From 6 to 10 May 2024, the leading international experts for the production, development, application and improvement of shape memory alloys and Nitinol met at the SMST (Shape Memory and Superelastic Technologies) Conference and Exposition 2024 in Portugal, Cascais. Ingpuls itself travelled to SMST in Portugal with a total of 16 representatives from all Ingpuls companies (Ingpuls, Ingpuls Medical, Ingpuls Dynamics, Ingpuls Smart Shadings) to present the Ingpuls family, including all joint ventures, to the international market. Only one other competitor had more conference participants than the Ingpuls family.
SMST – Shape Memory and Superelastic Technologies
The SMST is the world’s leading international conference for shape memory and superelastic technologies and focuses on the production and application of shape memory alloys and Nitinol. After setting up the exhibition stand on the exhibitor platform, the SMST opened on Monday, 6 May 2024, from 5.30 pm. to 7 pm. with an official reception for all exhibitors. Over the following four days until 10 May 2024, exhibitors and trade visitors had the opportunity to take part in specialist presentations and other themed programmes and to make contact with international market participants at events and on the exhibitor platform.
Ingpuls Group presented the most technical papers
With 14 speakers who gave a total of 13 presentations and presented 3 posters, the Ingpuls Group made a clear statement at the SMST 2024. Ingpuls’ declared and achieved goal for the SMST 2024 was to actively shape the programme of the international conference. The work paid off: for some of the speakers, it was the first time they had given a presentation in front of an international audience in a foreign language. All the more remarkable is the consistently positive feedback from other market participants and customers from the medical technology, automotive and aerospace sectors during and after the conference.
Ingpuls gave the following lectures and poster presentations at the SMST:
Broad spectrum of lectures at the SMST
The SMST technical presentations from the Ingpuls series covered a wide range of different topics from the specification areas of Ingpuls itself, Ingpuls Dynamics, Ingpuls Medical and Ingpuls Smart Shadings. In his three presentations, Dr Burkhard Maaß spoke about the processing and properties of customer-specific alloys for elastocaloric applications, while Dr Andre Kortmann presented the investigation of heat treatment and the properties of actuators with quaternary springs. As part of Ingpuls Smart Shadings, Philipp Aulinger presented the production of actuators based on shape memory alloys on previously unknown large scales and their passive activation. In his presentation for SMST, Fabian Felber from the medical sector dealt with the development of the microstructure of quaternary alloys for use in medical technology, while Dr Harald Buchalla from Ingpuls Dynamics highlighted the challenges involved in the transition from prototype systems to mass production processes for actuator systems made from shape memory alloys. Also as part of Ingpuls Dynamics, Dr Christian Großmann spoke about integrated product development with shape memory alloys with regard to the importance of the interface between alloy design and product development.
Elastocalorics, actuator technology and medical technology as specific topics
Dr. Christian Großmann, CEO Ingpuls:
‘The clear thematic trend at the SMST 2024 was elastocalorics. In addition to individual presentations, entire sessions were dedicated to the topic of elastocalorics. The SMST thus clearly showed that this topic is not only relevant in research and junior research, but has also arrived in industry. Apart from elastocalorics, it is clearly recognisable that the topic of actuator technology is gaining ground. The SMST has historically been dominated by medical technology, which means that aspects of medical technology, such as manufacturing, material purity, standardisation, certification, product development etc. are still very present at the SMST. However, other topics such as elastocalorics and actuator technology are gaining more and more ground, and interest in these topics is growing strongly.’
Media support on the Ingpuls social media platforms
Ingpuls’ presence at the SMST 2024 also included media support from the Ingpuls marketing department. On the social media channels, Ingpuls offered insights into the day’s programme, brief impressions of the presentations and interviews with Ingpuls participants. For those who are interested: The media coverage can still be viewed afterwards on social media channels, such as LinkedIn.
SMST: A look into the future
A big thank you goes to the organisers of the SMST, our joint venture partner, Resonetics, who also attended the SMST together with Ingpuls, and to the entire Ingpuls team. Participating in a conference of this size requires an immense amount of planning, preparation and implementation to realize such a successful appearance. We look forward to continuing the discussions at the SMST, to realising exciting projects and to the next SMST in 2026.
