Audi Environmental Foundation awards sustainability prize for best thesis

In 2023, the Audi Environmental Foundation once again honored the best final thesis at the THI on the topic of sustainability with 1,000 euros. The winner was Fabian Fottner, who researched sustainable plant growth protective covers in his bachelor's thesis. The prize was awarded as part of the university's 2023 graduation ceremony at the Congress Centrum Ingolstadt.

Fottner, who studied Technical Design, dedicated his thesis to the topic of "Growth without risk - effectively protecting forest and young plants by developing a new protection system". In it, he covers the entire development process: from the initial idea through several design trials to prototyping. Fottner then tested promising models on approximately two-year-old young forest trees. Based on the results of the practical tests, he further developed his product. His research on the growth sleeve protection systems has direct practical relevance and represents a cost-effective and ecological alternative to the plastic protective sleeves previously used.

Dr. Rüdiger Recknagel, Managing Director of the Audi Environmental Foundation, paid tribute to this outstanding commitment to active environmental protection in a laudatory speech.

The Audi Environmental Foundation presented the THI Sustainability Award for the second time in 2022. Kathrin Baumann, a student of procurement management, was honored for her work on the evaluation of EU sustainability sanctions.

Under the title "Analysis of violations of sustainability chapters in the EU's international trade agreements", Kathrin Baumann developed a model for evaluating sustainability sanctions in her master's thesis. She then applied this to important imported goods in the EU as an example. With the help of the model, trade relations between companies can be made more transparent and secure.

The Audi Environmental Foundation is proud to promote the talent of young academic researchers in the region and to present the THI Sustainability Award each year. 

In 2021, the Audi Environmental Foundation awarded a sustainability prize at Ingolstadt University of Technology for the first time for the best final thesis in the field of sustainability and environmental protection. The award ceremony took place as part of the THI's Academic Celebration, where only a few guests were able to attend due to the pandemic. Most students were able to watch the hybrid event via livestream.

In his bachelor's thesis, prizewinner Roman Schiebel dealt with the modeling and simulation of a plus-energy apartment building. He developed a calculation model that uses artificial intelligence to contribute to a sustainable energy concept for new buildings. "The building sector accounts for around a third of total energy consumption in Germany," says Roman Schiebel. "In order to achieve our climate targets, it is therefore extremely important to find solutions for greater sustainability in this area. With my Bachelor's thesis, I would like to help take a further step in this direction." With this newly created prize from the THI, the Audi Environmental Foundation aims to support young scientists at the Ingolstadt site.