Stuttgart Surface Technology Prize "The Surface" 2024 awarded
The Stuttgart Surface Technology Award "The Surface" 2024 was presented on June 4 at the SurfaceTechnology Germany trade fair. The prize was awarded to the product and process innovations of three companies from the fields of coatings, electroplating and powder coating.
Holzapfel Metallveredelung emerged as the winner of the "The Surface" 2024 award this time. It won the Stuttgart Surface Technology Award with an innovative motorized rotating and tilting electroplating rack. The maneuverability of the rack saves resources and makes it possible for the first time to coat components on one side only without having to mask them first. In second place was the "Flowsense" powder quantity control system from J. Wagner. The technology regulates and measures the powder output fully automatically during the powder coating process, thereby reducing the amount of powder used thanks to constant coating thicknesses. Third place was awarded to TE Connectivity for an environmentally friendly coating process for connectors. The new coating process is dry, produces no waste water and has a CO2 footprint that is up to 35 percent smaller than established electroplating processes.
Martin Metzner, Head of the Electroplating Department at the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA, launched the Stuttgart Surface Technology Award "The Surface" in 2012 and has been a member of the jury ever since. "Surface technology is often significantly involved in the degree of innovation and progress of numerous industries without this being known to the general public," says Metzner. In order to recognize this ubiquitous and yet often overlooked cross-sectional and pacemaker technology, companies and individuals from all disciplines of surface technology have since been invited to apply for the award.
► Read also our detailed report on the Stuttgart Surface Technology Award “The Surface” 2024