Our digital society generates enormous amounts of data at an ever growing speed. Most of these data are cold, which means they never change and are rarely retrieved. Storing these data consumes a lot of energy and requires hardware replacement every 3-5 years. Therefore, we have developed cerabyte, a novel cold data storage technology, which stores data on ceramic nanolayers enabling an unlimited timespan. Cerabyte outperforms these mature technologies by leveraging ceramic nano-layers in combination with a massive parallel laser writing and reading mechanism. Once data are written, no energy is needed to maintain the data for a long lifespan, which leads to savings of up to 99% of energy and CO2 emissions, as well as 95% of total cost of ownership (TCO). Cerabyte will offer data storage systems which are fully compliant with current data center standards and easy to integrate for business customers into their data storage architecture. This will disrupt the data storage component market with a market size of €41.6 bn in 2022 growing to €136.9 bn in 2030. Cerabyte has established a new value chain together with international manufacturing partners and reached TRL6 with the launch of a fully functional demo-system in October 2023 located in Aachen, Germany. The demo system has been recently validated by the US National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine Rapid Expert Consultation on Archival Data Storage Technologies for the Intelligence Community in January 2024. Our base patent for ceramic data carriers was granted in record time in EU, USA, RUS, AUS, CAN, PRC, TW, SK, JP and IN covering 77% global GDP – 67,5% smartphone & 49% global population. By combining our extensively patented technology with already existing robotic storage systems we will be able to disrupt the €50 bn data storage infrastructure market.

This proposal aims to develop Early-Stage Researchers into innovative European leaders in biomedical engineering, with a focus on spinal devices. Synergies will be drawn from the involved high-quality research centres in the interdisciplinary fields of materials science, mechanical engineering and biology, which will permit acquiring expertise in the development and preclinical testing of such devices, with a focus on meeting current and future societal challenges related to implant longevity and biocompatibility. The training programme has been put together in close collaboration with the relevant industry, SME’s as well as larger enterprise, ensuring adequate exposure to these environments, through e.g. secondments, as well as a knowledge base permitting a seamless transfer into industry and fostering innovation. An expert in industrial engineering and management will undertake co-ordination of the innovation-related training as well as consist of an independent career coach to the young researchers. The growing elderly, more active population puts higher demands on implants, which need to last longer and provide an adequate biological response throughout their lifetime. Current solutions for the spine suffer from a variety of issues, such as implant subsidence as well as potentially detrimental metal ion release and wear products. The current proposal aims to provide alternatives to these, by developing novel materials and implants for the spine, which provide i) non-detrimental wear products and reduced metal ion release and/or ii) enhanced osseointegration. Since many implant failures can be linked to inadequate loading, considerable effort will be spent on developing methods that simulate more closely adverse and individual biomechanical environments, as well as adapting implant designs to these situations. Adequate biological response will be evaluated through in vitro and in vivo models, closing the circle of the pre-clinical testing value chain.