Schweighofer Prize 2009 Presented in Vienna

VIENNA, Austria - Innovative Contributions for a Prosperous European Forest-Based Sector

On June 18, 2009, the Schweighofer Prize, the European innovation award for the forest-based sector, is presented for the 4th time at the Vienna City Hall. Almost 500 guests from over 30 different countries will honour 7 winning teams, who will share euro 300,000 in prize money.

The Schweighofer Prize was founded in 2002 by the Austrian Schweighofer family, who own one of the leading woodwork companies in Europe. It is presented every second year and focuses on new findings that have the potential to be implemented. It is divided into one Main Prize (a lifetime award) and several Innovation Prizes for outstanding innovative projects that are in the early stages of implementation.

The Main Prize winner for 2009 is Prof. Dr. Gerd Wegener from Munich, who has been contributing to numerous new approaches in R&D concerning wood science and industry. He is also one of the most ambitious ambassadors in favour of wood and its utilisation.

He will receive euro 100,000.

The winning teams of the 6 Innovation Prizes equally share the prize money of euro 200,000.

The winning projects are: - First production unit for Synthetic Natural Gas (SNG) made of wood - Swiss-Austrian consortium (www.eee-info.net) - First modular wooden towers for big wind energy plants - German team (www.timbertower.de) - Strategy for sustainable forest-management considering climate change - Austrian team (www.wabo.boku.ac.at/waldbau.html) - Innovative lightweight sandwich board made of wood and wood composites - German team (www.lightweightsolutions.de) - Eco-friendly in-depth coloration of solid wood by using supercritical fluids - German-Austrian team (www.kplus-wood.at) - Alarm system for early detection of termite attacks - Spanish team (www.aidima.es)

Further details:

www.schweighofer-prize.org

Contact: Dr. Margareta Patzelt SPB Beteiligungsverwaltung GmbH Tel.: +43-1-585-68-62-28 info@schweighofer-prize.org

Source: SPB Beteiligungsverwaltung GmbH

Dr. Margareta Patzelt, SPB Beteiligungsverwaltung GmbH, Tel.: +43-1-585-68-62-28, info at schweighofer-prize.org