Prof Gerdes nominated for German Future Prize

15.9.2020 | THD-Pressestelle

Prof Dr Thorsten Gerdes heads the Keylab Glass Technology at the University of Bayreuth and is Scientific Director at the Technology User Centre (TAZ) in Spiegelau, which is part of the Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT). The professor has now been nominated for the final round of the German Future Prize of the Federal President in cooperation with the industrial partners Dyneon/3M and Maxit at the Deutsches Museum in Munich.

On the occasion of the announcement of the three nominated projects on 9 September, Bavaria’s Science Minister Bernd Sibler emphasised the value of research: “Without our researchers and developers, without their spirit of innovation and vision of the future, we cannot find answers to the pressing questions of our time. I am very grateful that they are developing ideas that can make our lives better in the future – and that worldwide. Visions for a better future also come from Bavaria: futurology research in all areas is carried out at our Bavarian universities. Future fields of technology play a special role here. The Minister was very pleased that one of the top three projects also comes from Bavaria. Energy efficiency and sustainability are forward-looking topics that must be dedicated to the coming generations with all their might.

The Federal President’s Science Prize is one of the most important science prizes in Germany. This year it will be awarded on 25 November in Berlin by Frank-Walter Steinmeier. By the way, live on ZDF. Three topics will then have the chance to win the € 250,000 prize money in addition to the scientific reputation: It’s about new developments in future information technology, automation in medicine and, of course, more climate-neutral construction.

The team around the speaker Dipl-Ing (FH) Friedbert Scharfe (Maxit), Dr rer nat Klaus Hintzer (Dyneon/3M) and Prof Dr-Ing Thorsten Gerdes for the system “ecosphere” – an innovative, environmentally friendly system of sprayable insulation with micro hollow glass beads, which was developed in a project between the partners and the Keylab Glass Technology of the University of Bayreuth, funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).

This is where DIT and TAZ Spiegelau come in. Within the framework of the recently launched “Micro-Bubble” project – also a BMBF-funded project – research is already being conducted on the next generation of building insulation. The basis for his continues to the hollow micro-bubbles. The aim of the researchers in Eastern Bavaria and Upper Franconia is to achieve a further improvement in the production process for this lightweight material.

Bild (German Future Prize, Ansgar Pudenz): Prof Dr-Ing Thorsten Gerdes, Dipl-Ing (FH) Friedbert Scharfe and Dr rer nat Klaus Hintze rare in charge of the project.