Dr. Manfred Wittenstein presents Biointelligence Award at Stuttgart City Hall
23.10.2024
The very first Wittenstein Biointelligence Award was presented for the first time last night, on October 22, 2024. The ceremony took place during the Biointelligence Congress at Stuttgart City Hall.
Twenty-nine startups and established companies submitted applications along with eleven individuals. In the morning, six finalists delivered their pitches to the congress in the morning; the two eventual winners were chosen in the evening. The strongest nominations were selected by the jury directly at the 2nd Biointelligence Congress of the Competence Center Biointelligence, which was initiated by Fraunhofer IPA, the Wittenstein Foundation and the Universities of Stuttgart, Tübingen and Hohenheim. Staged annually, the congress provides interested representatives from business, science and politics with valuable access and matchmaking opportunities and featured several keynotes, lectures on core themes as well as numerous exhibitors. The goal: to successfully drive biological transformation forward together.
The winners
Dr. Manfred Wittenstein, a founding member of the Competence Center Biointelligence and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Wittenstein Foundation, handed over two large symbolic check to the winners. One of these checks – for 20,000 euros – went to Senara, a startup based in Freiburg. This small firm produces milk without cows by cultivating cells isolated from the mammary glands of lactating animals in a bioreactor. The idea was rewarded by the jury with 1st prize.
Miriam Filippi of ETH Zurich was honored with the 1st prize for individuals, worth 5000 euros. She has developed a principle for enabling full maturity of engineered skeletal muscle tissue by means of in vitro assembly and machine learning.
Yearly funding
In the future, the Wittenstein Biointelligence Award will be conferred annually in recognition of innovative approaches or solutions from the fields of biotechnology and information technology. Both recently founded and established companies that can demonstrate at least two competencies in the areas of biotechnology, artificial intelligence and production technology are invited to participate in the competition. Integrative approaches that contribute to sustainability stand a particularly good chance here. Individuals working in interdisciplinary research institutions specializing in these fields can likewise apply.
“The most important criteria for us are that the idea should offer a high degree of originality, that the concept submitted should be practically implementable and that it should also have a clear impact on sustainability,” said Professor Thomas Bauernhansl, Director of Fraunhofer IPA and jury chairman. The jury also comprised Dr. Benedikt Hofmann, Chief Generating Officer (CGO) of WITTENSTEIN SE, Professor Barbara Lieder, Head of the Department of Human Nutrition and Dietetics at the University of Hohenheim, Adrian Thoma, Managing Director of Gründermotor and Olaf Koch, Partner at Zintinus GmbH.
“The biological transformation of industry is of crucial importance in order to make value creation sustainable without sacrificing prosperity or jeopardizing global supply chains. The aim is to sustainably optimize established product and production structures by promoting innovative approaches at the interface of life sciences, engineering and information technology,” commented Dr. Manfred Wittenstein, “which is why we decided to grant this award.”
Downloads
Image source: © Fraunhofer IPA / Rainer Bez
All finalists for the Wittenstein Biointelligence Award (from left to right): Dr. Manfred Wittenstein (Wittenstein Foundation), Dr. Svenja Dannewitz (Senara GmbH), Professor Oliver Schwarz (Fraunhofer IPA), Dr. Matthias Stier (Variolytics GmbH), Dr. Adrian Eilingsfeld (Festo SE), Dr. Miriam Filippi (ETH Zurich) and Professor Thomas Bauernhansl (Fraunhofer IPA). Not shown: Brett Kagan (Cortical Labs).
Image source: © Fraunhofer IPA / Rainer Bez
The keynote speakers (from left to right): Philipp Heuermann (Ginkgo Bioworks), Dr. Shai Melcer (Head of the National Bio-Convergence Program Israel), Dr. Nicole Hoffmeister-Kraut (Minister of Economic Affairs, Labor and Housing of the State of Baden-Württemberg), Dr. Manfred Wittenstein (Wittenstein Foundation) and Professor Thomas Bauernhansl (Fraunhofer IPA).
Image source: © Fraunhofer IPA / Rainer Bez
Dr. Svenja Dannewitz (left) and her team accepted the Wittenstein Biointelligence Award on behalf of Senara. This young startup produces “real” milk without cows.
Image source: © Fraunhofer IPA / Rainer Bez
Dr. Miriam Filippi was a delighted winner of the award for individuals. On her left is jury chairman Professor Thomas Bauernhansl and on her right Dr. Manfred Wittenstein, the award’s sponsor.
Comments