Biobased materials offer great sustainability potential, but their barrier performance remains a key challenge for many applications such as packaging, coatings and technical products.
This CREATE Expert Forum brings together industry, start-ups and research to explore innovative barrier concepts for biobased materials. The event combines scientific insights, best-practice examples and start-up solutions with an interactive workshop format.
Participants are invited to share their own barrier challenges, solution approaches and collaboration interests. Through moderated breakout sessions, the forum aims to identify concrete solution pathways, research needs and opportunities for collaboration, paving the way for new development and innovation projects within the CREATE network.
A. Knowledge & Inspiration
State of the art in biobased barrier materials
State of the art in hybrid functional coatings
B. Interactive Workshop
Participants share barrier challenges and solution ideas to jointly identify research needs, next steps and partnership opportunities.
Dr. Kerstin Müller has been working at Fraunhofer IVV since 2017, where she leads the Biobased Materials group. Her research focuses on polymers from renewable resources, thermoplastic processing and coating of biopolymers, and fiber-based packaging solutions.
Dr. Ferdinand Somorowsky is Head of the Chemical Coating Technology department at Fraunhofer ISC, where he focuses on hybrid functional coatings. His work includes the development of barrier layers and PFAS-free easy-to-clean coatings for a wide range of industrial applications.
Dr. Shaul Lapidot is Co-founded and CEO of Melodea, a sustainable materials company commercializing innovative barrier coatings for flexible packaging. The solution of Melodea match conventional barrier performance while enabling recyclability at industrial scale along with competitive pricing.
Sandra Wiegman is Chief Commercial Officer at Kalpana Systems where she drives the industrialization and market deployment of the company’s high‑throughput roll‑to‑roll spatial ALD systems for advanced surface engineering. Her work bridges thin‑film process innovation with industrial manufacturing, enabling next‑generation moisture and oxygen barrier performance for applications ranging from flexible electronics to advanced packaging.
Philipp Alizadeh is Head of Product Development at IonKraft GmbH and responsible for the development of industrial high-performance barriers for plastic packaging. His focus lies on PECVD process and equipment development for the deposition of silicon-based thin films. He drives the transfer of innovative barrier concepts into scalable, market-ready coating systems and develops solutions that combine functional performance with sustainability and recyclability.
The CREATE expert forums are open to all companies and organizations that wish to actively engage in the sustainable transformation of the plastics industry. They provide space for technical exchange, joint project development, and the identification of new partnerships.
We warmly invite all interested parties to contribute, share their specific needs, and help shape the future thematic priorities.
Together, we are creating an environment in which bio-based plastics are not only developed, but successfully transferred into industrial practice.
Become part of the CREATE network now – and actively help shape the future of the bioeconomy.
