Finalists announced for the German Future Prize--all photonics technologies

Nov. 15, 2013

Munich, Germany--The office of the Federal President of Germany announced the teams nominated for the final round of the Deutscher Zukunfspreis 2013--the German Future Prize--which is awarded for innovation in science and technology and is worth 250,000 euros. The R&D projects by all three teams involve photonics technologies.

Team 1 developed an ultrashort pulse laser for extremely precise and reliable materials processing. Team members are: Dr. rer. nat. Jens König from Robert Bosch (Schwieberdingen), Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Stefan Nolte from Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Fraunhofer IOF (Jena), and Dr. sc. nat. Dirk Sutter from TRUMPF Laser (Schramberg).

Team 2 has developed a pulsed UV laser system to produce large, thin layers of polysilicon to be used in high-resolution mobile displays for smartphones and tablets. Team members are Dipl.-Ing. Rainer Pätzel, Dr. rer. nat. Ralph Delmdahl, and Dr.-Ing. Kai Schmidt from Coherent LaserSystems (Göttingen).

Team 3 has developed an energy-saving solid-state chemistry for white light-emitting LEDs. Team members are: Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Wolfgang Schnick from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (Munich) and Dr. rer. nat. Peter J. Schmidt from Philips Technologie (Aachen).

In the competitive nomination process, executives of German scientific and business institutions are entitled to propose up to three projects to the German President's Office. In a series of meetings, the jury categorizes the submissions and decides on the three or four innovations that will make it to the final round based on innovative research and marketablility. The Prize will be awarded on December 4, by Federal President Joachim Gauck at a gala event.

About the Author

Conard Holton | Editor at Large

Conard Holton has 25 years of science and technology editing and writing experience. He was formerly a staff member and consultant for government agencies such as the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and the International Atomic Energy Agency, and engineering companies such as Bechtel. He joined Laser Focus World in 1997 as senior editor, becoming editor in chief of WDM Solutions, which he founded in 1999. In 2003 he joined Vision Systems Design as editor in chief, while continuing as contributing editor at Laser Focus World. Conard became editor in chief of Laser Focus World in August 2011, a role in which he served through August 2018. He then served as Editor at Large for Laser Focus World and Co-Chair of the Lasers & Photonics Marketplace Seminar from August 2018 through January 2022. He received his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, with additional studies at the Colorado School of Mines and Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.