2008 Award Winners
A bridge builder from the very beginning
Special Prize Winner Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Prof. h. c. Eberhard Kallenbach
The jury of the Löhn Prize has honoured the outstanding achievements of Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Prof. h. c. Eberhard Kallenbach, Head of the Steinbeis Transfer Centre for Mechatronics, with a special prize. This Steinbeis Transfer Centre (STZ) at the Technical University of Ilmenau was one of the first to be established in the new federal states. Since 1992, Eberhard Kallenbach has devoted himself there with great success to practical technology transfer – from the university to industry. His STZ focused primarily on the fields of electric drive elements (actuators), specialised electromechanical drives and electronics technology, as well as magnetic technology.
However, Eberhard Kallenbach did not merely build bridges between academia and industry; through his technology transfer projects and his commitment to research and teaching, he also contributed to the reunification of East and West and to regional economic development.
For instance, the Steinbeis House in Ilmenau, established in 2005 on the initiative of Eberhard Kallenbach and serving as the headquarters for several Steinbeis companies, is a testament to the success of many technology transfer projects and, at the same time, a contribution to Thuringia as a centre of technological excellence. Eberhard Kallenbach created future prospects for well-educated young people in his region – something that cannot be taken for granted and a great personal achievement. He also demonstrated his sense of social responsibility in his day-to-day collaboration with his staff; he was an entrepreneur who remained humble, possessing patience, foresight and prudence.
In 2001, Eberhard Kallenbach supported the spin-off of a company from his Steinbeis Transfer Centre – Innomas Innovative Magnetsysteme GmbH. The company, which initially received crucial support from the STZ Mechatronik, now stands successfully on its own two feet. Furthermore, in 2006 he played an active role in the establishment of the VERDIAN Competence Centre for the Thuringia region – funded by the BMBF – a consortium of ten regional companies specialising in networked, integrated magnetic direct drives – of which he was chairman.
Eberhard Kallenbach was both a dedicated Steinbeis scholar and an outstanding university professor, whether as a doctoral supervisor, author of numerous specialist books, a reviewer for the DFG, or as a member of the Saxon and German Academies of Sciences.
In 2004, he was awarded the Löhn Prize for the first time for a technology transfer project carried out by his STZ in collaboration with MAHLE International GmbH.