DBU Environmental Prize awarded to "Tree
Patron” Mattheck and "Exhaust Hunter” Schulte
Foundation
honours international commitment as well as development of innovative
technology designed to protect the environment - Germany’s President to present
the prize
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17.09.2003 - Osnabrück. The
latest winners of the Deutscher Umweltpreis, Germany’s environmental
achievement award, have now been decided: The recipients of the prize which, at
EUR 500,000, is Europe’s highest paid award for environmental achievement,
and which is to be presented by German President, Johannes Rau, on
26th October in Osnabrück, are the Head of the Biomechanics department at the
Karlsruhe
Research Institute, Prof. Dr. Claus Mattheck (55), and the founder and
managing director of HJS Fahrzeugtechnik GmbH & Co KG,
Hermann Josef Schulte (56,
Menden). The Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt (DBU) is awarding the
prize in recognition of Mattheck’s pioneering achievements at national and
international level as an interpreter of the language of Nature to
engineering products as well as for his conservation of trees. Schulte is
being honoured for the research and development of environmentally-friendly
exhaust gas technology in vehicle construction, and especially for the
development of a particle filter designed for diesel engines. As a result of
this filter, HJS has helped to lower the risk of cancer being caused by
particulates without jeopardising the benefits that this motor brings for
climate protection, said DBU’S Secretary-General, Dr. Fritz Brickwedde,
in a press release issued today.
A forerunner in bionics whose
master teacher has been Nature itself
The press release went on to say that, during over 15 years of research and
through the dissemination of his easily understood methods and results
throughout the world, Mattheck has become a forerunner in bionics whose
master teacher has been Nature itself. As a physicist, he has succeeded in
deciphering the mechanical load of trees by taking their ultimate strength
and stableness as an example, and has formed developments and computer
programs from this which today are found not only in automobile construction
but also washing machines, artificial hip prostheses and tooth implants. He
embodies modern conservation that is committed to sustainability in the
original sense of the word and he has discovered new paths.
Mattheck’s methods have resulted in numerous concrete transfers within the
industry
All in all, over 100 software licences and patents have been granted to
carmakers, mechanical engineering companies and chemical plants by Mattheck
and his team. His methods have resulted in numerous concrete transfers within
the industry. Nowadays, some of Mattheck’s former students work for major car
manufacturers as development engineers, optimising vehicle parts on new
automobile prototypes and forming designs in line with Nature that always
have the ideal solution ready.
Great emphasis on finding a happy medium between science and society
At the same time, however, Mattheck has discovered a specific form of
"body language” in trees. He has interpreted certain conspicuous traits
in terms of shape and form such as the outer appearance of the bark or
unusual growths in thickness as signals that permit positive and negative
conclusions to be drawn on the roadworthiness of trees. The consistent
application of this method, which has meanwhile become widespread throughout
the world, could, above all, help to preserve trees from being felled too
early in urban greenery, avoid the wrong care of trees, make a contribution
towards achieving sustainable forestry and, consequently, be of direct
benefit to the environment. In closing, the press release states that
Mattheck has always placed great emphasis on finding a happy medium between
science and society. One of his main target groups has been children and
teenagers who have been drawn closer to what, at first, would appear to be an
uninteresting topic through the worldwide publication of children’s books and
cartoons.
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