Vienna, Austria, 6 October 2026 – The e²LEAD Xecs Call 1 project has been honoured with the Xecs Innovation Award 2026 during the Xecs Matchmaking Event in Vienna, recognising its achievements in developing advanced packaging technologies for the next generation of automotive supercomputing platforms. The award was received on behalf of the consortium by Project Leader Przemyslaw Jakub Gromala, Robert Bosch.

The Xecs Innovation Award celebrates outstanding collaborative R&D projects that turn ambitious technological challenges into concrete innovation and industrial impact within the European Electronic Components and Systems (ECS) ecosystem.

Enabling European leadership in automotive supercomputing

As vehicles become increasingly automated, the computing systems behind them need to process and exchange enormous amounts of information in real time while meeting demanding requirements for reliability, safety, thermal management and power delivery.

e²LEAD – Enabling EU Leadership in automotive ECU for future Autonomous Driving addressed these challenges through advanced packaging technologies designed to enable automotive supercomputing platforms “Made in Europe.”

The project brings together developments across three closely connected research domains:

  • Connectivity – high-performance data communication and advanced thermal interfacing;
  • Technology – automotive chiplet packaging and Smart Power System (SPS) integration;
  • Reliability and Safety – new testing strategies and digital twin-based design methods supporting more reliable and efficient development.

Through these innovations, e²LEAD contributes to the technological foundations needed for future highly automated and autonomous vehicles, while reinforcing European capabilities in strategically important automotive electronics and semiconductor technologies.

Collaboration at the heart of e²LEAD

Behind the technological achievements of e²LEAD stands a strong industrial and research consortium bringing together expertise from across the automotive and semiconductor value chains.

“e²LEAD project has demonstrated that the next generation of autonomous-driving platforms can only be realized through close collaboration across the entire automotive microelectronics value chain. By bringing together leading automotive industrial partners, SME, and research partners, we transformed complementary expertise into one demonstrator that connects advanced packaging, power electronics, thermal management, virtual engineering, and digital-twin technologies. The project shows how European collaboration can accelerate innovation and create tangible industrial impact.” – higlights Dr. Przemyslaw Jakub Gromala, e²LEAD Project Leader.

The project unites AUDI AG, Berliner Nanotest und Design GmbH, Boschman Technologies BV, CADFEM Germany GmbH, CARIAD SE, Delft University of Technology, Fraunhofer Institute for Electronic Nano Systems ENAS, ILFA GmbH, IWO Project BV, JIACO Instruments, Nexperia BV, Robert Bosch GmbH, Technical University of Chemnitz, and Technische Universität Berlin.

Together, the partners combine the perspectives of automotive manufacturers, semiconductor and component suppliers, advanced packaging specialists, engineering and simulation experts, SMEs and leading research and academic organisations.

This complementary expertise has enabled the consortium to work across the complete technology chain – from components, materials and packaging concepts to modelling, testing, system integration and validation – demonstrating the value of international, industry-driven collaboration in addressing challenges that no single organisation could tackle alone.

Led by Robert Bosch GmbH, the German-Dutch consortium is also a strong example of the collaborative innovation model at the core of Xecs: connecting industrial needs with specialised technological expertise and research excellence to accelerate the path from R&D to future industrial applications.

From PENTA to Xecs: recognising collaborative innovation

The Xecs Innovation Award continues the tradition established by the PENTA and Euripides² Innovation Awards, recognising projects that demonstrate technological excellence alongside strong collaboration and potential for industrial impact.

Xecs builds on the achievements of its predecessor programmes, bringing together companies, SMEs, research organisations, universities and Public Authorities to advance market-oriented innovation across the Electronic Components and Systems value chain.

The recognition of e²LEAD in Vienna highlights not only the technological progress achieved by the project, but also the strength of the consortium behind it, demonstrating how European and international cooperation can help translate ambitious research into technologies supporting the future competitiveness of European industry.

 

Congratulations to the entire e²LEAD consortium on this achievement.