Rostock. This year, the company Howmet Fastening Systems Limited (Telford, UK location) will be awarded the Fraunhofer IGP's in-house Innovation and Technology Prize. The company, designers and manufacturers of the Huck® range of blind fasteners and lockbolts supplies into a range of industries including the commercial transportation, wind, solar and more.

“Dr Hans-Albert Städler of Howmet Fastening Systems has been involved in the development of our company since 1997, and I am delighted that we are presenting him with the Fraunhofer IGP Award this year”, explained Director Prof Wilko Flügge at the award ceremony at the Institute. “We are honouring him for the outstanding cooperative development work on innovative fasteners and the extraordinarily committed voluntary work in the field of pre-standardisation.”

Together with the Fraunhofer Institute, Dr Städler investigated the performance of fastening technology in various commercial vehicle applications, including rail, trucks and trailers, as early as 1997. In addition, there have been investigations into the usability of Huck® lockbolts and blind rivets in the building industry and in the construction of wind turbines.

“Dr Städler has been a great help to our scientists in their academic work since the beginning of the collaboration with Fraunhofer. He has provided our colleagues with fasteners, setting tools and product information - and, most valuable of all, application experience - as part of their dissertations. With Howmet Fastening Systems, our scientists have the chance to participate in international projects and to grow with them”, says Maik Dörre, group head of Mechanical Joining Technologies at Fraunhofer IGP.

At the award ceremony at Fraunhofer IGP, Dr Städler was delighted: “This award is a very special honour for me, it is an appreciation of the company and its performance and an expression of a successful connection between science and industry.” His colleague and successor, Dr Christoph Blunk, also attended the presentation. Dr Blunk is a former employee of Fraunhofer IGP and was supported by Städler during his dissertation: “I am delighted that our company has received the award. I see it as an incentive to continue on this path, which has been successful for both sides.”

Since 2018, the Fraunhofer IGP has chosen the winner of its annual technology award. The prize is awarded for special achievements in the field of production technology. The technological, economic, ecological, and societal benefits gained in close cooperation between research institutions and industrial partners are highlighted.