Walter Reiners Foundation Honours Young Innovators At Techtextil 2026
The Walter Reiners Foundation honoured five young engineers for outstanding academic achievements during an award ceremony held at Techtextil 2026 in Frankfurt.
The awards, presented by Peter D. Dornier, recognised innovative bachelor’s, project and master’s theses focused on textile technology, sustainability and advanced manufacturing processes.
In the sustainability category, Mattis Körner from TU Dresden received an award for his internship project analysing the impact of fibre lengths on the properties of fibre composites.
Annegret Storm of RWTH Aachen University was presented with a promotion award for her bachelor’s thesis evaluating microwave heating technology in the false-twist texturing process.
In the master’s category, Lukas Robert Balon received a promotion award for developing a CFD model to describe flow conditions during BCF texturing.
Another promotion prize was awarded to Katrin Platte for her master’s thesis completed at DITF Denkendorf, which focused on the design of a drafting machine for precursor filament yarns.
Sabina Dann was honoured with a sustainability award for her master’s thesis on carbon fibre recycling, reflecting the growing industry focus on circularity and sustainable materials.
The event also marked the 60th anniversary of the Walter Reiners Foundation. During the celebration, Peter D. Dornier reflected on the evolution of the textile machinery and engineering sector alongside former award winners Prof. Stefan Schlichter and Dr. Heiko Schenuit.
The foundation highlighted the importance of nurturing highly skilled engineering talent to support future innovation and competitiveness within the textile industry.
