The Austrian clusters presented themselves 

The “Expo Lounge on Tour” in Vösendorf (Eventhotel Pyramide), which took place for the first time on the 25th and 26th of September, offered bundled expertise in the field of clean rooms and pharmaceutical processes, with the focus entirely out on the needs of users. Over two days, the visitors were comprehensively informed both with theoretical content and with practical presentations, and were able to choose from an exciting series of parallel lectures and receive personal advice from the exhibitors/experts.

The lecture program in room 3 was designed by the Austrian clusters Human Technology Styriaand Silicon Alps, under the coordination of Josef Ortner (Managing Director Ortner Reinraumtechnik). Other interesting contributions were also made by the Upper Austrian Food Cluster(LC), the Medical Technology Cluster(MTC) and the Austrian Cleanroom Society (ÖRRG).

The aim of these subject-specific sessions was to present the competences of the Austrian cleanroom industry and its thematic diversity and to create incentives for further innovations. The focus was not only on corporate experience with existing cleanrooms, but also on new technologies relevant to the cleanroom of the future: be it in microelectronics, mechatronics, electronics, medical technology, pharmaceuticals or the food industry.

In her opening speech, Dr. Maria Bendl, who heads the Research and Technology Department at the Federal Chancellery,and also acts as coordinator of the national cluster platform of the BMDW, stressed the importance of inter-cluster cooperation to strengthen the competitiveness of SMEs and leading companies in cooperation with the federal states. Following her introductory words, the clusters jointly presented their initiatives in the field of cleanrooms, cleanroom technology and future cooperation paths.

The lecture held on June 25th, 2018 was dedicated to the attractiveness and diversity of the topic: Josef Ortner, Managing Director of Ortner Reinraumtechnik, moderated a series of short lectures in which the audience was introduced to the topic and was able to find out, through many examples, how exciting and sometimes quite unconventional the topic of cleanrooms can be: “Slippers, the bacteria centrifuge” (Roman Czech, CTA), “SmartClip for the OR”, and “Desostage” for mass spectroscopy (Wolfgang Stiegmaier, WILD Group), as well as concepts like the CTR research offering CTR in cleanroom processes (CTR research cleanroom, Heimo Müller, Carinthian Tech Research), cleanroom planning and realization for a laboratory for the in-house production of pharmaceuticals (Ali Cacmak, Weiss), correct behaviour in the cleanroom through virtual reality training (Viktoria Wegscheider, Innerspace), and implementation principles or Requirements of good cleanroom planning (Christian Feichter, Ortner Reinraumtechnik  and Christian Lorenz, Lorenz Consult ZT GmbH).

In connection with the “isolator technology” as a revolution, Hubert Jarnig (Ortner Reinraumtechnik) explained why this technology has the potential to challenge the life science industry and to change standards and guidelines in a serious matter.

A cleanroom does not only protect the production goods or increase safety, clean rooms also change the behaviour, the way of thinking and also the understanding of quality. What happens in people’s minds when they enter a cleanroom and work there? Simon Fiala (head of training at Comprei Reinraum Handel- und Schulung GmbH) led an exciting panel discussion on the topic “The employee in the cleanroom – a look beyond the edge of the plate”, which clearly showed that the employee is one of the most important factors in the cleanroom.

Elena Zand (BOKU Vienna) (BOKU Vienna) gave interesting insights into the research project Hygiene 4.0, which aims at improving the hygiene situation in the food industry. Klemens Wassermann (AIT) and Christoph Schönher (BOKU Vienna). The project aims at the application and optimisation of cleaning and decontamination concepts in combination with innovative germ detection and tracking methods. Josef-Peter Guggenbichler from the University of Erlangen reported on exciting findings on “Self-cleaning surfaces for the prevention of infections in health care”. He pointed out the major future risks posed by multi-resistant germs.

The first day of the event was concluded by a panel of experts from the cleanroom industry. The experts present exchanged controversial and constructive criticism about the rules, practices and state of the art labels, questioned some customs and partly argued their meaningfulness.

On the second day of “Expo Lounge on Tour” the focus was on the challenges and solutions in the field of microelectronics production and cleanrooms, regarding the digitization of the cleanroom:

In the lecture by Hans-Dieter Preiml (Infineon Technologies Austria), the necessary requirements for working and adapting in a clean room during ongoing production were analyzed. In a subsequent round, departmental and project managers, technicians and senior fitters discussed their views on the implementation of the highly complex conversion work in chip factories. It was particularly important to find out how to find the right fitters, what know-how they would need and how to one would motivate and strengthen their employees – despite the high flexibility requirements and tight interfaces.

Last but not least, research in the field of cleanrooms has a lot to offer, be it in the field of sensor solutions, digital twins/virtualization or big data and analytics. In a special thematic block, it was also shown which progress has already been made in Austrian cleanroom research. Christian Kittl (evolaris) focused on data glasses-based services for the clean room and demonstrated the possibilities of process support with data glasses and voice control. Stefan Kraxberger (Secinto) took a close look at risk analysis & safety and formulated helpful recommendations for planning a cleanroom that is safe in design. Finally, Stefan Radl (TU Graz) gave an outlook on the “virtual cleanroom 2.0”, where he gave examples showing that cleanroom simulations can be used not only for training purposes, but also for cleanroom design and engineering.

The participating Austrian clusters would like to thank the organisers of the Experience Expo Lounges on Tour, the program coordinator in room 3 Josef Ortner, the lecturers and the panelists. We, as a cluster, are looking forward to future cooperation!

Chair:

• 25th, 2018: Christian Philipp (Silicon Alps) and Elisabeth Jöbstl (Human Technology Styria)
• Sept 26th, 2018: Oana Mitrea (Silicon Alps) and Karina Wagner (Pöchhacker Innovation Consulting GmbH)

An action of the cluster focus group Cleanroom & Technology