INNOspace Masters is the international innovation competition organised by the German Space Agency at DLR in cooperation with ESA, Airbus, Mercedes-Benz and OHB. Launched in 2015, it is open to companies of all sizes, start-ups, research institutions and universities, as well as individuals from all over the world.

The competition promotes ideas for the transfer of technology and expertise from other industries to the space sector (spin-ins/New Space) or from space to non-space sectors (spin-offs).

Dr. Tino Schmiel from the Institute of Aerospace Engineering at TU Dresden and Dr. Fabian Schütt from the Institute of Materials Science at Kiel University won two prizes within the prestigious INNOspace® Master competition 2021/2022. Under the motto “Sustainable and Efficient Innovations for Space and Earth,” the INNOspace Masters awarded prizes in five competitions on July 5, 2022, in Berlin.

The scientist duo from Dresden and Kiel received second prize in the “DLR Challenge” category for their research on extremely lightweight and finely structured protective caps against electromagnetic interference (mutual interference of communication frequencies). The prize is associated with funding of over €400,000 to translate the innovative scientific idea into practice. In addition, Schmiel and Schütt prevailed against 150 competitors in the cross-category innovation award “Overall INNOspace Master 2022,” winning first prize.