Three prizes were presented in one evening at the 47th Hamburg Aviation Forum on 13 October, 2016: Tobias Meyer from the Helmut Schmidt University Hamburg and Christian Lüers from TU Braunschweig received the Hamburg Aviation Young Talent Prize 2016 for the best thesis on an aviation-related subject.

Hamburg, 14 October, 2016 - The cluster, Hamburg Aviation, was honoured as a "Landmark in the Land of Ideas" for its successful networking activities in 2016. And last but not least, Manfred Kennel, former Managing Director of Diehl and a source of ideas for the city and region for many years, was recognised by the city of Hamburg with the A380 Medal for Special Services in Aviation in Hamburg.

A life dedicated to aviation: Manfred Kennel receives the A380 Medal

Since Thursday, Manfred Kennel, former Managing Director of Diehl Aerospace GmbH and Director of Diehl Aerosystems, ranks amongst the recipients of the highly respected "A380 Medal". Kennel supported the Department of Economic Affairs, Transport and Innovation in Hamburg Aviation's application for recognition as a Leading-Edge Cluster, and he is the founder of the proTechnicale initiative, an orientation year for young women to help them prepare for engineering careers. Presenting the award, State Countin Andreas Rieckhof underlined the importance of Manfred Kennel's commitment and dedication to the city and region over many years, in particular on behalf of the young people "who, thanks to this initiative, are being strengthened in their personality and their career path". The city of Hamburg has presented the award, embossed with an A380, since 2005, honouring people who have made a special contribution to the city's aviation sector.

Hamburg Aviation Young Talent Prize: Jury honours highly promising master's theses

The two winners of this year's Hamburg Aviation Young Talent Prize come from Hamburg and Braunschweig. Tobias Meyer, a master's student at HSU, received the Young Talent Prize in the "Theoretical Concept" category for his idea of a wearable support system for the upper body and upper extremities to use in aircraft manufacturing. After evaluating existing concepts, Meyer developed a technology for wearable support with lammelar structures that are capable of adjusting to the body shape of the wearer and redirecting forces close to the body. Meyer tested and proved the effectiveness of the system in trials on test subjects in a movement laboratory.

Christian Lüers, a master's student at TU Braunschweig, produced a thesis on using recycled carbon-fibre in aircraft cabins", for which he garnered the prize in the "Application-Oriented Thesis" category. With increasing throughput levels of fibre reinforced polymers in aviation, more and more waste material is being produced. With his concept, Christian Lüers was able to demonstrate how recycled carbon fibres could, in the future, be re-used as fibrous textile insulation material. This could serve, for example, for heat and noise insulation in aircraft galleys. The thesis was produced in cooperation with the Composite Technology Center Stade (CTC), a 100% Airbus subsidiary focussed on research and development in the field of design and production of large and complex carbon-fibre components.

With its Young Talent Prize, Hamburg Aviation gives committed university graduates the opportunity to present their ideas and innovations to the aviation industry in Hamburg. The two winners can enjoy prize money of 1,500 euros along with free participation in the Hamburg Aviation Forum next year. The Hamburg Aviation Young Talent Prize is presented by HCAT+ (Hamburg Centre of Aviation Training Lab) and Hamburg Aviation, supported by the Department of Economic Affairs, Transport and Innovation, Lufthansa Technik and Airbus.

Hamburg Aviation is a "Landmark" in the Land of Ideas

The aviation cluster itself was also honoured with an award in the course of the Forum event. The association, representing Hamburg as a centre of aviation, is a winner in the nationwide innovation competition, "Landmarks in the Land of Ideas 2016". The motto for this year's competition was "CommUnity Innovation", and the jury felt that Hamburg Aviation, in the Business category, provided an answer to the question, how can the networking of neighbouring participants in the aviation industry strengthen Hamburg as an innovation centre. Dr Franz Josef Kirschfink, Managing Director of Hamburg Aviation, commented on the award: "For the cluster, this is the third renowned and highly respected seal of quality, following on from winning the Leading-Edge Cluster competition in 2008 and being awarded the European Commission's Gold Label in 2014, and we are highly delighted. We see the prize as a motivation to continue our dedicated efforts to demonstrate and promote the added value of joint action. Ultimately, it is the collaboration of the individual players that makes Hamburg one of the most successful aviation centres worldwide." Christian Blömer of Deutsche Bank presented the Vice Chairman of the board of the Cluster, Dr. Georg Mecke, with the award.