On October 16 and 17, 2024, the 'Green ICT Connect' conference of the Research Fab Microelectronics Germany (FMD) took place. The event promoted the exchange between science, industry and politics on ecologically sustainable microelectronics. The highlight was the presentation of the Green ICT Award, which honors outstanding theses in the field of sustainable information and communication technologies (ICT). The prize, which was endowed with a total of €4,000, was presented by Dr. Oliver Höing, Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), and Prof. Amelie Hagelauer, jury chair and director of the Fraunhofer EMFT.
Jennifer Goldbrunner, a student at the University of Bayreuth, came third. In her Master's thesis on 'Life Cycle Assessment of Metallization Processes on Flexible Substrates', she analyzed the environmental impact of different metallization processes.
Johanna Fröhlich, a student of 'Advanced Signal Processing and Communications Engineering' at FAU Erlangen-Nuremberg, took second place. In her Bachelor's thesis, she dealt with the topic 'Algorithm for Matrix Decomposition for Computational Coding' and developed methods for reducing the energy consumption of neural networks during the inference phase.
Joseph Winkler, research assistant at the Institute of Microelectronic Systems at Leibniz Universität Hannover, won first place for his master's thesis entitled 'System and Circuit Concepts for High-Efficiency and High-Power Density 48V DC-DC Converter' in the field of mixed-signal circuits. His thesis explores the efficiency and power density of 48V DC-DC converters used in vehicles and data centers.
