The AMA Association for Sensor and Measuring Technology (AMA) awarded the winning team with the AMA Innovation Prize at SENSOR+TEST 2022 in Nuremberg on May 10. The jury attested this development a particularly innovative approach, with clearly recognizable market relevance. The team of developers of the technology platform for NDIR gas sensors, a joint project of Micro-Hybrid Electronic GmbH, CIS Forschungsinstitut für Mikrosensorik GmbH, Siegert Thin Film Technology GmbH and 5microns GmbH, received the prize money of 10,000 euros. 

The technology platform for highly reliable NDIR gas sensor technology is an innovative gas sensor system with novel spectral broadband infrared (IR) emitter. The development of Micro-Hybrid Electronic GmbH and its partners combines groundbreaking technologies from MEMS chips to modules for gas sensors with special long-term stability even in extreme environmental conditions. A patented design, the hermetically sealed assembly technology of the IR components and IR emitter chips with micro-nano structures as optical functionalization are the innovation drivers for new cross-industry gas measurement applications. (brochure p. 8)

The jury congratulates the development team consisting of Steffen Biermann, Patrick Sachse, Thomas Bartnitzek from Micro-Hybrid Electronic GmbH, Professor Dr. Thomas Ortlepp from CIS Forschungsinstitut für Mikrosensorik GmbH, Dr. Ralf Koppert from Siegert Thin Film Technology GmbH and Lars Dittrich from 5microns GmbH.

"The technology platform for NDIR gas sensor technology represents classical sensor technology with technological solutions at the highest level and shows that a sensor element alone is usually not sufficient. The packaging technology is equally essential for long-term stability and reliability. Solutions for a wide variety of applications are only achieved in the system network of different components," explains Professor Andreas Schütze, jury chairman from Saarland University, about this year's decision. 

All accepted submissions will be published with a brief description of the innovation in the brochure 'AMA Innovation Award 2022 - The Applicants', which can be downloaded online free of charge.