Thomas Fredenhagen Award 2016

In 2016, the Thomas Fredenhagen Award of Luebeck`s Merchants`Association was awarded for the first time for special scientific achievements and activities in the field of technology transfer and the development of patents and property rights. The award, endowed with 10,000 euros and made possible by the Professor Hans-Heinrich Otte Foundation and the Merchants`Association, went to Dipl.-Ing. Sebastian Freidank, Dr. Norbert Linz and Prof. Dr. Alfred Vogel from the University's Institute of Biomedical Optics. They were honored for their invention of a process for laser processing of transparent materials.

The award ceremony took place in the presence of the founder and the President of the Merchants' Association, Michael Weiß, at the university's annual reception on April 28, 2016. The laudatory speech was given by Prof. Dr. Thorsten M. Buzug, Director of the Institute for Medical Engineering and Vice President for Technology Transfer.

The process, which was awarded the Thomas Fredenhagen Prize by the Kaufmannschaft zu Lübeck, allows high-precision processing of nominally transparent materials using laser pulse durations of 300 ps - 20 ns in the UV-A and visible range of the optical spectrum. The jury recognized the invention as a breakthrough simplification opportunity through a technology that breaks new ground using simpler and less expensive methods and technical realizations. It also acknowledged the Institute of Biomedical Optics for having cultivated a culture of innovation and for having built up an extensive patent portfolio early on and with foresight, with which the inventive technology is protected without circumvention.

The Merchants`Association, the Professor Hans-Heinrich Otte Foundation and the University of Luebeck have been awarding the Thomas Fredenhagen Award every two years since 2016 for special achievements and activities in the field of technology transfer as well as patent and property right development. The prize focuses on the transfer between science and practice, it promotes the interdisciplinary perspective and it is endowed with 10.000 €.

The idea of the award underlines the necessity of an intensive exchange between science and industry. The prize is awarded for exemplary project activities or innovations by institutes, working groups or individuals. The criteria for awarding the prize are the success and the level of innovation of the activities as well as the willingness and ability of the prize winners to report publicly and comprehensibly on the course of the project as well as the challenges and how they were overcome.

Dedicated scientists and project teams that translate scientific project results into economic value creation are invited to apply with their projects. At the time of proposal or application, the individual or team must be researching, working or studying at the University of Luebeck.
The selection is made by various representatives, including the university`s President and Vice President for Digitization and Transfer, the Merchants`Association and the Professor Hans-Heinrich Otte Foundation.

Erfolgreiche Anmeldung und Verwertung der Patentfamilie "Verfahren zur Laserbearbeitung transparenter Materialien"