Research, development, and innovation have always enjoyed the highest priority at technology and capital goods group voestalpine. With a record research budget of EUR 141 million for the business year 2014/15, voestalpine is Austria’s most research-intensive company.
For this reason, the Group is also supporting young scientists, sponsoring the first voestalpine Steel Research Award in cooperation with the Montanuniversität Leoben and the Austrian Society for Metallurgy and Materials (ASMET) in 2015. With EUR 12,000 in prize money, the award will be presented every two years to young academics from all over the world for outstanding work in steel-related research.
Successful research and development at the voestalpine Group is global. Almost 800 employees in more than 70 voestalpine companies are active in R&D around the world. An important key to successful research is global networking and cooperation with external R&D partners, especially universities. voestalpine is currently involved in several hundred research projects in over 20 countries, working together with around 80 universities and research institutes. Research focuses on sectors with the highest technological and quality demands, such as mobility and energy. Developing ultra-high-strength steels for lightweight and extremely resilient components for the automotive and aviation industries is just one of many examples of voestalpine innovation. “Whatever the future may bring, it will be largely 'made of high-tech steel', and continue to improve our quality of life. Research and development is, and remains, a key strategic factor for voestalpine, one in which we invest on an ongoing basis in order to secure our technological and quality leadership over the long term,” says Franz Michael Androsch, Head of Group’s Research and Development.
This is why voestalpine is seeking to foster young academics (up to the age of 35) in the fields of science and business, presenting the voestalpine Steel Research Award with prize money of EUR 12,000 for the first time in 2015. “We are delighted to be able to help ambitious young researchers in their scientific careers. They represent the capital for a competitive as well as economically successful group over the long term,” says Androsch. Young academics worldwide may submit research projects in the fields of metallurgy, materials science, processing technology, and application. The closing date for submissions is March 27, 2015. An independent jury of experts will judge the projects according to their timeliness, originality, practicality and feasibility, and scientific relevance. For more information about submissions, please visit www.voestalpine.com/steelresearchaward.
The voestalpine Group is a steel-based technology and capital goods group that operates worldwide. With around 500 Group companies and locations in more than 50 countries and on all five continents, the Group has been listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange since 1995. With its top-quality products, the Group is one of the leading partners to the automotive and consumer goods industries in Europe and to the oil and gas industries worldwide. The voestalpine Group is also the world market leader in turnout technology, special rails, tool steel, and special sections. In the business year 2013/14, the voestalpine Group reported revenue of EUR 11.2 billion and an operating result (EBITDA) of EUR 1.4 billion; it had around 48,100 employees worldwide.
