The 15 Best Entries to the INNOspace Masters 2019/20

The 15 winners of the innovation competition INNOspace Masters 2019/20 have been determined. A jury of experts selected visionary innovation projects from research institutions, SMEs and startups in fields such as medical technology, materials science and digitalisation. The winners of the five competition challenges will present their projects at the prestigious INNOspace Masters Conference and Award Ceremony in Berlin on 14 October 2020. The overall winner of the competition and the first places in each challenge will be announced and awarded at the conference.

Bonn, 07.07.2020 – The INNOspace Masters annually awards prizes to pioneering project ideas and solutions made possible through knowledge and technology transfers between space and other industries. Besides the initiator DLR, the other competition partners Airbus, OHB, DB Netz AG and the German ESA Business Incubation Centres each organise their own challenges with specific prizes. The innovation competition, part of the INNOspace® initiative by the Space Administration at the German Aerospace Center (DLR), awards prizes for space-related transfer projects and promotes their sustainable implementation.

Over the last few weeks, the 117 submitted ideas have been evaluated by more than 40 experts in a multi-stage process and the 15 best projects selected:

Finalists DLR Challenge

• Dr. Beat – Dr Ulf Kulau, DSI Aerospace Technologie GmbH
• HOSSA – Dr Ing. Christian Reimann, Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Systems and Device Technology IISB
• QuMSeQ – Prof Janik Wolters, Technische Universität Berlin, and Dr Markus Krutzik, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

Finalists ESA BIC Startup Challenge

• Additive Space – Sascha Larch, Additive Space GmbH
• RefresherBoxx – Sing-Hong Stefan Chang, Infinity StartUp GmbH
• Sphira – Levent Valente, Sphira GmbH

Finalists Airbus Challenge

• Internet from the Sky – Dr Alexander Köthe, Technische Universität Berlin
• In/Outdoor GNSS Common View Time and Frequency Synchronization – Sergiu Artene, Melior Systems GmbH
• Tikal – Moritz von Grotthuss, Bareways GmbH

Finalists OHB Challenge

• Freeform metal optics for New Space applications – Dr Ing. Matthias Beier, Spaceoptix GmbH
• Mars Torus – Dr Matthew Kelly, Mars Torus
• Neutron Star Systems – Marcus Collier-Wright, Neutron Start Systems UG

Finalists DB Netz AG Challenge

• ERMES – Dr Ricardo Cabral, Theia
• OCELL – David Dohmen, OCELL GmbH
• PANTOhealth – Dr Farzad Vesali, Pantohealth GbR

INNOspace Masters Conference and Award Ceremony on 14th October 2020

 The INNOspace Masters Conference and Award Ceremony will be held at the Humboldt Carré in Berlin on 14th October 2020 under the slogan “Space Moves!”. The event will be opened by Dr Walther Pelzer, Member of the Executive Board at DLR Space Administration. The focus of this year’s conference is the theme: “Innovations for sustainable infrastructures – what contribution can space make?”. The participants can look forward to keynotes and a panel discussion on this topic with leading actors from politics and business, including by

• Thomas Jarzombek, Federal Government Coordinator of German Aerospace Policy
• Dr Walther Pelzer, Member of the Executive Board at DLR Space Administration
• Andreas Lindenthal, Head of Business Operations Space Systems, Spacecraft Equipment, Space Systems Germany, Airbus Defence & Space
• Dr Lutz Bertling, Member of the Executive Board, OHB SE
• Dr Kristian Weiland, Head of Programme Digital Rail for Germany, CTO, DB Netz AG
• Matthias Petschke, European Commission Director for the European Union Space Program
• Dr Ing. Heba Aguib, Chief Executive, RESPOND, BMW Foundation Herbert Quandt

Participation in the conference and award ceremony is free of charge. Those wishing to participate are asked to register online in good time as places are limited.