Institute for Micro Process Engineering


The Institute for Micro Process Engineering IMVT is an institute within the Karlsruhe Research Center in Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany. Its main field of activity is micro process engineering, the science of conducting chemical and/or physical processes in confines with typical dimensions below 1 mm.

History and Organization

The IMVT was formally established in July 2001 and continued previous activities in micro process engineering carried out by the Central Experimentation Department at the Karlsruhe Research Center. Its first director was Klaus Schubert. Between 1997 and 2001 the first activities, which were focused on developing and testing micro heat exchangers, were expanded by a new group to chemical process engineering in microchannels, with a focus on fuel processing, synthesis of chemicals and fundamental studies on new types of micro heat exchangers and heterogeneous catalysis under dynamic reaction conditions and in the Knudsen regime. In 2001, the entire activity was turned into a new institute, the IMVT.
Professor Roland Dittmeyer assumed control of the institute in July 2009. The IMVT operates within the programs "Nano- and Microsystems" and "Sustainability and Technology" of the Helmholtz Association. Its staff initially consisted of about 40 employees and
numbered approximately 50 in 2005. The institute carries out both basic development of apparatus and processes, funded via the Helmholtz Association and the Research Center, as well as development projects in cooperation with and funded by industry.