Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences has made a name for itself in the national and international professional world when it comes to the fields of "agricultural robotics" and "sensor systems", both in research and teaching and in the transfer of knowledge into practice.

"I would like to sincerely thank the donors for their initiative," says University President Prof Dr Andreas Bertram. "Our university has grown in and with the region and continues to do so. The close interaction with the many actors in the agricultural sector is fundamental to this and a guarantor for ever new innovations. Through their joint commitment, the foundations ensure that we can continue to write this success story."

In keeping with the new professorship, the "Agro-Technicum" is currently being built at Osnbabrück University of Applied Sciences, one of the most modern research facilities for agricultural systems technology and field robotics in Europe. It has a research hall equipped with five laboratories. In the future, autonomous field robots, among other things, can be tested in long-term use on the associated test field. "As the CLAAS Foundation, we want to be involved in the topics of robotics and sensor systems. And the close connection to practice that the Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences cultivates was another reason for us to support the foundation professorship," says Sylvia Looks.

In addition to the CLAAS Foundation, the Aloys & Brigitte Coppenrath Foundation, the Dieter Fuchs Foundation, the Friedel & Gisela Bohnenkamp Foundation and the Georgsmarienhütte Steelworks Foundation are also involved.

The CLAAS Foundation was established in 1999 under the patronage of Helmut Claas and has an endowment capital of around 10 million euros. Participation in the endowed chair was made possible by the numerous donations received by the CLAAS Foundation on the occasion of Helmut Claas' passing away in January this year.

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Representatives of the foundations and the Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences gathered in front of the emerging research area around the Agro-Technicum on the Westerberg campus. Photo: Mirko Müller/Hochschule Osnabrück

Until now, Helmut Claas, as the founder of the Foundation, was Chairman of the Board of Trustees for over 20 years. After his death in January 2021, his daughter Cathrina Claas-Mühlhäuser will now take up his place. As a graduate in business administration, she is looking forward to supporting the Foundation’s projects and thus promoting the next generation and getting them excited about agriculture and technology. From projects for pupils to the promotion of students, for example with scholarships, to the support of universities, the CLAAS Foundation offers a wide range of activities that is only possible with the help of a network that has been established and cultivated over many years.

Thomas Böck, CEO of the CLAAS Group, replaces Hermann Lohbeck, whose term on the Board of Trustees had expired regularly. As a technology-oriented manager, he focuses on forward-looking innovations with high customer benefits in the CLAAS Group. Such innovations are not only created internally in the company’s own development centres, but often in cooperation with the research departments of universities or with students who bring new ideas to the table as part of their project work and final theses.

The CLAAS Foundation was established in 1999 under the patronage of Helmut Claas and has a foundation capital of around 10 million euros.

With the establishment of the CLAAS Foundation in 1999, he laid the basis for the charitable support of young people in agricultural engineering and related disciplines. It was a matter close to his heart to accompany and support young international and national talents on their educational path. With the CLAAS Foundation, he has created a lasting legacy.

We are going to continue the work of the CLAAS Foundation in his spirit.

We are grateful that Helmut Claas shaped our Foundation for over 20 years as Chairman of the Board of Trustees with a great deal of heart and soul and dedication.

We will miss him very much.

Harsewinkel, January 2021

Board of Trustees and Executive Board of the CLAAS Foundation

At the awards ceremony, students usually present their submitted theses and their research areas. Due to the Covid pandemic, this annual event as the traditional highlight of the CLAAS Foundation year was held in a virtual format for the first time. Sylvia Looks, member of the Executive Board of the CLAAS Foundation, explained: "We are not going to let Covid get on top of us, but instead we stick to the idea of the CLAAS Foundation and will continue to support talents in the fields of agriculture and agricultural engineering". Frank Klüsener, member of the Executive Board of the CLAAS Foundation, also emphasised: "Let us honour the academic achievements of these students as well as their personal commitment, enthusiasm and dedication to agriculture and related areas despite these challenging times".

Live Broadcast - Awards Ceremony from home:

For more than 20 years, the Helmut Claas-Scholarships, Bonus Prizes and International Student Prizes of a this year’s value of over 36,000 euros have been awarded to young talents from various international universities. 13 students from Germany, England, the Netherlands, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, Poland, Russia and Uzbekistan received awards.

In detail, the following prizes were awarded:

Scholarships:

1st Prize: Linda Richter, student at OWL University of Applied Sciences in Höxter, was awarded the first prize – a scholarship of the amount of 7,200 euros. She studied environmental engineering and her bachelor thesis, which she wrote in cooperation with a Norwegian university, dealt with the topic „Recovery of Nutrients from Urine by Precipitation of Struvite“.

2nd Prize: Johannes Frey can celebrate his second place and a scholarship of 6,000 euros. He completed his Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering at the University of Applied Sciences in Esslingen. His final thesis is on “the development of mechanical weed regulation in mobile agricultural robotics“.

3rd Prize: The Third place, which is endowed with 4,800 euros, went to Jan Rebmann, student at the Nürtingen-Geislingen University in the field of agricultural sciences. In his work, he “investigated the performance of a camera-controlled hoe for plant population development”.

4th Prize: Abigail Allen studied at Harper Adams University (UK) and was awarded 4th place for her work and thus a scholarship of 3,600 euros. In her final thesis, she investigated the properties of buckwheat for the weed suppression of black-grass.

Bonus prizes:

In addition to the full one-year scholarships, two bonus prizes worth 1,500 euros each were awarded.

In the category "Food Marketing", Hannah Baldwin from Harper Adams University (UK) was honoured for her work on investigating the microbial properties of turkeys in slaughterhouses.

In the "Agricultural Engineering and Management" category, Johannes Munz from the Nürtingen-Geislingen University of Applied Sciences received the bonus prize for his investigations in the use of a forage harvester in grain harvesting.

International Student Prizes:

The International Student Prizes, worth 2,000 euros each, went to students of the Banat University of Agricultural Sciences in Timisoara (Romania), the Budapest University of Technology and Economy (Hungary), the Wageningen University (Netherlands), the Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra (Slovakia), the Kuban State Agrarian University (Russia) and the Poznan University of Life Sciences (Poland).

A further grant was given to Dilshod Umarov from Uzbekistan, student of the International Master’s Degree in Agricultural Management at the University of Applied Sciences Weihenstephan-Triesdorf.

The Helmut Claas Scholarships, Bonus Prizes and International Student Prizes with a total value of over 60,000 euros were awarded to young talents from Bulgaria, Germany, England, Ireland, the Netherlands, Hungary, Slovakia, Russia, Poland and Romania.

To mark the 20th anniversary of the foundation, Prof. Dr. Kottkamp, former Chairman of the Management Board of CLAAS KGaA mbH and pioneer of the foundation at the award ceremony, pointed out the importance of promoting education for the future. "I am more interested in the future than in the past, because I intend to live in it," he concluded with a quote from Albert Einstein. Dr. Hermann Gabers, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Trustees, took a look at the development of the CLAAS Foundation, which started in 1999 with an foundation’s capital stock of DM 1.5 million. Since then, more than 150 Helmut Claas scholarships and bonus prizes have been awarded. Together with the funding of university projects in total 2 million euros where donated. The CLAAS Foundation is one of the largest foundations in Germany with today 10 million euros foundation's capital stock.

"We are currently going ahead with the expansion of our international network," says Sylvia Looks of the CLAAS Foundation's Board of Directors. Since 2007, every year a university from a different country has been supported in research and teaching. The foundation now has over 40 partner universities around the world.

At the award ceremony, the students gave an insight in their final theses and presented details of their research areas. Until the end the scholarship candidates did not know which prize they would receive. The certificates were awarded by Helmut Claas, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the CLAAS Foundation, and Dr. Hermann Garbers.

In detail, the following prices were awarded:

Scholarships:
1st prize: Kristian Evgeniev Velkovski, student at the University "Angel Kanchev" in Ruse (Bulgaria), was awarded the first prize, a scholarship of 7,200 euros. He studies digital communication at the Faculty of Engineering and Electrical Engineering and his bachelor thesis dealt with the Design and development of the AgRUbot - an inexpensive and autonomous small-scale robot platform for precision agriculture and farming. The jury was impressed by the depth of his analyses and used the award to give the student the opportunity to include an international perspective in his master's programme.

Due to the high quality of the applications, two second places of the Helmut Claas Fellowships were awarded instead of one fourth place.

2nd prize: Florian Fipp was pleased about the second place and a scholarship of 6.000 Euro. He made an apprenticeship as a famer and completed a Bachelor's degree in Industrial Engineering for Agricultural and Horticultural Enterprises at the Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences. In his final thesis, he analysed different Seeding Rates in Row Crops for Forage Production.

2nd prize: Jana Korrmann, a business management student from Osnabrück, living in a small town near Osnabrück, is a member of the Young Farmers Association and worked on the implementation of a service contract for GPS steering systems using CLAAS as an example. She received a scholarship of 6,000 euros.

3rd prize: A scholarship of 4,800 euros went to engineering student Benno Bunte from Osnabrück. The former industrial mechanic apprentice developed a concept to optimize and automate manual assembly line for forage harvesters.

Bonusprizes:
In addition to the scholarships, five bonus prizes worth 1,500 euros each were awarded in various categories. Four out of five prizes were awarded to women, a testament to the fact that today young women are conquering technical or scientific careers.

In the category "Marketing", Miriam Schuster from the University of Kassel Witzenhausen was honoured for her work in setting up producer associations from the point of view of dairy goat and milk sheep farmers. She thus developed a significant approach to the marketing of agricultural products.

Nadine Hückl from the Weihenstephan - Triesdorf University of Applied Sciences was awarded a prize in the "Technical Application" category. Under the title "Increasing the quality of wood chips through screening - Development of a mobile wood chip system", she looked in particular at the quality improvements in smaller heating systems and already aroused the interest of a device manufacturer for here idea.

Kate Tomlinson from Harper Adams University (Great Britain) dealt with the mental health of farmers and received an award in the category "working conditions" for her work. The jury was particularly impressed by the combination of a solid foundation with practical recommendations which can be implemented.

Sophie Thornton from Harper Adams University (Great Britain) received an award in the "Digitisation" category. She analysed the integration of modern data storage systems into the poultry supply chain.

The team Jack Cotter, Eddie Lane and Donal Hand from the Technical Institute in Tralee won the prize in the "Design" category for their unusual but convincing work. They developed a children's electric tractor in their work, which was a combination of technical sophistication and marketing skill. The detail of the work showed a dedication to completing a whole project rather than just a build. 

International Student prices:
The international student prizes worth 4,500 euros each were awarded to students from Banat University of Agricultural Sciences Timisoara (Romania), Budapest University of Technology and Economy (Hungary), Wageningen University (Netherlands), University of Agriculture Nitra (Slovakia), Angel Kanchev University Rousse (Bulgaria), Kuban State Agrarian University Krasnodar (Russia) and Poznań University of Life Sciences (Poland).

A further grant was awarded to Siba Laurent Koropogui from Guinea, a student of the international MBA Agricultural Management at the Weihenstephan-Triesdorf University of Applied Sciences.

The CLAAS Foundation can help you – up to a maximum amount of 1500 Euro per team. Apply for a seed funding to get your first robot going and email us your application consisting of the following content by 11th May 2020:

• Short covering letter
• Description of planned robot
• Information on the team (name, age, course etc.)
• List and cost of equipment you wish to use and how much funding you require from the CLAAS Foundation.

The team selection will completed by the end of May 2020.

Looking forward to your application.

CLAAS Foundation FAO: Sylvia Looks Muehlenwinkel 1 33428 Harsewinkel Email: stiftung@claas.com

Due to the COVID 19 Pandemic the Field Robot Event 2020 will not take place this year. New date: 8th - 10th June 2021! Please read more on http://www.fieldrobot.com/event/

“The selection of scholarship holders and award winners takes place on the basis of the topics and the scientific quality of the submitted bachelor Thesis. The curriculum vitae, personal interests and social commitment also play a role for the independent jury”, says Frank Klüsener from the Executive Board of the CLAAS Foundation.

The prizes were awarded personally by Helmut Claas:

Scholarships:

1st Prize: Patrick Lehr, University of Hohenheim. His bachelor thesis investigated the relationship between the cut and other processing techniques for vines, as well as biochemical changes in the plants.

2nd Prize: Levente Széles, Budapest University of Technology and Economics. His bachelor thesis explored methods of cultivating the Chinese water chestnut in Hungary and the development of a harvester prototype.

3rd Prize: Johannes Friedrich, Technical University of Munich. His bachelor thesis researched the possibilities of using radar and laser technology to control mobile feeding units in dairy cattle stables.

4th Prize: Malte von Bloh, also from the Technical University of Munich. His bachelor thesis examined a variety of camera and sensor measurement equipment, among others to determine the nitrogen content in the early development stages of cereal crops.

Further prices:

Besides the one-year scholarships, four bonus prizes worth €1,500 each and several International students prizes worth a total of 31,500 euros were awarded. In addition, two students from the Hochschule Weihenstephan-Triesdorf each received a scholarship for the course "international MBA Agricultural management".

Two students from Weihenstephan-Triesdorf University of Applied Sciences were the first recipients of a scholarship, with which they hope to earn an international MBA in agricultural management.

A total of eight teams from seven schools in Lower Saxony took part in the competition, each of which consisted of between two and four students from the seventh and eighth classes. In the run-up to the competition, every school received class sets containing 20 metal tractor kits, which were assembled during lessons.

 ‘Our aim is for technology, natural sciences, mathematics and computer science to become firmly established at the schools from an early stage. Some secondary schools in Lower Saxony have already introduced technology as a teaching subject from Class 5. Technology should be fun, and you have the most fun when you’re with others,’ explains Sylvia Looks of the CLAAS Foundation governing board.

In the competition, the students and their electrically driven tractors had to compete in three events. In the slalom course it was speed that counted; on the obstacle course it was a matter of agility, and in the assembly competition of technical dexterity. In this last event, each team had a fixed time to assemble a prescribed set of components with the tools provided, and the quality of their work was evaluated. Finally, the students created a poster with information about their team and their work on the tractor model – which also formed part of the overall assessment.

A jury of three announced the proud winning teams. First place went Class I of Langen Secondary School.

Second place went to the School at Auetal/Ahlerstedt, represented by the First Ahlerstedt Trekking Club, and the ‘Burning Meteor’ team from Emsland Comprehensive School came in third. As their prize, the winning teams each received admission tickets for a natural science museum, as well as a small contribution to class funds.

The competition took place at CLAAS Weser Ems GmbH in Neerstedt, who in addition to the use of their premises also provided a supporting programme. Besides other activities, this meant that students could ride on real agricultural machines, and so experience life-sized farming technology as well.