Matthias Muller

Dr. Matthias Müller is Executive Vice President R&D and New Ventures, SCHOTT AG. As Material Scientist by education, he has over two decades of expertise in the specialty glass and materials industry, including experience in the field of semiconductors, solar, optical crystals and wafer technology, as well as general management and business responsibility. Today, he and his team provide SCHOTT with new technologies, products, and businesses.

Presentation title:  How specialty glass is energizing our future: Enabling health, energy, and sustainability

Abstract: Society faces three major challenges today: (1) maintaining and improving health and making it accessible to everyone around the world, (2) finding new ways to generate climate neutral energy sources to meet the increasing demand, and (3) fighting climate change.

Specialty glass may not be the first answer that comes to mind in addressing these problems, however, this versatile material offers many solutions. Glass affects our daily lives in so many ways and without it, many of today’s developments would not exist. It has contributed to major breakthroughs in life science and medicine. For example, the unique properties of borosilicate glass ensure the safe delivery of life-saving medications such as the COVID-19 vaccine.

Glass also has the power to support new energy sources and can provide fascinating solutions that other materials cannot. It has the potential to advance solid-state batteries for electric vehicles, allowing a longer driving range. In the future, new energy sources could be realized using hydrogen technology or nuclear fusion supported by laser glass.

Even while we are making progress in the glass industry, we share the responsibility to find solutions for climate change. As an energy-intensive company, SCHOTT has defined a plan of action in order to reduce our carbon footprint and become climate neutral by 2030.