Increasing energy consumption, the depletion of natural resources, climate change and decreasing air quality are among the biggest economic and social challenges that we face today. At the same time, waste heat energy discharged into the atmosphere is one of the largest sources of clean, fuel-free and inexpensive energies available, with 70 % of all energy generated on a daily basis being lost as waste heat. Although technologies for converting waste heat into electrical energy have been around for a long time, such as thermoelectric and thermo-electrochemical cells, there is still no environmentally sustainable and efficient technology platform available for the viable harvesting of low-grade waste heat. There is therefore a clear need to develop an energy harvesting and conversion technology which has the potential to exceed the efficiency of current state-of-the-art devices whilst also utilising Earth-abundant materials. The central aim of TRANSLATE is therefore to develop a new proof-of-concept nanofluidic platform technology based on the flux of ions in nanochannels; leading to a breakthrough in versatile and sustainable energy harvesting and storage. Three breakthrough science and technology targets have been identified: 1) optimisation of ion movement and ion separation in nanochannels made from Earth-abundant materials, 2) the development of a sustainable and efficient heat-to-electrical energy platform and 3) the creation of a novel continuous operation energy harvesting power source with a high power/energy density and conversion efficiency. Expertise in materials science, nanofluidics, nanofabrication, thermoelectricity and electrochemistry is integrated on a pan-European level to achieve the overall aim of the project. The knowledge developed in TRANSLATE has the potential to reduce energy consumption and associated greenhouse gas emissions on a local and global scale, thus improving citizens' quality of life and benefiting society.

SMARTEC proposes to raise a unique Power-RF nanoelectronics innovation from TRL6 to TRL8, that will radically transform future transceiver RF-power modules (TRX) and to produce them through a dedicated pilot line. These novel TRX of enhanced performance, smaller size and lower manufacturing cost will be core components of new products, addressing several segments of the RF-power market. SMARTEC paves the way to its stakeholders to access new markets and/or help them sustain their positioning in their industry rivalry, as well as increase their market shares. Moreover, SMARTEC will create new value propositions to several other markets (airliners, airports, air & sea vessel manufacturers, tour operators, etc.), as well as to several customer & social groups (passengers, tourists, ecologists & government bodies). The proposed pilot line will fill a gap in the European landscape of power RF manufactures and help European firms using power RF front ends compete global players. Industry faces 2 challenges: (A) In general, upcoming power RF front end markets (e.g. commercial radars, backhaul, SATCOM) demand more and more higher power levels, higher frequencies, the ability to sustain power-ups, and all at smaller size and lower cost. (B) Two specific “RF-Power Systems-based industry”, those of Avionics and Maritime, are about to face an obligatory adaption to new or updated strict EU regulations (RECAT EU3 & COLREGS), regarding, Airport and maritime Safety. The proposed coplanar monolithic GaN MMICs and RF MEMS (only available by TRT and FORTH) product is addressing simultaneously all aforementioned industry problems, while all other competing technologies (commercially available or not) offer partial solutions. Furthermore, the simplified SMARTEC fabrication process alleviates back-end production steps thus lowering cost by 25% which for mass applications (e.g. 5G) can prove the key winning factor.