INGENIEURGESELLSCHAFT DR ING FISCHBACH MBH

Their core work

IGF is a German engineering consultancy specializing in the protection of buildings and industrial structures from extreme mechanical loads — earthquakes, blast waves, and noise. Their core work involves designing and assessing protective systems for critical infrastructure, with a growing focus on metamaterial-based shields: engineered periodic structures that can block or attenuate vibration and seismic energy before it reaches a facility. In EU research networks, they serve as an industrial anchor — contributing engineering design expertise, hosting early-stage researchers, and translating academic metamaterial concepts into practical protection strategies. Their portfolio spans petrochemical plant safety and broader structural resilience, positioning them at the intersection of applied structural engineering and advanced materials.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In their first H2020 engagement (XP-RESILIENCE, 2016), IGF worked on extreme loading scenarios for petrochemical infrastructure — a broad structural-safety framing without specific metamaterial keywords in the record. By their second project (INSPIRE, 2019), the focus had narrowed and deepened: seismic protection, noise isolation, and meta-materials appear as explicit technical pillars. This suggests a deliberate shift from general extreme-load consultancy toward a more specialized niche in passive wave-control systems. The trend is toward applied metamaterial engineering, which is a relatively small and technically demanding field where SME expertise can carry real weight.

IGF is moving toward applied metamaterial protection systems — a technically specific niche that connects structural engineering with advanced materials science, making them a credible industrial partner for future projects in passive seismic or vibration isolation.

How they like to work

IGF consistently joins as a partner or third party — they have never led an H2020 project as coordinator. Both participations are in MSCA Innovative Training Networks, which means their role is to provide an industrial environment for doctoral researchers rather than to drive scientific direction. Despite being a small firm with two projects, they engaged with 32 different consortium partners, which is high for that project count and reflects the large multi-node structure of MSCA-ITN consortia.

IGF has connected with 32 unique partners across 11 countries through just two projects — a wide reach driven by the large multi-beneficiary structure of MSCA training networks. Their collaborations are European in scope, with no indication of repeated partnerships suggesting they access new networks with each project rather than working within a fixed circle.

What sets them apart

IGF occupies an unusual position: a small private engineering firm that has managed to enter competitive MSCA research consortia twice, bridging industry and academia in a technically demanding field. Their combination of structural engineering practice and metamaterial expertise is rare for an SME — most metamaterial research stays in universities, while IGF brings the applied engineering perspective that academic partners typically lack. For a consortium building around seismic or vibration protection, they offer both credibility as an industrial host and practical design competence.

Highlights from their portfolio

• INSPIRE
  IGF's only funded participation (EUR 252,788), directly focused on their core specialization — seismic and noise protection via innovative ground-interface concepts and meta-materials, running 2019–2023.
• XP-RESILIENCE
  Their earliest EU project placed them in an extreme-loading scenario for petrochemical plants alongside metamaterial shield design — an unusual industrial-safety angle that distinguishes them from purely academic metamaterial groups.