The coveted euRobotics Awards will be presented in March this year. The European robotics sector’s three highly-respected symbols of recognition will once again be conferred on talented individuals and teams whose work is at the pinnacle of achievement. The winners will be announced at the euRobotics Awards ceremony at ERF 2023 in Odense in March.
Technology transfer is key to keeping European industry at the forefront of global competition – and nowhere more so than in automation and robotics. Both are highly relevant to cope with societal challenges, notably demographic change, shortage of skilled workers and the need for sustainable and resource-efficient production capability. That’s why euRobotics places such an emphasis on technology transfer and demonstrates this via the annual euRobotics Technology Transfer Award.
Outstanding examples of technology transfer in robotics and automation that result from cooperative efforts between research and industry are eligible for the prize. The three most outstanding examples of technology transfer will receive signed certificates.
Applications are invited from either teams or individuals, from industry if the technology transfer has taken place in Europe or from universities, research organizations, or laboratories located in Europe. Full details of the selection criteria and application process appear on the euRobotics Awards page on the ERF website.
Head of Department Robot and Assistive Systems at Fraunhofer IPA Werner Kraus heads the Tech Transfer Award jury: “As we are now entering a phase of massive labour shortage in all aspects of our lives, the need for industrial as well as service robots has never been higher than today. As robotics is deep tech, we need to successfully convert research results into operational robots supporting humans. With the euRobotics Tech Transfer Award, we are looking for successful tech transfer. The finalists act as a reference for the entire European robotics community. It is an honour for me to challenge the finalists during the award pitches at the European Robotics Forum and working together with the high-class jury.”
Fellow member of the Tech Transfer Award assessment panel Georg von Wichert underlined the significance of the Award: “A timely transfer of research results into technology applications is super important. This is especially true in industrial robotics, where the uptake of research results is lacking for quite some time. At the same time, changing customer and societal needs call for new more flexible paradigms to automation where robotics will play a key role. The euRobotics Technology Transfer Award honours great examples of successful transfer originating from all over Europe. It gives them visibility and as such showcases role models of innovation that will spark even more transfer in the coming years. It is a pleasure and an honour to be part of this endeavour!”
Manager European Membership Development at VDMA Robotics + Automation Fariba Khatami said: “Innovative solutions thrive best when people collaborate to share ideas, skills, and resources. The euRobotics Tech Transfer Award recognizes the value of collaboration between research and industry and honours the most commercially promising innovations resulting from successful tech transfer. Members of VDMA Robotics strongly support this award as it aims to reduce the gap between academia and industry – a key factor in strengthening competitiveness, addressing labour shortages, and raising awareness of robotics as an essential enabling technology. It’s my pleasure and honour to be part of the experience and I look forward to the creative robotics solutions presented.”
The deadline for Tech Transfer Award entries is 15th February. Applications should be sent by email to Dr. Werner Kraus, Fraunhofer IPA, Nobelstraße 12, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany via werner.kraus@ipa.fraunhofer.de
Meanwhile, this year’s euRobotics Entrepreneurship Award is also open for submission! All entrepreneurs and potential entrepreneurs in the robotics field are invited to join the competition.
Entries can be from either individuals or teams and from those who have not yet established a company or those with established companies and proof-of-technology. It is not necessary to have sales and turnover yet, but participants are expected to have developed an idea and done background research on exploitation pathways.
The five finalists will get five hours of counselling from European robotics entrepreneurship experts, free entrance to the European Robotics Forum 2023 (value of approx. €800) and €500 coverage of travelling costs. All submissions should be sent to Oliver Pedersen via tovp@teknologisk.dk Deadline for entries is 23.00 CET on 1st February.
Completing our trio of awards, the Georges Giralt PhD Award aims to showcase PhD theses defended during 2022 at European universities from all areas of robotics. Outstanding theses with strong theoretical contributions, a focus on professional applications or technology transfer, with a high degree of multidisciplinarity, or showing how robotics technologies can be applied to new domains, are all eligible for the prize. Entries are now closed for the PhD Award.
Full details about all three euRobotics Awards here: https://erf2023.sdu.dk/awards/