S
ince 1997, the Federal President
of Germany has been presenting
outstanding researchers and
developers with an award for
technology and innovation. This award is
worth 250,000 euros and is regarded in
the fields of industry and research as the
“Nobel Prize for Technology”.
In his congratulatory note to the
development team, Dr. Eberhard Veit,
Chairman of the Board of Directors of
Festo AG, emphasised the importance of
the connection between research and
applied technology. “Research needs
long-term commitment, the right partner
and the right visions. The Bionic Handling
Assistant is a trend setting innovation
which offers genuine benefits for society
in general,” Dr. Veit continued. He went
on to say that this project shows once
again how important it is for universities
and research institutes to work together
with leading industrial companies.
A day after the presentation of the
German Future Award 2010 (Deutscher
Zukunftspreis), a picture appeared in the
science and business sections of many
major newspapers. It showed an
elephant’s trunk reaching towards a Festo
Bionic Handling Assistant, which was
offering the pachyderm an apple. An
image which symbolises the innovative
technology which was honoured in the
evening of 1st December by Federal
President Christian Wulff.
Inspired by nature
The developers of this award winning
assistant system took their inspiration
from elephants. Powerful but at the same
time sensitive, an elephant’s trunk with
its 40,000 muscle fibres is one of the
most amazing gripping tools in nature.
Just like an elephant’s trunk, the robust
but compliant design of the Bionic
At the start of December of last year
the Federal President
of Germany Christian Wulff presented the German Future
Award to Dr. Peter Post and Markus Fischer of Festo and
to Andrzej Grzesiak of the Fraunhofer Institute IPA. The
subject of the award was the development of the Bionic
Handling Assistant.
Award for the Bionic Handling Assistant
Festo wins
Future Award