Lecture Series »Blick über den Tellerrand« / Kaiserslautern / June 16, 2026, 17:00 – 18:30 Uhr
The Future Lies in the Small: How Microtechnology Is Transforming Health, Climate, and Communication
Without microtechnology, there would be no smartphones, many modern medical applications, or numerous innovations for climate protection and industry. This presentation clearly illustrates how tiny components and highly precise systems help solve major societal challenges. Examples from both research and everyday life are presented – developments that often remain invisible, yet whose impact we experience every day.
Speaker: Prof. Dr. Michael Maskos (Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Microengineering and Microsystems IMM / Professor of Chemical Process Engineering/Microfluidics at JGU Mainz)
Michael Maskos is a physical chemist and Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Microengineering and Microsystems IMM in Mainz. He also holds the W3 Chair of Chemical Process Engineering and Microfluidics at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz.
For his scientific achievements, he has received several distinctions, including the Research Award of the Boehringer Ingelheim Foundation and a research fellowship from the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina. In 2015, he was awarded the Literature Prize of the Chemical Industry for his textbook Polymers: Synthesis, Properties and Applications.
In addition to his research activities, Michael Maskos serves on numerous scientific and economic committees. He is a Senator of the Federal Association for Economic Development and Foreign Trade (BWA), where he also chairs the Innovation Commission. Furthermore, he advises the government of Rhineland-Palatinate through its Technology Council.
From 2020 to 2025, he served as Editor-in-Chief of the journal Microsystem Technologies and has been a member of its Editorial Advisory Board since 2026.
Since 2020, he has been Chairman of the Mainz Science Alliance, and since 2023, Chairman of the University Council of Mainz University of Applied Sciences. Since 2024, he has also served on the International Advisory Board of the International Research School at Ruhr University Bochum. In 2026, he joined the Board of Trustees of the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research.