It was an inspiring location for some equally inspiring projects. The Steinbeis Foundation’s transfer prize, the 7th Löhn Award, was presented this year in front of 500 invitation-only guests at the Liederhalle Congress Center in Stuttgart, as part of the 2010 Steinbeis Day gala evening. The Löhn Award is bestowed annually to Steinbeis enterprises and their business partners in recognition of forward-looking, innovative transfer-based projects. The prize money is up to € 60,000.
The Löhn Award recognizes outstandingly successful transfer projects involving competitive knowledge and technology transfer. The success of projects is measured by the quality of the transfer process and discernible transfer potential. The award was first introduced in 2004 in honor of the lifetime achievements of Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. mult. Johann Löhn.
The 2010 jury awarded the prize to three companies and their business partners. The Steinbeis Transfer Center for Biopolymer Analysis, Proteomics and Protein Chemistry at the University of Constance and the Constance-based company Genzyme CEE received the award for their work on clinical diagnosis of lysosomal storage disorders. The Pforzheim-based Steinbeis Transfer Center for Production and Organization and the company Stadtmüller from Osterburken were honored for their development of a new kind of laser welding technique for use in rotationally symmetric components. The Chemnitz-based Steinbeis Transfer Center for Drive Engineering and Robotics in Engineering and the Siemens generator works in Erfurt won an award for the development of an innovative bending machine for induction conductors in large generators.
As well as the project-based awards, the 2010 jury bestowed two honorary prizes. One went to Prof. Dr.-Ing. Klaus Boelke, head of the Steinbeis Transfer Center for Technology Consultancy at Heilbronn University. The other was awarded to Prof. Dr.-Ing. Hermann Kull, head of the Esslingen-based Steinbeis Transfer Center for Systems Technology/ Automotive. Both were honored for their outstanding contributions to technology transfer.