The prize-winner of the 20th edition of Förderpreis Beton is Dr.-Ing Tobias Schack from the University of Hannover, Germany, for his exceptional work 'Computer vision-based fresh concrete monitoring for digital quality control'.
Dr.-Ing Tobias Schack was chosen by an international jury alongside leading academicians in construction materials from Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic. These jury members were present at the ceremony in Gdansk to recognise Dr Schack.
On receiving his prize, which included 10,000 euros, Dr.-Ing Schack commented: "It is a great honour and pleasure for me to receive this year's award. This award is a very special promotional award, both in science, but also in industry, which honours scientific achievements. If you look at the list of award winners, I think it shows what significance this award has already had.
"For me, it shows that scientific achievement in concrete technology must be promoted in the future, and I hope that this will also encourage young scientists to deal with concrete as a building material, be it in practice, but hopefully also in science, in order to gain new insights and develop new methods, so that we can further develop concrete technology and production in the future."
The aim of the competition, which has been held in Germany since 1984 and since 2020 has included Poland and the Czech Republic, is to encourage the progression of young people in the industry while promoting the development of the production, processing and application of cementitious, concrete and concrete structures.
Competition entries were required to identify approaches for improving material-specific properties, quality, and cost-effectiveness of concrete and concrete structures as well as ecological and technological aspects. Professionals and scientists from construction companies, building material production, research institutes, universities and material testing institutes were invited to participate.
Finalists included Mrs. Iveta Nováková from the Czech Republic and PhD Eng. Katarzyna Kalinowska-Wichrowska from Poland.
Ruediger Kuhn, VP Materials Central Europe, Cemex, commented: "It was an honour to present Dr.-Ing Schack with his award and spend time with him at our prestigious award ceremony. We hope he is all rightly proud of his achievements.
"This is an important award in our sector, and we are consistently amazed by the exceptional and inventive submissions we receive. It is truly gratifying to witness the relentless innovation of young scientists and technologists as they propel the evolution of our field, fostering enhanced collaboration between experts in the construction materials sector."
The Förderpreis Beton is esteemed in Germany among concrete technologists – it is the leading distinction in building materials research.
