Nomination for the German Future Prize 2016. A team from BMW and Osram recommended for the German Federal President’s prestigious technology and innovation award.

Munich.
The team from BMW und Osram was nominated today for the German
Future Prize for the project “Laser light technology for the
automobile – with safety and foresight into the future”. The prize
is given in acknowledgement of outstanding innovations in the areas
of technology, engineering or natural science. Together, the two
companies have developed a light source and a high beam laser
technology for the automobile, already featured in the BMW i8 (since
2014) and the BMW 7 Series (since 2015). “Besides stringent project
management, the willingness to implement and the constant
strengthening of the customer-supplier relationship to form a
lasting and resilient partnership played a significant role,”
explains Christian Amann, head of Light Systems at BMW. Carsten
Setzer, head of the Automotive Lamps division at Osram and project
team spokesman, adds: “We are very pleased about this nomination and
the award that comes with being “among the best”. Both of our teams
were early to recognise the potential of the innovation and were
able to realise the shared vision within a short time”. 

Brighter light enhances road safety.

In interplay with other driver assistant functions and with
luminous ranges of 600 metres, laser light technology significantly
enhances the driver‘s field of vision at night, thus increasing
traffic safety. At the same time, BMW and Osram have developed an
integrated safety system that prevents the emission of blue laser
light in the event of a malfunction, an accident or manual
manipulation. This is guaranteed by several redundant safety mechanisms.

Highly promising perspectives.

The sustainable and successful establishment of laser technology
in road traffic requires a high degree of utilisation. Therefore,
the current developments of BMW and Osram in the field of light
technology for automobiles are aimed at reducing costs and the
simplification of modular construction. At the same time, both
companies are working on the interplay between safety, comfort,
energy efficiency and design. For this purpose, Osram has already
developed further generations of laser technology, which are shortly
also to be installed in other vehicle models. BMW plans to equip
several vehicle series being revised over the next few years with
laser light.  

Competence and trust as the basis for top innovations.

BMW is the leading premium car manufacturer, Osram the leading
supplier in the area of automotive lighting. Both companies have
realised that the joint development in the field of automotive light
technology and the synergetic bundling of each core competence both
lead to exceptional results faster and more accurately.  

Contest between outstanding technologies.

Each year, the German Future Prize honours outstanding
innovations in a national performance comparison – for the 20th time
in 2016. Objective of the prize is to draw public attention to the
innovation potential that exists in Germany and to illustrate the
connection between technical innovation and the creation of jobs.

On 30 November, Federal President Joachim Gauck will honour one
of the nominated teams with the German Future Prize 2016.