Leverkusen – It is the fourth time that MunichExpo has presented the MATERIALICA Design Award in cooperation with the Design Center in Munich. The panel of judges, headed by Dr. Christoph Konetschny from materialsgate, presented awards to 21 of around 100 entries in the categories Material, Surface, Product, and Student. The prestigious award was presented during this year's Materialica, which was held from October 10 to 12 in Munich.

The winners also included applications that benefit from Bayer MaterialScience AG products. For example, the ”zaZen” concept car project from Rinspeed AG, based in the Swiss city of Zumikon, won two awards. In their work on the car’s interior design, Strähle + Hess GmbH & Co. KG, based in Althengstett, Germany, transferred conventional coating processes for wood to drapable textiles. The UPE (unsaturated polyester) coating that earned a MATERIALICA Design Award – and is based on raw materials from Bayer MaterialScience – allows textile surface decorations with different tactile properties to be harmonized in a single interior design concept. The experts on the panel were particularly impressed by the technically flawless implementation, which enables greater individuality and flexibility when designing automotive interiors. The second prize awarded to the ”zaZen” went to its Makrolon^® roof and was presented to both Rinspeed and Bayer MaterialScience. Based upon the high tech Makrolon^® sheet material manufactured by Bayer Sheet Europe, a subsidiary of Bayer MaterialScience producing both polycarbonate and polyester sheets for transparent and coloured applications, the one-piece, transparent roof dome stretches from the A-pillar to the rear panel, forming the concept car’s most striking design element. But, the transparent polycarbonate sheet also functions as a projection surface for the third brake light, which is projected onto a holographically treated film by two lasers. This creates the impression that the light appears out of nowhere. The panel stated that, “the idea for a holographically generated vehicle light combined with a flowing, one-piece, transparent roof dome shows how innovative lighting technology can be used effectively in automotive manufacturing.

 Delighted recipients of the award for the Makrolon^® roof in the “zaZen” Concept Car (from left to right): Frank M. Rinderknecht, Rinspeed AG, and Johannes Seesing, Bayer MaterialScience AG, together with Robert Metzger, head of the trade fair and Managing Director of MunichExpo Veranstaltungs GmbH, presenting the MATERIALICA Design Award.