First German Symposium on High-temperature Superconductivity for Energy Technology

February 22, 2008 (H22) .  The First German Symposium on High-temperature Superconductivity for Energy Technology “ZIEHL”  (sounds much like “Ziel” which means “goal” or “objective” in German) was held on February 20 and 21, 2008, in Bonn, Germany.   The Symposium was co-organized by the German Industrial Association “Superconductivity” (ivSupra), the Karlsruhe Institute of Techology (KIT) and the Research Center Juelich Project Carrier (PtJ) under the auspices of the German Federal Ministry of Economy and Technology (BMWi).   

The purpose of the symposium was to disseminate information to energy industry, and engineers active in energy technology, attract attention of potential future investors, and hopefully address decision makers in politics, economy, industry and environmental protection.  This well-organized Symposium was attended by over 140 participants.  Nearly half of those attending came from outside of the field of superconductivity and cryogenics.  They represented energy industry including some German utilities, manufacturers of electrical machines, especially motors and generators, investors and investment consultants, environmental protection organizations, press, and, last but not least, several German federal ministries.  A handful of foreign participants, from England, the Netherlands and especially Switzerland, were also present.

The program of the meeting and information on ivSupra can be found at http://www.ivsupra.de/content/view/90/71/, unfortunately in German only.  Oral presentations were almost all in German.  The two opening talks were given by Dr. Kübler (BMWi) and Dr. Prusseit (Chairman of ivSupra).  We hope to be able to soon present some highlights of and comments on the whole program.  It represented a certain balance between technical and visionary or programmatic presentations, all prepared with the aim of ready accessibility for an audience not familiar with superconductivity and its applications, or not even with the energy technology.  Certainly, some of these presentations deserve dissemination.  Therefore, we plan to invite selected speakers to promptly submit concise English versions of their presentations for publication in this News Forum.

In the opinion of many participants, including this Editor, the event was useful and quite successful.  The organizers contemplate to organize a similar follow-up meeting in 2010.  Industrial organizations in other European countries active in the field of superconductivity for energy technology should take note and follow up by organizing similar regional meetings.  This would increase the local awareness of opportunities in economy, industry and environmental protection offered by applied high-temperature superconductivity.