© Shutterstock
© Shutterstock

European CTO of the year announced

Ian Roberts, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Bühler, and Michael Thiel, Chief Science Officer (CSO) and co-founder of Nanoscribe, have received the European CTO of the Year Award for large corporations and SMEs respectively.

The awards ceremony took place during the CTO Forum 2016 in Marl, Germany, on 27 October. Both awardees served as role models for fuelling growth and strengthening European innovation and technology leadership.

Roberts is an international ambassador for innovation and technology and has driven innovation at Bühler. Bühler’s innovation challenge has become an example for companies that want to transform their company culture, to build organisational innovation capability, and leverage partnerships with customers, suppliers, and universities.

Roberts said: “This award reflects the hard work of the Bühler employees, the vision and commitment to innovation and sustainability of the leadership team and their audacity to drive change in an already successful company.

“With these initiatives, we can create a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship across the company.”

Thiel, the youngest co-founder of the Nanoscribe GmbH, was chosen as one of 10 ‘Innovators under 35’ by MIT Technology Review.

Thiel said: “I am very honoured to receive the CTO of the Year Europe 2016 award in the SME category and accept the prize on behalf of the entire Nanoscribe team. Every day we push the limits of 3D printing to enable our customers, who are innovators and inventors in their own right.”

European CTO of the Year, where PEN acted as media partner, is the leading European award honouring excellence in technology and innovation leadership, awarded by European Industrial Research Management Association (EIRMA) and Nordic leader in innovation consulting, Spinverse.