Im Mai ist der Kompetenzpreis für Innovation und Qualität Baden- Württemberg 2012 an Dr. Sybill Storz und die Oximatec/Leonhardt Graveurbetriebe verliehen worden. Und kaum haben die Preisträger die Bühne verlassen, wird sie schon für kommende vorbereitet: Im Mai 2013 findet im Rahmen der Messe Control in Stuttgart die nächste Verleihung statt, die Ausschreibung hat begonnen.
Die potentiellen Preisträger durchlaufen ein ausführliches Bewerbungsverfahren. Eingeladen zur Bewerbung sind alle baden-württembergischen Unternehmen, so sie die Voraussetzungen erfüllen. Der Maßstab ist kein geringer, mit dem die Bewerber gemessen werden. Erfindungsreichtum und Unternehmergeist allein genügen nicht. Vielmehr werden mit diesem Preis seit 2008 alljährlich Unternehmen ausgezeichnet, die das Spannungsfeld zwischen Innovation und Qualität beherrschen, dies in die betriebliche Praxis überführt haben und nachweislich herausragende Ergebnisse erbringen. Wer diese Kriterien erfüllt, kann sich ab sofort bewerben und seine Unterlagen einreichen. Einsendeschluss ist der 22. Februar 2013.
Ellen Spieth
TQU Business (Ulm)
The most highly remunerated EU award has been bestowed upon the former director of the Steinbeis Transfer Center for Applied Computer and Software Technology (ACS). Professor Dr. Klaus Schilling, a researcher at Wurzburg University, has been awarded more than €2.5 million in funds to conduct research into innovative technologies for small collaboration satellites. The funding will be contributed by the European Research Council. Schilling was director of the ACS Steinbeis Transfer Center for 16 years and continues to work with the center as a project manager.
As has been the case with computers, satellite technology is undergoing radical change. The once massive computers of the 1970s have been replaced by smaller, networked computers with access to the Internet. "We are seeing a similar paradigm shift in satellite technology – moving away from the still standard large satellites to smaller, networked systems made up of many smaller interactive satellites," explains Klaus Schilling. To implement this change, research and development of modern telematics methods is necessary.
Schilling’s team at the institute is all too familiar with small satellites: since 2005, the team has launched two University of Würzburg Experimental Satellites (aka UWE) into orbit. At the size of a standard milk carton, each of these satellites weighed only 1 kilogram. Another of these UWE satellites will be launched at the start of 2013, while a fourth satellite is currently under development. "Each of these small satellites only has limited uses, but the collaboration between the individual units can yield impressive and exciting results," says Schilling. For example, points on Earth can be monitored from various perspectives and this information can be used to generate three-dimensional images.
But these small satellites might also pave the way for low-cost telecommunications networks that span the globe. These are precisely the types of uses that the engineers in Würzburg aim to research over the course of the next five years. To do this, they will further develop methods implemented in control and communications technologies. Their aim is to end the research fellowship with a demonstration of the feats this innovative approach could achieve. They plan to present a "mini-fleet" of four small, interactive satellites in space. The satellites will be held in formation with advanced control mechanisms to ensure the optimal flow of information within the network between the satellites and terrestrial base stations.
Schillings research plans will be financed with an "European Research Council Advanced Grant." With these funds, the ERC supports researchers from all fields who have shown themselves to be world leaders and who are interested in carrying out groundbreaking, future-oriented projects in Europe.
Prof. Dr. Klaus Schilling
Steinbeis Transfer Center for Applied Computer and Software Technology (Würzburg)
su0162@stw.de