Posted to News on 24th Apr 2015, 00:00
Wittenstein's Galaxie Drive System wins Hermes Award 2015
Wittenstein has won this year's prestigious Hermes Award for its revolutionary Galaxie Drive System, beating a field of almost 70 entrants from ten different countries, and making the most convincing impression out of the five finalists.
>"The high performance Galaxie Drive System is an outstanding development and a prime example of Germany's innovative drive," said Professor Johanna Wanka, Federal Minister of Education and Research, in her address at the award ceremony in Hanover on Sunday evening. "Wittenstein has proved that with courage, creativity and determination a completely new kind of gearhead can be created. The company has also succeeded in embodying the future of industry - the networking of production and services - in its gearbox."
>Deutsche Messe's annual Hermes Award technology prize is open to all companies and institutions exhibiting at the Hannover Messe and is regarded as a very important industrial award. Professor Johanna Wanka and Professor Wolfgang Wahlster, Jury Chairman and Scientific Director of the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), presented the award to Dr Manfred Wittenstein, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Wittenstein, and Thomas Bayer, Head of Galaxie Drive Systems at Wittenstein when the Hannover Messe was officially opened in the presence of Chancellor Angela Merkel.
>"The Galaxie Drive System will open more new doors for development engineers than any invention during the last several decades", explained Bayer, Galaxie's inventor, with pride. "The first customer projects have already confirmed Galaxie's standing as the enabler for the next generation in high performance engineering."
>The Galaxie Drive System presented by Wittenstein introduces a brand new gearhead generation. The gearhead has been fused with a newly developed high performance motor to obtain an ultra-compact, hollow-shaft drive system with integrated Industry 4.0 connectivity. It has a measured efficiency of more than 92% and sets new yardsticks in all technical disciplines.
>"This year's award winner demonstrates that even in the digital age, springboard innovations are still possible, even when it comes to the basic fundamentals of motion in industrial drives," added Professor Wolfgang Wahlster, Chairman of the Jury. "Our jury unanimously chose Wittenstein's Galaxie gearhead as the winner because it leverages a radically new gear tooth principle in order to provide a new kind of high performance drive system without a gear wheel that features integrated sensors and networking."
>Dr. Jochen Köckler, Member of the Managing Board at Deutsche Messe, continued: "Wittenstein is synonymous with technological expertise and innovative spirit. The company has been exhibiting at Hannover Messe for many years and, year after year, has been showcasing new products in the field of high precision electromechanical drives. The winning product is a completely new type of gearhead featuring Industry 4.0 connectivity."
