Group leader Yuanbin Deng presented selected activities of the two institutes in the field of FAST/SPS, namely the production of near-net-shape nanocrystalline soft magnets and the modeling of temperature distribution in FAST/SPS tools for the production of tungsten alloy components for the first wall of fusion power plants.

This was followed by a presentation by the head of the expert group, Prof. Guillon (Jülich Research Center, Institute of Energy Materials and Devices: IMD-2), on work on the cold sintering of Ba(Zr,Ce,Y)O₃, which was carried out in a FAST/SPS plant due to the good process control. Louis Maier from Fraunhofer IKTS presented the latest results of his doctoral thesis on the production of Al₂O₃-cBN composite ceramics for extreme applications. The work of Dr. Bram Neirinck from Schaeffler-Aerosint combines the advantages of additive manufacturing and FAST/SPS. A special system for the selective filling of FAST/SPS tools with different alloys and material classes (e.g., ZrO₂ steel) enables the production of metal-ceramic laminates, which have great potential for use in soft magnets, for example. Jean-Francois Thieffry from Top Grafit, Slovakia, gave an overview of the production of graphite components and the wide range of applications for graphite.

In his closing remarks, Prof. Guillon announced the “Sintering 2026” conference, which will take place in Aachen from 31 August to 03 September 2026: https://www.sintering2026.org/en

He also informed the participants of the FAST/SPS expert group about his new position as Chairman of the Board of the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST) from 01 September 2025. As a special gesture, Prof. Broeckmann, Chairman of the Joint Committee on Powder Metallurgy, presented Prof. Guillon with a gift in recognition of his many years of leadership of the FAST/SPS Technical Committee. The community sincerely thanks him for his outstanding contributions and commitment over the years.

The chairmanship of the FAST/SPS Expert Group will be taken over by his colleague Apl.-Prof. Dr. Martin Bram from the Jülich Research Center (m.bramfz-juelich.de).

Website of the Expert Group: https://www.fast-sps.de/de