Rolling vehicles across Mars, apps for dementia testing and sensors for lubrication condition detection in transmissions: The 13th edition of the "Start-up Idea Competition" from "Science Park Graz" and the space agency ESA, once again brought innovative ideas and business models of the future to the fore. A total of €12,000 were awarded between the six categories.

• MORE THAN 140 APPLICATIONS
• 18 FINALISTS
• 10 JURY MEMBERS
• 5 NEW CATEGORIES
• 12,000 EURO PRIZE MONEY
• 1 OBJECTIVE: FIND THE BEST BUSINESS IDEAS

Shaping science from companies - this is the goal of the "Science Park Graz", the oldest incubator in Austria: The traditional "ideas competition" serves the budding start-ups in the early phase - often before the company is founded - as an indicator of marketability and originality The idea. In the 13th edition of the Ideas Contest the response was higher than ever: with more than 140 submissions, the highest figures from previous years were exceeded: "With the" ideas competition "we want to make you want innovation, exciting and high-tech ideas in front of the curtain and of course provide the impetus for the industrial companies of tomorrow ", explains Science Park Graz CEO Martin Mössler.

Over 12,000 euros were distributed to the winners in the six different categories ( Mobility, Energy & Environment, Health, Special Societal Impact, Digital Economy & ICT and Space ). The successful idea creators were selected by a jury of experts as well as representatives of the Business Incubation Center (BIC) of the European Space Agency ESA, which is also located under the umbrella of "Science Park Graz." All winners at a glance:

In the category "Health" the victorious Trio Christof Stocker, Daniela Frühwirth-Kaspar, Bianca Bizjak wants to accelerate the way to the right doctor: "The use of artificial intelligence should be able to assign patients purposefully, thus eliminating the need for additional medical work for the doctor and the patient ", the inventors say. Above all, social insurance should benefit from this.

With a concept for simple identity verification, Ralph Ankele secured the victory in the "Idea Competition" in the category "Digital Economy & ICT" : "The review works by simply touching the smartphone on the passport," says the inventor Development especially at Fin-Techs and Challenger banks come.

Jurij Dreo works on a software or app for dementia screening. "Our patented dementia screening test is completely non-invasive: no needles, chemicals or radiation exposure. It can be applied in a few minutes and carried out by a minimalist professional ", explains Dreo, who was able to prevail in the category " Special Societal Impact ".

Successful in "Mobility": Peter Neger-Loibner and Mario Theissl are developing a special sensor that can detect the lubrication status in gearboxes. "This miniaturized sensor is capable of detecting the flow, the flow velocity and the medium temperature Air bubbles and phase change are detected, "said the duo.

In the future, Tadashi Kubo wants to create a sensation with the idea of ​​the world's first AC battery: "Our battery is up to 30 percent more compact, uses the existing materials and production lines, is safer than a DC battery, reduces conversion losses and has a longer service life ", emphasizes the winner of the category " Energy & Environment " .

The idea of ​​Stephan Moritz , which was successful in the "Space" category, caused quite a stir : With the project "Tumbleweed" he wants to develop a new edition of the "Mars Rover": "The Tumbleweed is a new kind of Mars rover, due to the strong Martian winds This means that data can be collected on a large scale in order to find places of interest for research, to map the materials in the soil and to locate potential landing sites, "explains Moritz.