2nd Scientific Workshop ISGE

ISGE Scientific Workshop 2026 at TU Ilmenau

On 26–27 February 2026, the second scientific workshop of the Ilmenau School of Green Electronics (ISGE) took place at the Center of Micro- and Nanotechnologies (ZMN) at TU Ilmenau. The workshop brought together researchers, doctoral candidates and project stakeholders to review current progress, discuss ongoing work and identify perspectives for future collaboration .

A particular highlight of this year’s workshop was the participation of the Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung. We were very pleased to welcome Luise Goroncy on site. Her presence enabled a direct exchange on the development of the programme and underlined the importance of the initiative within the broader funding context.

The two workshop days were also open to researchers from across TU Ilmenau beyond the ISGE programme. This opportunity was actively taken up and proved highly beneficial, as it fostered additional perspectives, broadened the discussion and strengthened connections across institutes and research areas.

The workshop programme placed a clear emphasis on poster sessions, which formed the central element across both days. Compared to previous editions, significantly more time was allocated to discussion – both during the sessions themselves and in the breaks.

This facilitated in-depth scientific exchange, critical feedback and cross-project dialogue. The format proved highly effective in strengthening connections between the individual research activities and fostering new ideas for collaboration.

Beyond the formal programme, the workshop created valuable opportunities for networking. The joint dinner provided an informal setting for continued discussions and contributed to strengthening the ISGE community across different career stages and research areas.

In addition to reviewing current results, the workshop included a joint discussion on future initiatives and collaboration opportunities. The ISGE workshop thus continues to serve as an important platform for advancing research in Green Electronics and for connecting expertise across disciplines and infrastructures.

We cordially invite you to the 2nd ISGE Scientific Workshop, which will take place on 26 and 27 February 2026 at the ZMN, TU Ilmenau (Feynman and Meitner buildings).

Please send expressions of interest to zmn-org@tu-ilmenau.de.

Thinking Green and Acting Together – Highlights from the ISGE Closed Session 2025

Group photo of ISGE Closed Session participants outdoors at Hotel Kammweg, Großbreitenbach, surrounded by the Thuringian ForestLuise Amthor
ISGE Closed Session participants at Hotel Kammweg, Großbreitenbach

On July 3–4, 2025, the team of the Ilmenau School of Green Electronics (ISGE) came together for its first Closed Session at Hotel Kammweg in Großbreitenbach. Over two days, the focus was on exchange, reflection, and new impulses – all in the calm and inspiring atmosphere of the Thuringian Forest.
 

The Ilmenau School of Green Electronics is a strategic initiative at TU Ilmenau aiming to rethink electronics from a sustainability perspective — across the entire lifecycle, from material sourcing to energy efficiency, recyclability, and responsible innovation. It unites interdisciplinary research, education, and technology transfer to build the foundations for a new generation of engineers and scientists committed to ecological and social responsibility.

The program was dense. Highlights included:

  • In poster sessions, 13 subprojects shared their current work and challenges – openly, honestly, and with a clear focus on what’s next. This was followed by group discussions: What connects this project with your own? Where are synergies to other groups of the TU Ilmenau?
  • Demonstrator Working Groups: Participants developed and evaluated prototype concepts that translate research into tangible, sustainable technologies. Simple ideas and implementation options were also presented that make the basic ideas of the ISGE tangible for interested parties at the next "Ilmenauer Wissenschaftsnacht". 
  • A special highlight for the PhDs: a talk on scientific writing and publishing, offering valuable insights into how to communicate complex research in accessible and impactful ways. The question: "What is your story?" is one, every scientist has to answer, to get in contact with the public.
 

What’s the outcome? Definitely a strong sense of community, clearer goals for every subproject and an deeper understanding for the connections between the projects. 

Peter Amthor
Peter Amthor
Peter Amthor
Peter Amthor
Peter Amthor
Peter Amthor
Peter Amthor
Peter Amthor

Successful Kick-Off of the Ilmenau School of Green Electronics

Annika Mehlis/ TU Ilmenau
The Ilmenau School of Green Electronics

On December 16 and 17, 2024, the kick-off event of the Ilmenau School of Green Electronics (ISGE) took place at the Center for Micro- and Nanotechnologies (ZMN) of TU Ilmenau. Supported by the Carl Zeiss Foundation, the project aims to develop ideas and solutions for sustainable electronics.

Project Insights – Insight Session on December 16

Following the official welcome by Prof. Stefan Sinzinger, Vice President for Research and Academic Affairs, the teams presented their current projects during two exciting "Project Sneak Peek" sessions. Topics such as green semiconductor technologies, self-healing polymers, and neuromorphic circuits were the focus of attention.

The evening concluded with a festive "Get Together," offering participants the opportunity for in-depth discussions in a relaxed, holiday atmosphere.

Official Start – Kick-Off on December 17

December 17 marked the official launch of the Ilmenau School of Green Electronics. The second day of the event began with ceremonial opening remarks from Prof. Kai-Uwe Sattler (President of TU Ilmenau) and Prof. Peter Schaaf (Director of the ZMN). Matthias Stolzenburg extended greetings on behalf of the Carl Zeiss Foundation, which is funding this project as part of its “Resource Efficiency – The Technical Side of Sustainability” initiative with a total of over €5.2 million.

Following this, Prof. Stefan Sinzinger, project lead of ISGE, presented the concept and goals of the initiative.

Scientific Keynotes and PhD Talks

One of the highlights of the day was the two scientific keynote presentations. Dr. Ren Li, Postdoctoral Researcher at ISGE, delivered a talk on “Neural Networks on Edge Devices for Remote Sensing.” Building on this, Dr. John Reuben (FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg) shared fascinating insights into “In-Memory Arithmetic Using Non-Volatile Memories.”

To develop a sustainable and climate-neutral information technology not only during operation but across the entire value chain and material lifecycle, the Ilmenau School of Green Electronics (ISGE) focuses on three main research areas: i) Energy-efficient computing, ii) Bioinspired microelectronics and iii) Smart materials, devices, and technologies.

These research priorities were presented by three PhD students:

  • Smart Materials, Devices, and Technologies: Anant Bhardwaj
  • Bioinspired Microelectronics: Abedin Saadman
  • Energy-efficient Computing: Maximilian Zier
 

Lab Tours as a Grand Finale

The event concluded with a tour of the I3TC and ZMN, where participants were able to explore the laboratories and technical capabilities on-site.

The combination of scientific lectures, project presentations, and personal exchanges showcased the diversity and innovation of research in sustainable electronics. A promising start for future projects and collaborations!

Impressions of the Kick-Off

Annika Mehlis
Annika Mehlis
Annika Mehlis
Annika Mehlis
Annika Mehlis
Annika Mehlis
Annika Mehlis
Annika Mehlis
Annika Mehlis
Maria Illing
Maria Illing

1. ISGE-Workshop: Eine praktische Einführung in Reservoir Computing

Die Teilnehmer des Workshops sitzen in einem RaumTU Ilmenau
Dr. Lina Jaurigue explains the fundamentals of reservoir computing during the first workshop of the ISGE in the Center of Micro- and Nanotechnologies (ZMN)

The Ilmenau School of Green Electronics (ISGE), a central research and training structure at TU Ilmenau, held its first workshop. Dr. Lina Jaurigue, one of the PIs of ISGE and Member of the Group for Theoretical Physics II, successfully organised a two-day workshop series in the Center of Micro- and Nanotechnologies (ZMN) on the topic of Reservoir Computing at the beginning of October.

The ISGE is dedicated to the development of sustainable, climate-neutral microelectronics and promotes interdisciplinary projects that reduce resource and energy consumption in the IT sector. Young scientists are researching innovative technologies that take the entire material cycle into account - a crucial component on the way to a sustainable future.

On 7 and 8 October, the focus was on the concept of reservoir computing. This is a neural network model that impresses with its simple structure and yet high efficiency: Only the output layer is trained, while the internal dynamics of a randomly constructed network are used to recognise complex patterns and make predictions.

Workshop highlights:

📅 Monday, 07.10.2024

9:00 - 10:30: Introduction to Reservoir Computing. Here the basics of how reservoirs are trained and used for prediction or classification were explained. There were also interesting insights into related technologies such as Extreme Learning Machines (ELM) and non-linear vector regression.

10:45 - 12:00: Practical work with the Jupyter Notebook. Participants created a discrete-time reservoir and worked step-by-step with input and target arrays, training and test state matrices as well as output weights and predictions.

13:00 - 14:00: Discussion on the influence of task implementation and how input data influences the predictions of the system.

📅 Tuesday, 08.10.2024

9:00 - 9:30: Dynamic properties of reservoirs - a comparison between discrete and continuous reservoirs.

9:30 - 10:30: Time multiplexing and delay-based reservoirs. Participants explored input methods and network analysis of delay-based reservoirs, with exciting parallels to spatially-multiplexed systems.

10:45 - 11:30: Overview of physical reservoir computing - an emerging field with great potential, but also challenges.

11:30 - 12:00: Concluding discussion. What kind of tasks are suitable for reservoir computing? How do the tasks influence the design and operation of a reservoir? The role of delay embedding was also discussed in depth.

Special thanks goes to the Carl Zeiss Foundation, whose generous support made it possible to realise this pioneering project. This workshop emphasise ISGE's commitment to supporting the next generations of researchers in the field of sustainable and future-proof solutions for the electronics industry.