V2025 - Conference for Vacuum, Plasma, Surface and Coating

V2025, an international industry meeting on surfaces, thin-film vacuum and plasma technology, took place in Dresden in October 2025. Over 500 participants attended the presentations, keynotes and the exhibition.

The V2025 - International Conference & Exhibition, organized by the European Research Association for Thin Films (EFDS), took place in Dresden from 13 to 16 October 2025 and set new standards: over 500 participants from 27 nations made the event the largest industry gathering to date. The international conference was dedicated to the topics of vacuum, plasma, surface and coating and was held under the motto "Sustainability, Resilience, Circular Economy". As such, V2025 once again provided a central platform for technologists, developers and users of surface and coating technology to exchange ideas.

The extensive program included 90 technical presentations, 65% of which were contributions from industry, as well as over 40 poster presentations from 17 nations - a new record. In the accompanying industrial exhibition, more than 60 exhibitors from 13 countries presented the entire spectrum of thin-film technologies - from innovative materials and equipment manufacturers to sustainable coating processes.

Among the highlights were the themed workshops, which covered a broad spectrum of current applications - from coatings for energy applications, tool coatings and hard materials to optical components and life science applications through to sustainable concepts. In the IGF session "Innovation with Collaborative Research", current projects of industrial collaborative research were presented and impressively demonstrated the transfer of science into practice.

The participants followed the opening keynote speech by Dr. Yilmaz Dikme (Element 3-5 GmbH) with great interest, who impressed the audience with his presentation "Next Level Epitaxy - Novel Growth Technique for Compound Semiconductors". Other contributions addressed key future topics in the industry, including the circular economy in thin-film technology, sustainable packaging concepts, plasma technologies for chemical and environmental applications and novel approaches to low-carbon hydrogen production.

A particular highlight was the panel discussion "Navigating Sustainability, Resilience & Circular Economy", moderated by Prof. Dr. Christoph Herrmann. Dr. Nazlim Bagcivan (Schaeffler Technologies AG & Co. KG), Richard Kallee (G.P.A. Gesellschaft für Plasma Applikation mbH) and Dr. Ruben Wagner (GfE Fremat GmbH) took part in the panel discussion. The lively discussion and active participation of the audience reflected the high level of commitment of the specialist community.

The "Sustainability in Surface Engineering" tutorial, organized by the Fraunhofer FEP, attracted a great deal of interest with 30 participants. The focus on "sustainability in surface engineering" was impressively demonstrated during a tour of the technical center. The tutorial also provided a festive setting for the 25th anniversary of the Maxi facility, which has been an important part of application-oriented research at the Fraunhofer FEP for a quarter of a century.

Two prestigious prizes were awarded during the conference: The EFDS Award 2025 went to Dr. Phillip Reinders (IHI Ionbond Netherlands B.V.). As well as the Rudolf-Jaeckel-Prize 2025 of the German Vacuum Society (DVG) e. V., which was awarded to Prof. Dr. Holger Kersten (Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel). Both awards recognize excellent scientific achievements and commitment to the further development of thin-film and plasma technologies.

With participants from 27 countries, of which almost 25% came from Europe and around 5% from abroad, V2025 underlined its role as an innovative forum for the global surface, thin-film, vacuum and plasma technology community - with a further increase in the proportion of international guests. Udo Klotzbach, Managing Director of EFDS, draws a positive conclusion: "V2025 has shown how strongly the topics of sustainability, circular economy and resilience are shaping the surface industry - and how important European cohesion is in a time of change. In times of crisis, it was always the joint exchange and cooperation in the industry that made it possible to overcome challenges and emerge stronger."

Planning for V2027, which will take place in Dresden from October 11-14, 2027, will begin shortly. Further information and impressions of V2025 are available at www.efds.org/v2025. (OM-10/25)