During the EuroBrake Gala Dinner on 18 June, two prestigious awards were presented, recognising the outstanding presentations from the previous year’s conference, Best Presentation at EuroBrake 2012, awarded to Dr. Petra Severit, Federal Mogul and Best Written Paper at EuroBrake 2012, awarded to Dipl.-Ing. Peter Raninger, Materials Center Leoben Forschung GmbH.
The awards were presented by EuroBrake Steering Committee member Prof. David Barton, University of Leeds, UK. Introducing the awards, Prof. Barton said, “One aspect that distinguishes EuroBrake from other conferences in the field is the technical quality of its written papers and the high standard of the oral presentations.”
Dr. Petra Severit received the award for Best Presentation at EuroBrake 2012, for her presentation entitled ‘Systematic Approach for Structured Product Development of Copper Free Friction Materials’. On being presented with a certificate and cheque for €500, Dr. Severit, who works as Director, Advanced Product Development at Federal Mogul said, “It is a great honour for me to be here today and received the award for the best presentation from last year’s EuroBrake. The presentation of the structured approach of the zero copper friction material development is the work of a team and not only a single person. So I am delighted to accept the award today and I would like to thank the Federal Mogul team for their great work.”
“Furthermore I would like to speak on behalf of the whole friction industry and not only Federal Mogul to emphasise that the decision to award this topic shows the desire of our valued customers for a better understanding of our development work, and demonstrates the capabilities of the industry.”
Dipl.-Ing. Peter Raninger received the award for Best Written Paper at EuroBrake 2012 for his paper entitled ‘Characterisation of Damage at the Friction Surface of Wheel Mounted Brake Discs for Railway Applications’. He said, “When I started working on thermo-mechanical fatigue of brake disks in 2010 I began looking for conferences to share the knowledge obtained in my project. In 2011 I heard from scientists in the community about a new joint European conference on braking technology and in 2012 I was given the chance to present the latest results of our research group at EuroBrake2012. I found a platform for learning, sharing and discussing knowledge on my field of research and I was very happy with that.”
“Receiving the award for the best written paper was a very special moment for me especially in view of the fact that there have been many contributions of very high quality. I feel very honoured for having been selected for this award and I’d like to take the opportunity to thank the organisers for a wonderful conference in the spectacular city of Dresden.” Awards for presentations and papers delivered at EuroBrake 2013 will be awarded at EuroBrake 2014 which takes place 13-15 May in Lille, France.
