Tampere University

Tampere University (TAU) is one of Finland's largest multidisciplinary universities, with strong research traditions in engineering, materials science, and health technology. Our research group works at the intersection of advanced materials, additive manufacturing, and lightweight composite design.

Our core expertise lies in 3D-printed architected fillers for polymer composites — a novel approach to lightweighting in which precisely designed ceramic micro-architectures (e.g., tetrapod and lattice geometries) replace conventional particulate fillers. This enables tunable stiffness and reinforcement at reduced filler loading and weight, opening new design space for structural and functional lightweight components.

Our capabilities include:

• Digital light processing (DLP) and vat photopolymerization of ceramic and polymer architectures

• Design and mechanical characterization of soft and rigid composite systems (PDMS, thiol-ene, and other matrices)

• Micro-CT-based quantification of filler packing and structure–property analysis

• Surface chemistry and functionalization of ceramic fillers for improved matrix adhesion

Within the EUREKA Lightweighting Call 2026, we are looking to join or build a consortium with industrial partners in automotive, aerospace, medical devices, or advanced manufacturing, as well as research organizations working on lightweight structures, additive manufacturing scale-up, or computational composite design. We offer materials development, prototyping, and characterization expertise, and we bring experience in data-rigorous mechanical testing and design-of-experiments methodology.