The project implementation in the second period (Oct 2022 - Mar 2024) is well on track, with 12 out of 13 milestones achieved and 11 out of 12 deliverables submitted. Combining new virtual tools with face-to-face meetings, LEAPS-INNOV has set up a very fruitful collaboration with regular meetings, seminars and workshops on technology topics, fostering collaborations with industry and the user community. LEAPS-INNOV has had active exchange with its Innovation Advisory Board of experts from industry and industry-linked academia as well as with the other two funded innovation pilots.
The six technology WPs, which together involve 53 companies, are all moving forward at a very high pace and are now in full execution. Important steps have been reached during RP2:
For the prototype of a new generation of germanium-based detectors all components are in the manufacturing phase with very active industry involvement. Development of new technologies for design, production and metrology of novel, highest quality optics is progressing as scheduled. The pre-commercial procurement (PCP) on mirror figuring techniques is now in the execution phase, while the final grating prototypes based on e-beam lithography have been successfully produced and are now in the testing phase. The joint activities on sample environments with high standardization and synchronization, as well as novel positioning and metrology systems are making rapid progress with industry support through extensive subcontracting, all are in the production stage. The prototypes for novel, highly advanced, but also cost-effective undulators (magnetic structures and the actual sources of the X-rays) together with two measurement benches for quality control of these undulators, are making excellent progress and are nearing completion, except for one device which is affected by the cyberattack on HZB. Exchange with industry towards a possible knowledge transfer is ongoing. Finally, together with industrial partners, methods for data compression in full-field synchrotron tomography, which produce very large data volumes, were developed and adoption into practice has started.
Industry networking and addressing industry as users has been facilitated through a number of European events and workshops during RP2, an in-depth industry survey which is nearing completion and a very successful SME user programme. These activities are complemented by pilot actions with user clusters and EU partnerships such as expert workshops, round tables and a Battery Research Forum. A pilot co-creation call is in its execution phase with three highly collaborative projects.
In the context of open innovation, LEAPS-INNOV has started to test tools for effective interaction with industry. The PCP is currently in its third phase and tools like competitive dialog procurement and subcontracting include innovative companies, particularly SMEs, into the technology developments from the start with active knowledge transfer between LEAPS facilities and industry.
