This year, the prize money for the AMA Association for Sensors and Measurement 's Innovation Award of 10,000 euros will be divided equally between the developers of the miniaturized and highly integrated environmental sensor 'BME680' from Bosch Sensortec and the 'itherm TrustSens TM37x' thermometer with automatic in-situ calibration function from Endress+Hauser and Ilmenau University of Technology. The jury, made up of representatives from science and industry, attested both submissions "highly innovative solutions with clearly recognizable market relevance".

The 'BME680' is an integrated 4-in-1 sensor module that combines a pressure, temperature and humidity sensor with a MEMS gas sensor. In the field of CE&IoT applications, a new measurand has thus been developed. The development team consists of Dr. Richard Fix, Dr. Thomas Block, Dr. Herbert Verhoeven and colleagues from Bosch Sensortec, Reutlingen.

'itherm TrustSens TM37x' is a thermometer with automatic in-situ calibration function in the process. In addition to the resistance sensor, a ferroelectric reference element with a known Curie temperature is integrated into its measuring insert as a temperature standard. If a phase change is triggered by the process temperature, the measurement deviation of the digital temperature value from the Curie temperature is determined and the thermometer is calibrated. The automatic, non-reactive calibration takes place directly in the process without removing the thermometer. The development team consists of Dr. Pavo Vrdoljak, Christian Stöger, Michael Korn, Harald Bründl, Alfred Umkehrer from Endress+Hauser, Nesselwang, and Dr. Marc Schalles (Ilmenau University of Technology).

Two special prizes for 'young companies'

The special prize in the 'Young Companies 2018' category also went to two development teams. The team led by Dr. Matthäus Langosch (CeLaGo Sensors, Saarbrücken) impressed with a thin-film strain gauge. The team led by Houssam El Moutaouaki (Senvisys, Saarbrücken) won with the development of an efficient safety system for level crossings using vibration analysis.