27/06/2018

A research team at Danube University Krems won a “riz-up GENIUS” prize for its research on new sensors to measure electric field strength, making distortion-free measurement and mobile areas of application possible.

The prize winners at Danube University Krems, Dr. Harald Steiner, Dr. Wilfried Hortschitz, Dr. Michael Stifter and their colleague Dr. Andreas Kainz from TU Vienna
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Danube University Krems

Every year, the founders agency of the federal province of Lower Austria distinguishes outstanding and innovative business ideas in its “riz-up GENIUS” competition. Prizes are awarded in the categories start-ups, entrepreneurs, digital, and research & development. At the beginning of June a project by the Department for Integrated Sensor Systems at Danube University Krems was distinguished in the latter category.


Field Strength Sensor
The prize winners at Danube University Krems, Dr. Harald Steiner, Dr. Wilfried Hortschitz, Dr. Michael Stifter and their colleague Dr. Andreas Kainz from TU Vienna research new types of sensors to be able to measure electric field strengths. The silicon-based sensor developed by the researchers has several significant advantages compared with similar products: these include avoiding distortion and measurement noise because the sensor itself does not influence the field strength; and its small size. This opens up completely new fields of application, above all for mobile solutions. Possible applications are in lightning research, industry, drones, as well as more safety for human beings, for example those working in the proximity of high voltage stations.


Further Projects
“At the beginning of this year we were already able to publish our findings in the prestigious journal Nature Electronics; and now, with the “riz-up GENIUS” award, our work has again received important acknowledgment, which motivates us more than ever to continue driving the development of new sensor systems forward,” says Harald Steiner, a member of the project team at the Department for Integrated Sensor Systems.

 

Specialist article: Andreas Kainz, Harald Steiner, Johannes Schalko, Artur Jachimowicz, Franz Kohl, Michael Stifter, Roman Beigelbeck, Franz Keplinger &
Wilfried Hortschitz: Distortion-free measurement of electric field strength with a MEMS sensor, in: Nature Electronics Volume 1, pp. 68–73 (2018). (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41928-017-0009-5)

Contact

Dipl.-Ing. Dr. Harald Steiner

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