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Knorr-Bremse presents Innovation Award to students

maj 17, 2016

Top talents project marks tenth anniversary of Knorr-Bremse Global Care

Knorr-Bremse Global Care is a charitable organization that has been helping to fund worldwide aid projects for over ten years. The Innovation Award for students, offered to mark the organization’s tenth anniversary, was won by engineering students from TH Deggendorf Technical University. The jury was impressed by the prototype press they designed for brick production in developing and emerging countries. The award was presented at Knorr-Bremse headquarters in Munich.

  • The winners of the Innovation Award from TH Deggendorf Technical University together with the organizers and members of the jury (from left): René Langheinrich, Engineers without Borders; Dr. Gert Fregien, Knorr-Bremse AG; the winning team from TH Deggendorf; Patrick Ruppenthal, Knorr-Bremse Global Care; Prof. Dr. Stefan Schulte, TH Deggendorf; Julia Thiele-Schürhoff, Knorr-Bremse Global Care; Dr. Eduard Gerum, Knorr-Bremse AG. © Knorr-Bremse

  • Impressed the jury: The winning prototype press for making bricks in rural areas. © Knorr-Bremse

On May 12, 2016, the jury of the Innovation Award prized the achievement of the six-strong winning project team from Deggendorf Technical University. The up-and-coming engineers based their design for the winning prototype of a brick and stone-block press for developing and emerging countries on a simple and economical process. The team demonstrated initiative, know-how and creative engineering to build a new type of brick press. By bringing technical enhancements to an existing tool, the underlying concept not only complies with the principles of sustainability but also clears the way for people in rural areas to build their own infrastructure. The jury also commended the performance of the second and third placed project teams from Munich University. The jury included René Langheinrich, Coordinator Engineers without Borders, and Julia Thiele-Schürhoff, Chair of the Executive Board of Knorr-Bremse Global Care, along with top development engineers from Knorr-Bremse.

Prototype must prove itself in practice

The aim of the projects supported by Knorr-Bremse Global Care is to foster long-term independence and boost initiative among the people they help in a sustainable manner. So, the plan is to test the prototype presses in practice and under expert supervision in a country chosen by Engineers without Borders. Selected students from the award-winning project teams will work together on site toward the common goal of developing a new and conceptually enhanced prototype.

Knorr-Bremse Global Care

Ever since it was founded in 2005, Knorr-Bremse Global Care has been supporting longterm projects in the field of education and WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) infrastructure. The organization ensures maximum effectiveness by keeping its funding activities clearly focused. In regional terms, its activities cover 40 countries, 30 of which also host Knorr-Bremse production facilities. In its anniversary year alone, Knorr-Bremse Global Care helped to provide almost 100,000 people with access to drinking water.

Students attend University Day

In the run-up to the presentation ceremony, Knorr-Bremse staged a University Day. Florence Bröcheler is responsible for graduate recruitment at Knorr-Bremse and considers this type of event, which includes a tour of the company, an important module in attracting talent. “We want to give the students an impression of the structures within which a marketleading company works and industrializes innovations. Our collaboration with universities enables the students to get to know Knorr-Bremse as an attractive employer, and we get to hear at firsthand what these future graduates expect from us.” The concept has already proven its worth. As an audited and certified “Top Employer for Engineers in Germany 2016”, Knorr-Bremse enjoys a reputation among students for offering superior employment opportunities.

 

Eva Doppler

Tel: +49 89 3547 1498
Fax: +49 89 4444 54193
e-Mail: eva.doppler@knorr-bremse.com

Knorr-Bremse AG
Moosacher Straße 80
80809 Munich
Germany

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