Future-oriented innovations: IPG Automotive receives the TOP 100 seal 2022 that is awarded to particularly innovative SMEs. The accolade will be awarded on June 24 during the German SME Summit by TOP 100 mentor Ranga Yogeshwar.
After participating in the TOP 100 innovation competition for the first time, IPG Automotive ranks among the top medium-sized innovators since January 2022. Founded in 1984 as a project spin-off from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), the medium-sized IT company develops simulation solutions for virtual test driving that can be applied seamlessly throughout the vehicle development process. Virtual prototypes enable to adopt the Automotive Systems Engineering approach while new vehicle components and functions are developed, tested and validated.
“Future-oriented innovations are and always have been driving us”, states President and CEO Steffen Schmidt, summarizing the guiding principle of the approximately 350 employees. “In addition to the lively exchange with customers and partners as well as targeted collaborations with high-tech startups, we also invest in the promotion of young talents. We support innovative research work with our Formula CarMaker Program for example, by providing students with free CarMaker licenses. And as a sponsor of the Student Innovation Lab at the KIT, we support innovative research work.” Realistic simulation solutions from IPG Automotive, such as the visualization platform MovieNX, allow to shift the millions of test kilometers driven on roads every year to the virtual world. Performing these tests in the office or lab also helps to save resources.
Steffen Schmidt is very pleased about the accolade: “Being part of the TOP 100 confirms that our solutions are leading the way. This encourages us to act as an innovator in the future as well. We are therefore very well prepared for prospective and increasingly dynamic challenges, for example in the field of autonomous vehicles.”
TOP 100: The competition
At the core of the innovation competition TOP 100 stands a scientific assessment that examines innovation indicators from five categories: Innovation-friendly senior management, climate of innovation, innovative processes and organization, outward looking and open innovation as well as successful innovations. In principle, the key question of the competition is whether a company’s innovations are simply a product of chance, or if they are planned systematically and therefore reproducible in the future. A special emphasis is put on the question where and how the new products and updates establish on the market.
The seal of approval is attributed at three different size categories: up to 50, 51 to 200 and more than 200 employees. For the 2022 competition, a total of 436 SMEs have submitted their application. In the three named categories, 294 have been awarded the TOP 100 seal of approval this year.
The top innovators 2022 will get together for the German SME Summit in Frankfurt where the awards ceremony will be held by mentor Ranga Yogeshwar.
The TOP 100 seal for innovative strength and outstanding innovation successes has been awarded to SMEs since 1993. Prof. Dr. Nikolaus Franke, founder and president of the Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation of the Vienna University of Economics and Business, has been the scientific director since 2002. Science journalist Ranga Yogeshwar is the mentor of TOP 100. The Fraunhofer Society for the Advancement of Applied Research and the SME association BVMW are project partners.
