MIBA AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT

Their core work

Miba Aktiengesellschaft is a large Austrian industrial manufacturer with deep expertise in precision components for powertrains, friction systems, and power electronics — serving automotive, rail, and heavy industry markets globally. In their H2020 participation, they brought industrial-scale manufacturing capability to electric vehicle battery development: first contributing to modular, high-energy-density battery pack architecture, then advancing to intelligent thermal management systems for EV batteries. Their role in these projects reflects a company translating its core competence in precision metalworking and thermal engineering into next-generation electromobility components. They are an industrial co-developer, not a research institution — they contribute manufacturing process knowledge, materials know-how, and prototyping capacity.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Miba's H2020 trajectory shows a deliberate move from the structural fundamentals of battery packs toward the functional intelligence layer. Their first project (iModBatt, 2017) was about making battery packs modular, manufacturable, and energy-dense — foundational industrial engineering. By 2019, with i-HeCoBatt, the focus shifted to active thermal management: how to heat and cool battery packs intelligently to extend EV range, incorporating sensors and additive-printed heat exchangers. This is a logical progression for a precision components manufacturer entering the EV supply chain — first master the physical architecture, then add the thermal and sensing functionality that determines real-world performance.

Miba is moving up the value chain in EV components — from structural pack assembly toward smart thermal systems — positioning themselves as a Tier 1 supplier capable of delivering both the housing and the thermal control layer for next-generation battery packs.

How they like to work

Miba consistently joins consortia as a participating industrial partner rather than taking the coordinator role — typical for a large manufacturer whose primary contribution is production know-how and component development rather than project administration. With 21 unique partners across just 2 projects, they operate in large, multi-stakeholder consortia, which suggests they are comfortable as one of several industrial players alongside research institutes and technology SMEs. This working style makes them a reliable but not dominant consortium member — they bring manufacturing credibility and industrial scale without steering the research agenda.

Miba has collaborated with 21 unique partners across 6 countries in only two projects, indicating they are placed in broad, international consortia rather than tight bilateral partnerships. Their network is European in scope, consistent with their role as an Austrian industrial supplier integrated into pan-European automotive and electromobility research chains.

What sets them apart

Miba is one of very few large industrial manufacturers in Austria with active H2020 involvement in both battery pack architecture and thermal management for electric vehicles — a combination that spans mechanical, thermal, and manufacturing domains simultaneously. Unlike university partners or research institutes in similar consortia, Miba brings the ability to move from prototype to industrial-scale production, which is exactly what Innovation Action projects are designed to achieve. For consortium builders, they represent the "can we actually make this?" voice — grounding R&D outputs in production reality.

Highlights from their portfolio

• i-HeCoBatt
  The largest single award in Miba's H2020 portfolio (EUR 1,129,782), this project combines heat exchanger engineering, sensor integration, and additive manufacturing to extend EV battery range — a technically ambitious scope that signals Miba's deepest R&D investment.
• iModBatt
  Miba's entry into EU-funded EV research, focused on industrially scalable modular battery pack design — significant as it established their credentials in electromobility manufacturing at a time when the automotive transition was accelerating.