Event

International Symposium on Piezocomposite Applications (ISPA) 2026

Smart Material & Piezo Applications Forum

September 16 – 18, 2026

Dresden, Germany

via e-mail to

ISPA 2026: Where frontiers meet

How exclusive material technologies and extreme real-world challenges drive breakthrough innovation

International Symposium on Piezocomposite Applications (ISPA) is the leading international platform for piezoceramic composite technologies and their role in advancing component performance in extreme conditions and mission-critical applications.

The event brings together innovators from industry and research to explore breakthroughs in piezoelectric composites, acoustic polymers and fillers with exceptional applications in extreme environments.

Therefore the 2026 year’s theme, “Where Frontiers Meet” highlights the intersection of pioneering materials and frontier applications — from orbit to ocean, from micro-sensing and actuation to structural health monitoring.

The symposium brings together experts from research and industry who are driving progress in the field, providing a space to present breakthroughs, exchange insights, and discuss how exclusive material technologies meet the world’s most demanding real-world challenges — from the deep ocean to outer space, and from micro-scale sensing to large-scale structural actuation.

At the same time, we keep an eye on the entire value chain of piezocomposites, from piezoceramic and other piezoelectric materials, and component technologies to applications – always taking into account regulatory requirements for the production and use of materials. Recent findings advanced characterization methods and equipment are of particular interest.

The symposium will highlight three main research and application focuses:

– Subsea Applications: Discover the latest developments in utilizing piezocomposites for underwater communication, sonar, autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) and energy harvesting applications for self-powered sensors.

– Ultrasonic applications: Explore the use of piezocomposites in medical ultrasound, non-destructive testing and structural health monitoring, including ultrasound tomography and scanning acoustic microscopy

– Electromechanical applications: Learn about the latest results in the application of piezocomposite actuators and transducers in mechanical structures, e.g. for de-icing, vibration control and shape morphing.

In addition, ISPA 2026 encourages submissions related to piezoelectric composites designed for extreme thermal, mechanical, or chemical conditions and application cases from aerospace, navy, energy, mobility, and other sectors facing frontier challenges.

For more Information please go to

Programm

The three-day program, including a basics workshop.
Please note, changes are still possible.

September 16, 2026

Industrial workshop, hosted by CTS CorporationThe ISPA industry workshop, organized by CTS Corporation, is taking place on September 16, 2026. It will cover a broad range of topics related to Piezoelectrics, starting with basic concepts, through current industry challenges and all the way to upcoming technologies.

The workshop is intended for engineers and researchers looking to gain a better understanding of the design process, industry challenges, trade-offs and outlook for piezoelectric materials.

The participation in the workshop is free of charge for ISPA participants.

TIME	PROGRAMM
12:30 – 13:00	Registration
13:00 – 13:15	Welcome, short introduction to CTS products and capabilities
13:15 – 14:00	Basic concepts, application examples, FEM
14:00 – 14:30	Coffee break
14:30 – 15:15	Update on RoHS and lead-free materials
15:15 – 16:00	Choice of technology and materials for applications
16:00 – 16:30	Coffee break
16:30 – 17:15	Future materials, giant electrostriction, textured lead free
17:15 – 17:30	AI and machine learning assisted materials development
17:30 – 18:45	IKTS Lab tour
18:45 – 21:00	Get together & Exhibition

September 17, 2026

TIME	PROGRAMM
8:00 – 8:30	Registration
8:30 – 8:45	Welcome & ISPA Introduction Holger Neubert, Fraunhofer IKTS and Thomas Daue, Smart Material GmbH, Germany/USA
8:45 – 9:00	Greetings, tbd.
	KEYNOTE
9:00 – 9:30	The P.A.S.S. System for De-Icing of Composite Aircrafts and Drones John Geriguis, Advanced Development, USA
	SESSION 1: SUBSEA 1
9:30 – 10:00	MFC Actuators for Biomimetic Underwater Robotics: Toward Understanding Fish Swimming and Biomimetic Locomotion Shokoofeh Abbaszadeh, Otto – von-Guricke University Magdeburg, Germany
10:00 – 10:30	Self-Powered, Underwater Acoustic Transmitter for Fish Tracking Thomas Daue, Smart Material Corp., USA
10:30 – 11:15	Break & Exhibition
	SESSION 2: SUBSEA 2
11:15 – 11:45	Transition from PZT to Lead-Free Materials for SONAR Transducers Stephan Rautenberg, TKMS Atlas Elektronik GmbH, Germany
11:45 – 12:15	The Impact on ADCP Performance from Using Lead-free Piezo Ceramic over PZT Christopher Grinde, Nortek, Norway
12:15 – 12:45	Lead-free Sonar Transducers Prototypes Characterization for Underwater Acoustics Nicolas Josso, Thales DMS, France
12:45 – 14:00	Break & Exhibition
	SESSION 3: MATERIALS 1 (LEAD-FREE, TEXTURING, SINGLE CRYSTAL)
14:00 – 14:30	Scaling Considerations for Additive Manufacturing of Textured Piezo-Ceramics for Acoustic Transduction M.A. Fanton, Pennsylvania State University, USA
14:30 – 15:00	Effect of ZnO Submicron Spheres on SPS-Processed PZT Ceramics AKM Asif Iqbal, Saint Louis University Madrid, Spain
15:00 – 15:30	Processing of [001] Fiber-Textured PMN-PZT Ceramics for Piezoelectric Sensors Beecher H. Watson, Pennsylvania State University, USA
15:30 – 16:30	Break & Poster Session
	SESSION 4: MATERIALS 2 (COMPOSITES)
16:30 – 17:00	Tailoring Electroacoustic Properties of 1-3 Piezocomposites by Chemical Modification and Texture Development Sedat Alkoy, STEM Sensor Technologies and Electronic Materials Ltd., Turkey
17:00 – 17:30	New Piezoceramic Composites for Focus Transducer Applications Ayoub Bahba, PI Ceramic GmbH, GermanyLead-free vs. Lead-based Piezoelectric Transducers for Aerospace SHM: An Experimental
17:30 – 18:00	Comparison under Thermal Variation Shankar Galiana, DLR Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V., Germany
19:30 – 22:30	Conference Dinner at Dresden city

September 18, 2026

TIME	PROGRAMM
	SESSION 5: MEDICAL ULTRASONICS AND SENSORS
9:00 – 9:30	Single-Crystal Piezocomposites as Broadband Transmitters for Multistatic Medical Ultrasonic Imaging Tönnis Trittler, TUD Dresden University of Technology, Germany
9:30 – 10:00	Lead-free Piezo Ceramic in Ultrasonic Devices Tanja Einhellinger-Müller, CeramTec GmbH, Germany
	SESSION 6: ELECTROMECHANICAL, NDT, SHM, FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS
10:00 – 10:30	Textured Lead-Free Piezoceramics (Templates, ML, fibers, Composites) Sylvia Gebhardt, Fraunhofer IKTS, Germany
10:30 – 11:00	Ultrasonic Probes for Non-Destructive Testing Without Lead-Based Piezoceramics? Darvin Helfgen, SONOTEC GmbH, Germany
11:00 – 11:45	Break & Exhibition
11:45 – 12:15	Humanoid Robotics – an Overview on Sensor- and Acoustic Challenges and Opportunities Holger Kunze, Fraunhofer IWU, Germany
	CLOSING REMARKS
12:15 – 12:45	Progress Concerning Piezoelectric 1-3 Composites Thomas Daue and Andreas Schönecker, Smart Material GmbH, Germany, USA
12:45 – 13:00	Closing Remarks Holger Neubert, Fraunhofer IKTS, Germany
13:00 – 13:45	Farewell

Important Dates

July 30, 2025

Early Bird ends

July 30, 2025

Poster exhibitor registration ends

Aug 15, 2026

Exhibitor registration ends

Sep 6, 2026

Registration ends

Poster Session

Poster session takes place on September 17, 2026. Please find further information here.

Exhibition & Sponsors

See the sponsoring and exhibition terms of Fraunhofer IKTS

Registration

Registration wil be open shortly at
on the registration website.