Fast Forward Award - 25 years of future

The Winners 2023

MasterScheduler, a cloud-based software-as-a-service solution, recognises potential free loading capacity within logistics planning and optimises it with mathematical algorithms to fully utilised transports. The customer significantly reduces its carbon footprint, saves on average a quarter of the costs and relieves its employees.

The newly developed ELIN electric motor is integrated directly into the ship's propeller and eliminates the need for a gearbox, maximising its effect while reducing fuel consumption. The drive allows the vessel to be manoeuvred precisely and turned in the tightest of spaces - particularly important for cargo, crane or ferry vessels.

A team at the University of Graz is developing green and sustainable processes for the production of novel bio-based surfactants. The scientists are tapping into previously neglected regional waste streams of various origins - from agricultural and forestry biomass, used cooking oil to side streams from the paper and pulp industry - as raw material

The innovation is an AI-based platform that detects these novel drug solutions. At its core is a new deep-learning architecture that leads to a "closed-loop" application: A closed loop is created that encompasses the entire design, manufacturing and testing process, integrating complex databases.

ARYS™ is a wrist tracker that motivates people with one-sided paralysis to exercise their limited arm. The high-tech sensor technology specifically promotes active and thus therapeutically successful movements. Ordinary activities such as drinking coffee or hanging up laundry become a workout.

The new Symul8 simulation platform from represents a significant advance over previously established simulation platforms. Even without expert knowledge, users have easy access to a variety of different simulation scenarios; in addition, the software automatically evaluates parameters such as road safety or road performance.

The Winners 2022

30,000 tons of plastic nets are used for food packaging in Europe every year. Packnatur Entwicklungs- und Produktions GmbH is stepping up to replace them with sustainable alternatives.

AVL List GmbH has developed a fully automated process including the associated equipment that can build ultra-compact vehicle battery modules on an industrial scale.

acib GmbH and the start-up Econutri are working together to transform harmful greenhouse gases into high-quality protein. The core of the innovation is the ability of a microorganism called Cupriavidus necator to use CO2 as a source of nutrients and thus to produce a wide variety of biobased substances.

Luxinergy GmbH, a spin-off of the University of Leoben, has developed an innovative resin system including a 3D printer for the production of medical aids such as orthoses and prostheses.

Modern miniaturised hearing aids carry numerous microchips. They communicate with smartphones and cars and will soon translate conversations simultaneously. AT&S's innovation is at the intersection of these trends - miniaturisation versus increasing complexity.

The MCL has developed highly miniaturised nano-sensors that measure harmful and polluting gases with unprecedented precision. The sensor structures are significantly smaller than a tenth of a millimetre, the nanowires about a thousand times thinner than a human hair and the nanoparticles even a hundred times smaller.

The Winners 2019

Electric cars are in the fast lane. EaseLink has developed Matrix Charging so that the annoying fiddling with the charging cable can soon be a thing of the past. The fully automated charging technology connects the vehicle underbody with the power source and is set to conquer the market as a charging standard in the future.

The new satellite communication system provides a permanent, fast data link between the aircraft and the ground for monitoring even in an emergency. SCOTTY developed the new system together with the European Space Agency ESA. For the first time, it creates a robust and fast transmission of a secured HD video stream from the cockpit.

Automated processes for tracking consignments and trucks have long been established on the road. The WaggonTracker now brings digitalisation to rail, delivering cost reduction and increased freight protection. To solve the power supply challenge, the centrepiece is a newly developed wheel hub generator.

The next generation of high-end printed circuit boards comes from Leoben-Hinterberg. AT&S enables the integration of ever smaller microchips. The company is aiming for a zero-defect rate in its groundbreaking technology with 600,000 laser holes per 0.3 square metres, perfect copper filling and micro-precise ultra-fine conductor pattern.

The Large Engines Competence Center, Austria's leading R&D facility for large engines, is making the leap to the next generation of gas and dual-fuel engines with its developments. The new telemetry system is a highly flexible and powerful sensor solution that can withstand the greatest stresses in extreme engine situations.

Strain measurement sensors measure the forces occurring in machines, bearings or motors precisely, promptly and close to the point of load. The patented StrainPad works according to the same principle as conventional strain gauges, but offers a significant advantage: it is neither glued, screwed nor welded, but attached in seconds.