Fraunhofer is Europe’s largest application-oriented research organization. Its research efforts are geared entirely to people’s needs: health, security, communication, energy, and the environment. Fraunhofer develops solutions of direct practicable value to technical and organizational problems and contributes to the wide-scale implementation of new technologies. It develops, implements, and optimizes processes, products, and equipment until they are ready for use and for the market. Research centers and representative offices are in Europe, the United States, Asia, and in the Middle East. Fraunhofer USA is in Plymouth, Michigan.