Austrian engineering firm applying additive and functional printing to EV thermal management and printed biosensor manufacturing.
EPI GmbH is an Austrian engineering company specializing in additive and functional printing technologies, applying them across two distinct domains: printed electrochemical diagnostics and thermal management systems for electric vehicles. In the IMPETUS project they contributed printed biosensor manufacturing know-how for paper-based lateral flow and electrochemical test strips, while in i-HeCoBatt they applied additive printing to produce heat exchangers and cooling components for EV battery packs. Their cross-sector footprint suggests they are a technology transfer enabler — a company whose core manufacturing method (functional printing) unlocks solutions in both life sciences and clean transport. With only two projects on record, their public H2020 profile is narrow, but both engagements point to a consistent materials-and-manufacturing identity.
Both IMPETUS (printed biosensor strips) and i-HeCoBatt (additive printed heat exchangers) share a common thread of applying printing/additive manufacturing processes to produce functional components.
i-HeCoBatt (2019–2022) placed EPI as a paid participant delivering heat exchanger and cooling/heating solutions for EV battery packs.
IMPETUS (2018–2022) involved EPI as a third-party contributor to pilot production of paper-based electrochemical test strips for point-of-care diagnostics.
i-HeCoBatt keywords include sensors alongside thermal management, suggesting EPI contributes sensing elements in addition to structural/thermal components.
EPI's earliest H2020 involvement (IMPETUS, from 2018) was in the diagnostics space — printed biosensors, lateral flow tests, and electrochemical point-of-care devices, suggesting roots in functional printing for the life-sciences or medtech supply chain. Their subsequent project (i-HeCoBatt, from 2019) shifted to transport and e-mobility, specifically battery thermal management using additive printed heat exchangers — a completely different application domain but the same underlying manufacturing capability. The trajectory points toward clean transport as their growth focus, with diagnostics printing as a prior or parallel capability rather than their strategic direction.
EPI appears to be repositioning its functional printing expertise toward electric mobility and battery systems, making them a potential niche supplier for future EV or energy storage consortia needing printed thermal components.
EPI has never led an H2020 project — they joined as a third party in one project and as a paid participant in another, consistent with a specialist supplier brought in for a specific manufacturing capability rather than a research driver. Their partner network of 28 organizations across just two projects suggests they joined mid-to-large consortia rather than tight bilateral arrangements. This profile fits a company that is most useful when a consortium needs a component manufacturer or process technology provider, not a scientific coordinator.
Despite only two projects, EPI has worked alongside 28 distinct consortium partners spread across 6 countries, indicating they joined substantive multi-partner projects rather than small bilateral grants. Their geographic reach is European, with Austria as the home base.
EPI's differentiator is the application of additive and functional printing as a manufacturing bridge between sectors that rarely share suppliers — clinical diagnostics and electric vehicle engineering. This cross-domain printing competence means they can bring a proven fabrication method into consortia that would otherwise struggle to find a printing-technology partner with both medtech and transport credentials. For a consortium building around printed electronics, flexible sensors, or novel heat exchanger geometries, EPI represents an unusual combination of domain diversity and manufacturing specificity.
