Bosch Innovation Prize 2024

Bosch Innovation Prize 2024

76 final theses submitted by 212 students from 25 HTL, 15 nominated teams and three shining winning teams: The Bosch Innovation Prize was awarded on June 13, 2024 in three categories to the most impressive projects. An intelligent control unit for electric motors, efficient electronic waste recycling to extract rare earths and an artificial hand prosthesis - these are the winning projects of the 17th edition of Austria's largest company-initiated HTL competition. Student teams from HTL Braunau won the coveted prize in two categories, namely “Mobility” and “Connected Living”. A team from TGM Vienna convinced the prominent jury of experts in the “Industrial Technology” category. In addition to the coveted trophy and the Ixo cordless screwdriver from Bosch, the winning teams were happy to receive a 1,500 euro winner's bonus. All 15 nominated teams were able to present their work at the event and network with guests from science and business.

“Innovative, creative and well-thought-out solutions that are developed by young technical talents at Austria’s HTLs and offer users real added value – we are highlighting such projects at the Bosch Innovation Prize,” says Helmut Weinwurm, CEO of Robert Bosch AG and representative of the Bosch Group in Austria. The Austrian HTL landscape is a true talent factory for highly qualified employees, as is the country's unique location advantage. "I would like to thank all the committed students for their participation and congratulate the winners and nominees. Because everyone who made it to the final is a winner."

Niklas Probst from HTL Braunau developed the “Smart Control Unit for Brushless Motors” (MCU for short), a central system solution that monitors all processes in an electric transportation system, collects comprehensive data - such as acceleration and inclination -, visualizes it and evaluates it using artificial intelligence. In the event of anomalies, the pilot or driver is warned in good time. "The comprehensive work combines interdisciplinary aspects of hardware and software development, including artificial intelligence. The result is a fully functional control module that can be used for all electric motor-operated units such as model airplanes, motorcycles or lawnmowers and with which any problem areas can be identified in advance. The project has been excellently developed and is definitely suitable for a market launch," explained juror Susanna Slaby, head of the Technical Department 4A and chairwoman of the nullity department at the Austrian Patent Office, the winning project in the Mobility category.

Participants in the Bosch Innovation Prize 2025 also have the opportunity to take part in the “ACE Challenge”. The abbreviation ACE stands for “Automated – Connected – Electrified” and describes the future of mobility – and thus also the development goals in the Bosch Mobility division. "To support the development of autonomous driving, our engineering team in Vienna has built an intelligent, networked model vehicle on a scale of 1:10, the so-called Eco-System Demonstrator. This can be used to test what real, networked vehicles experience on the road and in communication with their surroundings and other vehicles. With a real vehicle, the whole thing would be many times more complex and expensive," explained Hans-Jürgen Eidler, Engineering Expert at Bosch in Vienna. “Since this eco-system demonstrator is based on an open platform, the young talents in the ACE Challenge can construct their individual eco-system demonstrator and use it to test new vehicle architectures and technologies up close.” Access to the open platform will be provided to HTL students from autumn 2024.