Engineering

The Department is intensifying the degree of networking between its main areas of research. Research is thus being conducted into energy conversion systems based on nanotechnologies, the use of nanotechnologies in new materials for high voltage appliances and in printable electronics, and novel photonic components as a basis of lighting systems and high-speed data transmission.
Wireless technologies are not only needed in communications. In medical and sensor technology and status monitoring, increasingly small structures and systems with networking capability are also being developed. Energy is another area relevant to wireless technologies, where research is investigating methods of wireless energy transmission.
Effective energy conversion, transport and distribution are central issues for society in the future. The use of information and communication technology in energy grids, electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles as virtual or real energy storage devices and regenerative energy sources are all ways of improving absolute energy efficiency. This too is an area in which the Department will continue to play an active role.