2007 Award Winners
Innovative project work promotes sustainable practical relevance
Special Prize Winner Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jürgen van der List with the Steinbeis Transfer Center for Microelectronics/Göppingen
The jury of the Löhn Prize has awarded a special prize in recognition of the outstanding achievements and projects of Professor Dr.-Ing. Jürgen van der List at the Steinbeis Transfer Centre for Microelectronics (TZM) in Göppingen. Jürgen van der List served as Vice-Chancellor for Research and Development from 1995 to 1997 and as Chancellor of Esslingen University of Applied Sciences from 1997 to 2007. In 1991, he founded the TZM and has played a key role in establishing and expanding the TZM in Göppingen to this day.
“Practical, career-oriented training in the field of engineering can only succeed if lecturers constantly maintain links to industry and companies through innovative project work.” This was the motivation for Jürgen van der List, together with Professor Dr Heinz Osterwinter, to establish the TZM in 1991 at the newly founded Göppingen campus of Esslingen University of Applied Sciences. Prior to this, he had already been entrusted, since 1988, as Dean, with establishing the Department of Microelectronics at the newly founded Göppingen branch of Esslingen University of Applied Sciences. Over time, the leadership duo was competently reinforced by Professors Dr Bernhard Schwarz and Dr Rainer Würslin, and by Managing Director Edgar Grundstein.
Both the university’s new, well-equipped laboratories and the expertise of the newly appointed professors created a development environment that proved attractive to the surrounding industry. Commercial success came quickly, enabling the purchase of a plot of land directly adjacent to the university in 1997. Today, the organisation looks back with pride on its own building, erected in 2002, and employs a total of 120 staff. As a result, TZM – which has been in existence for 16 years and was ISO-certified in 2001 – is one of the largest centres within the Steinbeis network, having developed into a competent and reliable partner for many companies both in the region and internationally.
Whilst the TZM initially had a very broad remit in the field of electronics development, it now focuses on the areas of ‘automotive bus systems – in particular FlexRay’ and on specialised software development. In recent years, the TZM has achieved a high standard of quality and great success by developing, manufacturing and marketing its own products – in the form of analysis and test tools – for the industrial development of FlexRay bus systems.
Jürgen van der List and his colleagues at the Steinbeis Transfer Centre have distinguished themselves in the field of technology transfer through their consistently high level of performance and motivation, as well as a large number of successful transfer projects – particularly with small and medium-sized enterprises.