Please use another Browser

It looks like you are using a browser that is not fully supported. Please note that there might be constraints on site display and usability. For the best experience we suggest that you download the newest version of a supported browser:

Internet Explorer, Chrome Browser, Firefox Browser, Safari Browser

Continue with the current browser
Press Release17 December 2025Siemens AGMunich

Siemens honors pioneering inventors for the 30th time

Ever since its founding, Siemens has been inextricably linked to and driven by the spirit of invention. With his visionary ideas, Werner von Siemens laid the foundation for an exceptional era of progress. And in keeping with this 178-year tradition, Siemens has created countless innovations that have profoundly and sustainably transformed the lives of billions of people. This year, Siemens is once again honoring the innovative creativity and strength of its people and partners in six categories: Newcomer, Open Innovation, Outstanding Invention, Design and User Experience, Lifetime Achievement and PhD Award.
Further details about the award-winning inventions and the individuals behind them can be found at: www.siemens.com/inventors
“Inventions are only relevant if they have an impact – by making industry smarter, more efficient and more sustainable. That is our purpose and goal at Siemens: creating innovations that serve humanity and transform the everyday. This is exactly what our inventors of the year stand for,” said Peter Koerte, member of the Managing Board of Siemens AG, Chief Technology Officer and Chief Strategy Officer. “They show us how technology can take on responsibility by conserving energy and resources, enabling progress and rethinking the process of industrial value creation.”

€6.6 billion invested in research and development

In fiscal 2025, people working at Siemens reported 5,300 inventions. The company holds over 42,400 granted patents worldwide and invested approximately €6.6 billion in research and development in fiscal 2025, a year-on-year increase of almost five percent. More than 53,800 people in 50 countries currently work in research and development at Siemens.

Innovations that combine the real and the digital worlds

The award-winning inventions of 2025 represent how Siemens makes customers more resilient and more competitive:
  • Smart factories through seamless communication:
An inventor from China developed a platform that serves as a bridge between software and factory automation systems by enabling seamless communication between previously isolated industrial systems. The platform does this by connecting IT (information technology) and OT (operational technology), translating fluently between databases and robots, specifically between the cloud and the factory floor. The result: smarter and more efficient factories with optimized production processes and reduced downtimes.
  • Sustainable electronics for a circular economy
An inventor from Berlin has dedicated her work to tackling the challenge of making electronics more sustainable. She researches environmentally friendly materials and intelligent connection technologies to ensure greater endurability, easier repairs and more efficient recycling of electronic components. She also uses data to precisely predict a device’s lifespan and recyclability. Her innovation reduces waste and strengthens the circular economy, benefiting both the environment and customers.
  • Quantum computing in industry:
Although quantum computers are amazingly fast and powerful, they are also extremely sensitive. This year’s winner of the “PhD Award” works at the Siemens research center in Garching near Munich and has developed a special digital twin.  It precisely simulates how a quantum computer would perform in an industrial environment before the computer is actually installed. Using this twin, the ability of a quantum computer to operate safely, stably and reliably in a real industrial setting can be tested in advance, helping to avoid costly failures and adaptations.   
  • Faster commissioning of industrial air conditioning systems:
An American research team has revolutionized the commissioning of industrial air conditioning systems. What used to take hours or even days and required special tools can now be accomplished in less than 30 minutes using a newly developed, intuitive mobile app. This innovation saves customers time and money, and makes the installation of complex systems more efficient.
  • Predictive process control for greater safety and efficiency:
The “Lifetime Achievement” award goes to a data-driven system that makes chemical plants, refineries or pharmaceutical production facilities safer and more cost-effective. It continuously calculates future scenarios and determines in real time optimal procedures for ensuring uninterrupted operation. It can detect, for example, critical pressure developments in a reactor hours in advance and automatically initiate countermeasures – marking a paradigm shift from reactive response to predictive control in factories.
  • A robot is transformed into a “Swiss Army knife”:
A team of expert developers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Advanced Materials (IFAM) in Stade, northern Germany, and Siemens has developed a hybrid robot drive for precision manufacturing. The concept combines two fundamentally different types of drives, direct and geared drives, uniting the strengths of both. The result is a robot that remains low-vibration and stable even at high feed rates, thus coming close to the precision of classic machine tools. The robot becomes a kind of “Swiss Army knife” of manufacturing and can 3D print, mill or repair, depending on the task.
  • Diverse factory data streams handled by an AI software platform:
The Swiss scale-up EthonAI has developed an AI software platform that provides digital tools for monitoring and analyzing manufacturing processes. It processes data streams in real time, identifies root causes of errors, recognizes optimization potential and suggests corrective actions. The system can even intervene to quickly correct detected deviations. Following successful trials in several Siemens plants, the technology is now being used in eight Siemens factories and is being tested in 20 more. Customers and partners also benefit from this innovative solution via the Siemens Xcelerator Marketplace.
  • Design and sustainability in urban transport – the Munich S-Bahn:
The design of the new Munich S-Bahn, based on precise flow analyses and aerodynamic simulations, delivers significant energy savings over the train’s entire lifespan and reduces noise levels during operation. Combining engineering excellence and sustainability, it creates real added value for millions of Munich residents in their daily lives.
Inventors of the year 2025 | Benno Schiefer

Benno Schiefer - Design and sustainability in urban transport – the Munich S-Bahn

Inventors of the year 2025 | Sandeep Billa

Sandeep Billa - Faster commissioning of industrial air conditioning systems

Inventors of the year 2025 | Steven Brens

Steven Brens - Faster commissioning of industrial air conditioning systems

Inventors of the year 2025 | Jibo Liu

Jibo Liu - Faster commissioning of industrial air conditioning systems

Inventors of the year 2025 | Zhen Hua Zhou

Zhen Hua Zhou - Smart factories through seamless communication

Inventors of the year 2025 | Dr. Bernd-Markus Pfeiffer

Dr. Bernd-Markus Pfeiffer - Predictive process control for greater safety and efficiency

Inventors of the year 2025 | Nora Jeske

Nora Jeske - Sustainable electronics for a circular economy 

Inventors of the year 2025 | Hila Safi

Hila Safi - Quantum computing in industry

Inventors of the year 2025 | Kratzwald, Senoner

Dr. Julian Senoner (left) & Bernhard Kratzwald (right) - Diverse factory data streams handled by an AI software platform 

Inventors of the year 2025 | Sven Tauchmann

Sven Tauchmann - A robot is transformed into a “Swiss Army knife”

Inventors of the year 2025 | David Bitterolf

David Bitterolf - A robot is transformed into a “Swiss Army knife”

Inventors of the year 2025 | Stephan Hansen

Stephan Hansen - A robot is transformed into a “Swiss Army knife”

Inventors of the year 2025 | Tobias Hamann

Tobias Hamann - A robot is transformed into a “Swiss Army knife”

For this press release

Links

Siemens AG (Berlin and Munich) is a leading technology company focused on industry, infrastructure, mobility, and healthcare. The company’s purpose is to create technology to transform the everyday, for everyone. By combining the real and the digital worlds, Siemens empowers customers to accelerate their digital and sustainability transformations, making factories more efficient, cities more livable, and transportation more sustainable. A leader in industrial AI, Siemens leverages its deep domain know-how to apply AI – including generative AI – to real-world applications, making AI accessible and impactful for customers across diverse industries. Siemens also owns a majority stake in the publicly listed company Siemens Healthineers, a leading global medical technology provider pioneering breakthroughs in healthcare. For everyone. Everywhere. Sustainably. In fiscal 2025, which ended on September 30, 2025, the Siemens Group generated revenue of €78.9 billion and net income of €10.4 billion. As of September 30, 2025, the company employed around 318,000 people worldwide on the basis of continuing operations. Further information is available on the Internet at www.siemens.com.
Read more

Contact

Ellen Schramke

Siemens AG

+49 (172) 2591062