MAI OSAKA connects research, industry, and policymakers in Germany, Japan, and Korea to advance and optimize key technologies for composite materials. The focus is on future markets such as renewable energy (including wind and hydrogen) and aviation. The project aims to analyze technological trends, develop sustainable solutions for composites, and promote international cooperation to strengthen a circular economy.
Japan and Korea are among the world's leading nations in the development of composite materials and carbon fibers. For Europe, close cooperation with these innovative markets is of central importance in order to identify technological developments at an early stage and secure its own long-term competitiveness.
In addition, the composite industry as a whole faces considerable challenges: resource scarcity and insufficient recycling and circular economy solutions to date are hampering sustainability in technological and economic terms. Furthermore, there is often a lack of stable international networking structures between industry, Research, and politics.
Against this backdrop, the MAI OSAKA project aims to connect companies from the aviation, wind energy, and hydrogen mobility sections, as well as research institutions and political decision-makers, on an international level and to pool their collective strengths. The project examines innovation strategies and framework conditions in the Asian composite industry. A central focus is on Sustainability: MAI OSAKA is developing approaches for recycling, circular economy, and resource-efficient material use in order to reduce the environmental impact of composite materials and support sustainable value chains in the long term.
A core objective of the project is the international networking of industry, science, and politics. Through workshops, delegation trips, joint events, and publications, MAI OSAKA promotes bilateral and multilateral knowledge transfer. In addition, the project provides technological, political, and social analyses that support companies and decision-makers in developing strategies for sustainability.
As of January 2026, the status of MAI OSAKA is that it is in the first phase of the project, focusing on Japan. Data on key technologies, market trends, and innovation strategies is being collected and accompanied by initial networking activities and workshops. In the next phase, the results will be evaluated and transferred to the transfer phase in order to identify synergies with Korean partners.
In the long term, the findings will be translated into concrete recommendations for action for industry and politics and will form the basis for sustainability in international collaboration. The project ties in with existing initiatives of Fraunhofer IGCV, such as FIP MIRAI@ICC (Fraunhofer innovation platform in Kanazawa), MAI Carbon, and research work and projects on the circular economy in lightweight construction.
Fraunhofer Institute for Casting, Composite and Processing Technology IGCV