Young engineers awarded at Techtextil for sustainability & automation
Six up-and-coming engineers were celebrated for their groundbreaking work at the Techtextil trade fair in Frankfurt. The Walter Reiners Foundation awarded prizes in both sustainability and automation categories, recognizing exceptional bachelor’s and master’s theses.
Sustainability prizes were presented for research focused on developing resource-efficient products and technologies.
In the bachelor’s category, Anna Markic (Reutlingen University) received a €3,000 award for her thesis on carbon fiber recycling. Mark Zenzinger (Albstadt-Sigmaringen University) was also awarded €3,000 for his work on automating the production process for welded textile hard goods. Lena Fink (TU Dresden) earned a €3,000 promotion prize for her project on a device simplifying braiding machine maintenance.
The master’s category saw Fabio Bussmann (RWTH Aachen) take home a €3,500 prize for his analysis of life cycle assessments for alternative geotextile materials. Katharina Maria Ernst (TU Dresden) received a €3,500 sustainability award for her research on developing a process to treat chitosan fibers for carbon fiber production. Lennart Hellwig (RWTH Aachen University) was honored with a €3,500 prize for his work on applying machine learning in nonwovens manufacturing.
These awards highlight the significant contributions young engineers are making to the future of textiles. Their dedication to sustainability and innovation has the potential to revolutionize the industry.
