are able to filter gases
and liquids, but they can also serve as a protective
membrane against impurities such as
bacteria, dust or viruses. Aluminium oxide and
silicon are also implantable and bio-compatible.
“In the beginning, we often asked ourselves
whether there was a market for our products at
all. We had to convince a lot of people, especially
since our product isn’t cheap, although it is
smaller, faster and more sensitive. From the very
beginning, we have focused on international
applications, as the developments in this field
mainly come from the USA and Asia,” explains
Göring, who has a doctorate in chemistry.
The two scientists made their products known
at trade fairs and won over sales partners who
forged contacts with other start-up companies
in Japan and Korea or the USA. The German and
European market continues to play a secondary
role for SmartMembranes. “Unfortunately,
local companies are very reluctant to outsource
their research and development projects. We
did it, however. We have now passed the critical
point. If things carry on like this, we can’t
complain,” explains the founder.
In addition to Petra Göring and Monika
Lelonek, the SmartMembranes team
includes five other employees. Over the medium
term, the company plans to expand, as
it is foreseeable that the field of membrane
production will grow.
The step from the world of science to the world
of business was, and sometimes continues to
be, a challenge. Financial plans, marketing, sales
strategies – in recent years, the two researchers
have had to break new ground in many areas.
“I have learnt an incredible amount, which
has without doubt enriched my life and taken
me forward as a person. As a mother of three
children, however, I have always had a guilty
conscience and the fear that I have too little
time for my family. Whatever happens though,
I certainly don’t want to miss the feeling of
independence,” concludes Petra Göring. These
43

Facts
Key technologies
in Saxony-Anhalt
In Saxony-Anhalt, energy
is generated on a
sustainable basis. Every
second kilowatt hour is now
generated from wind power,
solar power and biomass.
120
Saxony-Anhalt is home
to more than 120 life
sciences companies, most
of which are small and
medium sized businesses.
In Saxony-Anhalt, the research into protein and
active ingredients is focused on the Weinberg
Campus in Halle (Saale). Several biotechnology
companies and research institutes carry out
research at the Technology Park.
days, she is only able to devote a third of her
time to research, with the rest of her working
time being filled with management, sales, production
and business trips.
The company has found the optimum
working conditions in its laboratories
and offices at the Weinberg Campus Technology
Park. “Here, we have the necessary infrastructure
and a close-knit network with local
research institutions, such as the Fraunhofer
Institute for Microstructure of Materials and
Systems IMWS and Martin Luther University.
After setting up here, we were able to get
started straight away,” explains the scientist.
The Vineyard, as it is known by the people of
Halle, is the innovation location for the sector
of life sciences and material sciences in Saxony-
Anhalt. With 134 hectares, it is the biggest in
Central Germany. The site is now home to more
than 100 companies and institutes with around
5,500 employees. Biochemists, biotechnologists,
material scientists, pharmacists, agricultural-
and nutrition scientists from leading
non-university research institutions work sideby-side
at the Vineyard.
In recent years, SmartMembranes has been
able to grow and prosper at the Vineyard in
Halle. And even though the products from the
two entrepreneurs can only be seen under the
microscope, their success is plain to see.
smartmembranes.de
technologiepark-weinberg-campus.de
44

MARKET OF THE FUTURE KEY TECHNOLOGIES
Tiny when
it comes to purity
Water filters with nanotechnology are
being developed in Halberstadt
An estimated two billion people worldwide
have no access to clean drinking
water. The innovative products of Nanostone
Water GmbH could solve the drinking water
problem.
Ceramic water filters have been manufactured
in large kilns in Halberstadt since 2004. The
nano-coated ceramic has pores that are just
a billionth of a meter in size. It retains viruses
and bacteria as well as residues of chemicals.
The filters are of particular interest to industrial
partners in America and China. In terms
of the topic of micro-plastics, this robust and
durable solution also has great potential. The
company’s headquarters have been located in
the USA for several years and it also has branch
offices in China. In Halberstadt, 140 employees
are now working on production as well as advanced
research and development.
nanostone.com
A mathematical
masterpiece
The company IM&P GmbH is able to forecast
and prevent damage.
Prevention is good. Forecasts are even
better: The software solutions from
the company Indalyz Monitoring & Prognostics
GmbH in Halle (Saale) are based on specially
developed algorithms. These assist with the
superior planning of the maintenance work.
With the advanced products from Halle, the
maintenance of wind turbines, for example, is
made easier. Intelligent forecasting methods
allow for a predictive state-oriented strategy.
The system monitors machines, sophisticated
facilities as well as machine clusters, and
doesn’t just include previous events but also
current observations in its calculations. Repairs
are only carried out if notification of an actual
problem is provided. This reduces the operating
and maintenance costs and extends the
operating times. At the same time, unexpected
failures and possible consequential damage are
reduced to a minimum. The system therefore
pays for itself.
imprognostics.com
45

HERE
BUSINESS MEETS
SCIENCE.
Team Bilberry, Mateyusz Krain (left) and Krzyszttof Dobrinin
©Marco Warmuth/TGZ Halle GmbH
IT’S A COMMON CLICHÉ: SAXONY-ANHALT AND INNOVATIONS?
NOT A GOOD MATCH!
We provide evidence to the contrary and show how something impressive is emerging in Saxony-Anhalt.
In this respect, the locations in Saxony-Anhalt offer the perfect conditions. They are our CENTERS OF
EXCELLENCE. Here, science, research and business are concentrated in one place. The paths are short, bringing
people together and enabling discussions. New ideas emerge and are therefore easier to implement.
www.center-of-excellence-saxony-anhalt.com

WHO IS
RESEARCHING
WHAT AND
WHERE?
THE PORTAL FOR
THE RESEARCH
LANDSCAPE IN
SAXONY-ANHALT
The research portal gives an overview of the universities, colleges and
research institutes in Saxony-Anhalt. Research projects from all of the
disciplines are also presented. In this way, scientists can make their
work known and conduct targeted searches for project partners. The
site also provides information on support programmes and sponsors
as well as advice on how to start a new business.
www.forschung-sachsen-anhalt.de

Ministry of Economic Affairs,
Science and Digitalisation
of the federal state of Saxony-Anhalt
Hasselbachstraße 4
39104 Magdeburg, Germany
Phone +49 391 5674316
presse@mw.sachsen-anhalt.de
in cooperation with the
Investment and Marketing
Corporation Saxony-Anhalt
Am Alten Theater 6
39104 Magdeburg, Germany
Phone +49 391 56899 - 0
www.invest-in-saxony-anhalt.com
welcome@img-sachsen-anhalt.de
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