In this episode of DeepDive CleanTech, David Wortmann talks with Kurk Wilks, President and CEO of MANN+HUMMEL, about a product most people only notice once it fails: the filter. The Ludwigsburg-based filtration specialist, celebrating its 85th anniversary this year, sums up its purpose in a single sentence, namely separating the useful from the harmful. Its strongest new growth driver has become AI data centers, where around 40 percent of energy demand goes into thermal management. This is exactly where filtration comes in, on the air side against particles and corrosive gases and in the treatment of cooling water.

Wilks explains why a good filter pays off, pointing to the interplay of energy consumption, operating costs and carbon footprint. Another topic is the handling of PFAS: MANN+HUMMEL filters the forever chemicals out of water while working to gradually replace them in its own membranes with fluorine-free alternatives. An episode about how a German family business grows between regulation, the data center boom and the circular economy, and what role filtration plays in clean air, clean water and clean industry.