Software giant SAP, reinforcement specialist Häussler Innovation and measuring instrument manufacturer NanoTemper Technologies have been appointed the winners of the German Innovation Prize 2012 for enabling new data processing standards, delivering especially efficient construction materials and accelerating the development of effective medicines, respectively. ???aural:Bildanfang??????Großansicht des Bildes???Honoured for outstanding ideas. The winners of the German Innovation Prize 2012. © Thorsten Jochim???aural:Bildende???The prize, whose patron is the Federal Minister of Economics and Technology, is awarded annually for forward-looking technologies developed by German companies.

The prize in the large company category went to SAP. The company developed a software solution that offers new opportunities for data processing applications: the technology can analyse enormous amounts of data in real time, thereby enabling firms to evaluate business data in fractions of a second. Häussler Innovation received the prize in the SME category after convincing the jury with its technology for planning, manufacturing and installing steel supports for ceilings and bridges. Instead of delivering individual steel rods, the company rolls them into elements, thereby cutting the amount of steel required, saving resources and reducing costs. The jury also acknowledged an innovation developed by NanoTemper Technologies.

The business start-up, a spin-off from the LMU Munich, produces measuring devices and software for use in the development of pharmaceutical active ingredients and basic research. The company received the prize for a unique measuring technique that determines the effectiveness of medicines in a natural setting.