Award for Research & Innovation at MCI

This is the sixth time that the City of Innsbruck has awarded the "Award for Research and Innovation at MCI". This year, the MCI impressed with three excellent projects, including for the first time a team submission. City Councillor Christine Oppitz-Plörer and MCI Rector Andreas Altmann presented the award, endowed with 5,000 euros, at a ceremony in the historic Bürgersaal. This year, for the first time, a representative of the State of Tyrol, Cornelia Hagele, took part in the festivities.

Winners

Dr. Jan Back, MSc

As part of his dissertation "Rethinking Water Treatment: Membranes, Adsorption, Advanced Oxidation and Natural Attenuation", Jan Back of the MCI Department of Environmental, Process and Energy Engineering is developing advanced purification processes for water treatment and wastewater treatment facilities. He is researching various combinations of membrane technology, adsorption, advanced oxidation and natural attenuation.

Ass.-Prof. Dr. Claudia Zoller and Lukas Kerschbaumer, BA, MA

Claudia Zoller and Lukas Kerschbaumer from the Research Center for Social & Health Innovation at MCI are working with the company MOVEEFFECT to develop an app to promote occupational health management. The goal of the app is to provide individual support to users in order to achieve self-imposed goals in the areas of fitness, nutrition and mental health.

Manuel Berger, BSc, MSc, PhD

Manuel Berger of the MCI Department of Medical & Health Technologies is conducting research in his dissertation "Simulation-based prediction of resection zones in rhinology" on a computer-based simulation to better plan surgery in the nasal cavity and increase success for operations to improve nasal breathing.

"Research and innovation are not just words at MCI. Every year, the Entrepreneurial School produces research of high scientific quality and particular social impact. Innsbruck thus once again lives up to its reputation as a university and educational city in the west of Austria," emphasizes Councillor Oppitz-Plörer, who in her former function as Mayor of Innsbruck had initiated the establishment of the prestigious research award in 2016. The City of Innsbruck's award for research and nnovation at the Entrepreneurial School^® was presented for the first time in 2017. The MCI conducts the annual call for entries and proposes the award winners based on the assessment of a high-ranking jury. The City Senate ultimately decides on the awarding of the prize.

Regional Science Minister Cornelia Hagele warmly congratulates the winners, "We are proud of our research institutions and companies, whose reputation is in turn based on the dedication of the researchers who work there. With the award of the City of Innsbruck, outstanding young scientists get in the spotlight today. They contribute significantly to the fact that our country is a European leader, especially in the field of life sciences."