June 24th, 2026
HIU Director Prof. Dr. Maximilian Fichtner at the IdeenExpo Talk with Ranga Yogeshwar: Battery Research Reaches a Broad Audience
On 23 June 2026, Prof. Dr. Maximilian Fichtner, Director of the Helmholtz Institute Ulm for Electrochemical Energy Storage (HIU), took part as a guest in the IdeenExpo talk series “Yes, we can!”. Under the title “From Yesterday to Tomorrow – How Can We Navigate Transformation?”, science journalist Ranga Yogeshwar moderated a discussion with guests from science, business, energy supply and space travel about the conditions needed for successful change — among them, alongside Fichtner, astronaut Rabea Rogge, cardiac surgeon Prof. Dr. Axel Haverich, and representatives of regional energy providers.
The venue was the UNESCO World Heritage Site Fagus-Werk in Alfeld — a symbolically charged setting for a conversation about change and new beginnings. The central themes of the evening were the major transitions of our time: how Germany can successfully shape change in energy, technology, science and infrastructure, and what conditions are needed to bring innovations into practice more quickly.
Invitations such as this one underline how central the HIU’s work is to questions of societal relevance. Battery technology and electrochemical energy storage are not abstract laboratory science — they are key technologies for the energy transition, tomorrow’s mobility, and the energy security of entire regions.
IdeenExpo is considered Europe’s largest technology and innovation festival for young people. From 20 to 28 June 2026, more than 330 exhibitors present over 800 hands-on exhibits across 14 themed areas at the Hannover exhibition grounds, with free admission on all event days. The fact that the talk series deliberately takes place outside the exhibition grounds — bringing figures like Fichtner into dialogue with business and society — sends a clear message: cutting-edge research belongs in the public conversation.
Foto: (c) iserundschmidt GmbH
Anna Sophia Boden
Press Officer
sophia.boden@kit.edu