It was only in May of this year that Tim Achenbach, Dr. Paul-Anton Will and Dr. Philipp Wellmann started the spin-off project PRUUVE at TU Dresden with the aim of bringing reusable UV sensor foils to market maturity. Now the three of them have been honoured with the Photonics21 Innovation Award for their project.

On June 30, 2022, Photonics21 hosted the "Photonics Partnership Annual Meeting", the most important event of the European photonics industry, in Brussels. More than 300 guests, including CEOs, heads of research institutions and representatives of the European Commission and EU member states, came to the event. In this frame, Dresden physicist Tim Achenbach represented the PRUUVE team and was given a very special honor: the Photonics21 Innovation Award, which is intended to push for more entrepreneurship in photonics. "We are very pleased that we were able to present our idea to the European photonics community and convince the jury with our novel UV sensor. The award is a great honor for us and we would like to sincerely thank Photonics21 and the award committee", states Tim Achenbach.

In their project PRUUVE (Phosphorescent Response Under UV Excitation), the three physicists are developing UV sensor foils for the precise measurement of the UV dose in industrial applications, such as the sterilisation of air, water and surfaces or for the rapid curing of coated surfaces, printing inks, paints or adhesives. The foils are directly attached to the surfaces or components to be irradiated, where they allow optical control of the UV dose. The new technology thus offers a fast and reliable control of the success of UV curing and UV disinfection, thus avoiding unnecessary waiting times and overdosing.

"We are convinced of our versatile PRUUVE technology and will develop new applications and products in the coming years", adds Dr. Philipp Wellmann. After all, in addition to being used as optical sensors, the foils can also be used as rewritable labels and much more.

For more information: www.pruuve.de

Media inquiries:
Dr. Philipp Wellmann
Project PRUUVE
Tel.: +49 351 463-34905