Carl Zeiss AQ recently presented three awards to young entrepreneurs for their outstanding business plans in the German optical technologies industry. It was the first time the company widely advertised the competition in Europe. First place was awarded to Günther Kamlage, for his unique laser procedure for microsystem and nanosystem technology. The use of new ultra-short pulse lasers enables extremely high accuracies without damaging thermal effects. Kamlage’s technique could be useful to the automobile industry, in biomedical technology and in computer-chip fabrication.

Second place was awarded to Thorsten Heiman, for his Helion GmbH project for the development and sales of antiglare cameras and camera systems to compensate for extreme light conditions.

Detlef Schulz was awarded third place for this founding of Mereg GmbH, a company focused on a new solar technology that uses high energy yields per surface with drastically reduced manufacturing costs.

The winners were chosen by a jury of 12 industry experts. For more information, visit www.zeiss.com.