𝗖𝗢𝗢𝗟𝗣𝗢𝗟 𝗮𝘁 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗠𝗔𝗚 𝗫𝗜 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲: Advancing electrocaloric cooling from materials and power electronics toward real cooling systems.

The COOLPOL team joined Thermag XI 2026 - Institute for International Research (IIR) Conference on 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗱-𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗘𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗴𝘆 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 in Ljubljana, Slovenia, for a week of scientific exchange, project discussions, and networking with the international solid-state cooling community.

COOLPOL was represented by Vitaliy Parkula, Luca Caliari, Nazario Di Salvia, Fabrice Domingues Dos Santos, Stefan Mönch, Nishchay Saurabh, and coordinator Emmanuel Defay.

Direct COOLPOL contributions included:
• 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝘆𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗔𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀 for Next-Generation Electrocaloric Cooling
(Nishchay Saurabh)
• Efficient 𝟭𝟬𝟬𝟬𝗩 Antiphase Charging of Two Capacitors for Electrocaloric Cooling using SiC Half-Bridge Converter (Stefan Mönch)
• 𝗔𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱-𝘁𝗵𝗲-𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗰 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 (Emmanuel Defay)
• COOLPOL project update within the 𝗘𝗜𝗖 𝗖𝗼𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗼 meeting

The two technical COOLPOL presentations were part of Session 4: Electrocalorics and pyroelectrics, chaired by Hana Uršič and Morgan Almanza.

Beyond the direct project contributions, COOLPOL partners were active in several further roles. Emmanuel Defay presented Lead Free Materials for Electrocaloric Cooling, co-chaired Session 11: Electrocalorics and pyroelectrics with XiaoShi Qian, and organized "Around-the-world electrocaloric characterization". 

Emmanuel Defay and Stefan Mönch also served on the 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗦𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗲.

The conference also highlighted the strength of the wider network around COOLPOL, with related contributions from colleagues at Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST), Universität Stuttgart (Institute of Electrical Energy Conversion (IEW), University of Stuttgart), Fraunhofer IAF, Université Paris-Saclay, Jozef Stefan Institute, and other groups, including presentations by Kilian Bartholomé (keynote), Christian Molin, Gaspard Taxil, Julius Metzdorf Metzdorf, Jan Schipper, Christophe Baron, Morgan Almanza, Moiz Khalil, Hana Uršič, Àlvar Torelló Massana, and many more.

A sincere thank you to the organizers, especially Andrej Kitanovski, Chair of THERMAG XI, and co-chairs Jaka Tušek and Katja Klinar, for bringing together such an engaged community in Ljubljana.

The photos capture highlights from the week: technical sessions, the COOLPOL team, the EIC Cooling Portfolio meeting, co-organized by the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA) andJohannes Bünz, Paolo Bondavalli, Darina Botsova, Adelina Nicolaie, networking, and beautiful Ljubljana.