State prize awarded

These are the most innovative companies in the country

Governor Thomas Stelzer (left) and Provincial Economic Councillor Markus Achleitner (right) were delighted with Alexander Fleischanderl and Gerald Wimmer (2nd from right) from Primetals for winning the large company category. The plant manufacturer impressed the jury with its "Green Smelter" furnace developed for the steel industry.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Markus Wenzel)

Openness to new ideas, a good and wide-ranging education and self-confidence - these are the ingredients that prepare the ground for ground-breaking innovations. At the Provincial Award for Innovation in Linz, companies and research institutions that set a good example in this area were honored.

Checks were presented, certificates and trophies, which on the one hand come in the shape of an "i", but also look like a call sign: At the award ceremony for the State Prize for Innovation at the ORF regional studio in Linz, the winners in the three categories had a lot to bear in the end.

Martin Bergsmann from the Industry Division of the Upper Austrian Chamber of Commerce (left) and Manuel Molnar (right), CEO of Sparkasse Oberösterreich, congratulated Ian Teasdale and Eleni Priglinger from the Institute for Chemistry of Polymers at the JKU on the development of printable material for the production of synthetic bones.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Markus Wenzel)

"This podium is a lucky charm for us," enthused Alexander Fleischanderl, Chief Technology Officer at Primetals. In 2022, the plant manufacturer won first place in the state prize for the Hyfor process and then celebrated winning the national prize. Now it has won again at state level.

Jury chairman Stefan Koch (left), "OÖ-Krone" editor-in-chief Alexandra Halouska and Werner Pamminger (right) congratulated Peter Rauch (2nd from left), Christian Domanyi (3rd from left) and Florian Sipek from Rauch Furnace Technology GmbH, which is working on shielding gas mixtures for magnesium smelting operations(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Markus Wenzel)

Making processes more sustainable and safer, developing new materials and then putting them to use - the 2024 award winners impressed with their ideas and technologies.

This was recognized by many: Governor Thomas Stelzer, Markus Achleitner, Member of the Upper Austrian Economic Council, Werner Pamminger, Managing Director of Business Upper Austria, Alexandra Halouska, Editor-in-Chief of "OÖ-Krone", Manuel Molnar, Member of the Board of Sparkasse-OÖ and Martin Bergsmann (Industry Division of the Chamber of Commerce).

The winners of the State Prize for Innovation 2024

• Large companies: First place: Primetals Technologies Austria GmbH in Linz; second place: KEBA Group AG in Linz; third place: Rohrdorfer Zement GmbH in Gmunden.
• Small and medium-sized companies: First place: Rauch Furnace Technology GmbH in Gmunden; second place: GIG Karasek GmbH in Attnang-Puchheim; third place: EW Technology GmbH in Peuerbach.
• Research institutes: First place: Institute for Chemistry of Polymers at the Johannes Kepler University Linz; second place: LKR Leichtmetallkompetenzzentrum Ranshofen GmbH; third place: Institute for Chemical Technology of Organic Materials at the Johannes Kepler University Linz.

"We don't just want to stay good, we want to get better," said Stelzer. The award-winning projects all lived up to these words.