Thomas Fredenhagen Award 2018

The Thomas Fredenhagen Award of the Kaufmannschaft zu Lübeck for special scientific achievements and activities in the field of technology transfer and the development of patents and property rights has been awarded for the second time after 2016.
The award, endowed with 10,000 euros by the Professor Hans-Heinrich Otte Foundation and the Kaufmannschaft zu Lübeck, went this year to Prof. Dr. Thomas Martinetz and Prof. Dr. Erhardt Barth from the University's Institute for Neuro- and Bioinformatics. They were awarded the prize for their invention "Method and device for estimating a pose".

The award ceremony took place during the university's annual reception on April 19, 2018, in the presence of the founder and the president of the Kaufmannschaft zu Lübeck, Michael Weiß. The laudatory speech was held by Prof. Dr. Stefan Fischer, Director of the Institute for Telematics and Vice President of the University of Lübeck for Technology Transfer and Digitization. Prof. Dr. Erhardt Barth received the award on behalf of the Institute for Neuro- and Bioinformatics from Dr. Holger Otte of the Hans-Heinrich Otte Foundation.

The invention "Method and device for estimating a pose", which was awarded the Thomas Fredenhagen Award of the Merchants`Association of Luebeck, resulted in a method for gesture recognition to make human-machine communication more efficient and natural using a method from the theory of neural networks in conjunction with a new camera technology. For the jury, it was not only the scientific significance of the invention that was worthy of the award. It also honored the successful transfer of the property rights to a spin-off company, gestigon GmbH, which has an impact far beyond the Luebeck campus.

Thomas Fredenhagen (* October 25, 1627 in Lübeck; † April 20, 1709 ibid.) was one of the merchants who revitalized Lübeck's economy in the 17th century, boldly breaking new ground in foreign trade and switching from partenreederei - a corporate form of German maritime trade law - to the riskier but more lucrative Eigenreederei. Churchwarden of St. Mary's Church since 1680, Fredenhagen donated the Baroque marble high altar known as the Fredenhagen Altar in 1697, created by Thomas Quellinus of Antwerp. At that time, it was the largest donation to a Luebeck church since the Reformation.

Prof. Hans-Heinrich Otte has helped shape the fortunes of today's BDO AG Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft for more than half a century. As an entrepreneur, Prof. Otte is so far the only one who has managed to successfully establish a worldwide auditing network from Central Europe and especially from Germany. He was one of the first in his field to recognize the importance and scope of globalization. In addition to his professional achievements, the Lübeck native has always been committed to the social and cultural interests of the Hanseatic city. In 2006, Otte was awarded the honorary title of "Professor," one of the highest honors bestowed by the state of Schleswig-Holstein, for his multifaceted commitment.

The Kaufmannschaft zu Lübeck, with its president Michael Weiß, was instrumental in establishing the award. The award ceremony took place on March 2, 2015, in the historic Fredenhagen Room of the Merchants`Association, to reaffirm the joint intention of honoring scientific achievements in connection with business.