The traditional award, presented by the Otto Junker Foundation, honours graduates of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology as well as the Specialist Group Materials Science and Technology in the Faculty of Georesources and Material Technology. In this way, the Foundation underlines its close connection with the University and its efforts for promoting young scientists. The long-standing promotion of outstanding scientific achievements and the constant exchange between academic and practical areas will continue in 2025.
Focus on outstanding graduates
The award winners in 2024 – Daniel Baggen, Moritz Diewald, Gerrit Ipers and Jan Krusenbaum – stood out due to their extraordinary academic achievements and the high practical relevance of their theses which address current challenges and offer a contribution to progress in the fields of materials science and technology as well as electrical engineering and information technology.
A legacy for scientific progress
For more than five decades, the Otto Junker Foundation, founded by Dr.-Ing. E.h. Otto Junker in 1970, has actively promoted science. The founder, himself a former graduate of the RWTH Aachen and a visionary entrepreneur, wanted to build a bridge between science and practice. This legacy has characterized the work of the Foundation to the present day.
”The promotion of young talent is the key to progress and innovation in science and society”, Udo vom Berg, Chairman of the Foundation and of the Otto Junker Supervisory Board, stressed during the award ceremony.
Synergies between university and industry
The Otto Junker Foundation not only supports outstanding students but also research projects which set new impulses in technological development. That way, it promotes exchange between joint research projects in industry (not just the metal processing industry) and allows a network of experts to face the opportunities and challenges of current scientific and technical subjects.
Ulrich Rüdiger, Rector of the RWTH, praised the Foundation as a role model for the dialogue between university and industry: “The active interaction between research and economic benefits is essential for driving innovation and mastering global challenges.”
Tradition meets vision
Awarding the Otto Junker Prize goes beyond the acknowledgement of academic achievements. It is supposed to encourage the award winners to actively use their professional competence in order to shape the technologies of the future. The awarded theses underline the importance of materials science and electrical engineering for solving crucial questions of our time - from sustainability to digitalization.
The annual award is a cornerstone of the commitment of the Otto Junker Foundation. It not only offers the award winners recognition, but also access to a network of science and industry opening up long-term perspectives.
OTTO JUNKER GmbH and the foundation congratulate the award winners on their outstanding achievements and wish them continued success for the new year. They are looking forward to the next projects and new impulses for continuous technology development and transformation.
Further information on the award:
The Otto Junker Foundation promotes a number of research and infrastructure projects in the fields of metallurgy and materials technology as well as in electrical engineering at the RWTH Aachen.
The prize of the Foundation, worth 2,500 Euro, is awarded to four graduates from the two faculties mentioned above every year.
In order to qualify, contenders must graduate within the standard period of study with excellent grades in all subjects and the thesis and its relevance for current professional issues and have an outstanding overall personality which is judged by a specialist professor.
