Standard for cleanliness inspections wins the "Clean! 2014" purity technology award

see below: Thomas Wollstein, Dr. Udo Gommel, Markus Hansel, Stefan Marquardt, Thomas Hinrichs, Helmut Grebing, Dr. Lothar Gail, Dr. Gerhard Kminek

"How clean is clean?" wondered Stefan Marquardt and Markus Hansel from PartikelXpert GbR from Breidenbach, Hesse. With the standard they developed for practical use, they not only found a solution to a long-known problem but also won the purity technology award "Clean! 2014" awarded by the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology and Automation IPA in Stuttgart, which was presented on June 4th at the Cleanroom Lounges in Stuttgart.

With their standard for practical use, a glass container intentionally infused with metallic test particles, the winners provide a method to make cleanliness checks reproducible and comparable. The method is used for final acceptance testing of extraction systems and for verifying internal cleanliness investigations. Dr. Gerhard Kminek, a jury member and contamination control specialist for aerospace applications at the European Space Agency (ESA), praised the solution as "easy to apply" and as a "significant improvement in quality control."

The second prize went to Marburg-based Pharmaserv GmbH & Co. KG for their wall and ceiling penetration "clean-shut," which enables GMP-compliant sealing of pipes and process materials through cleanroom walls and ceilings. Thanks to the awarded system, it can reliably prevent contamination caused by poorly installed pipelines in cleanrooms. The solution from Pharmaserv received great enthusiasm from juror Dr. Lothar Gail, as "cleanrooms need clean walls"—which, unfortunately, is not always guaranteed in practice. For "clean-shut," not only are highly suitable materials used, but the system also prevents wall damage thanks to a spring system.

Third place was awarded to Berner International GmbH from Elmshorn for a new generation of safety cabinets called "Claire." They offer not only excellent protective functions but also, thanks to sophisticated sensor technology, enable energy savings that can reduce operating costs by up to 97 percent, according to the company. Juror Thomas Wollstein, responsible for cleanroom topics at the Association of German Engineers (VDI), pointed out in his laudation that standby functions, as known from consumer electronics, are "a novelty in safety cabinets."

With the 2014 award, which was announced for the second time, Fraunhofer IPA aims to draw attention to how much innovation is needed in cleanroom technology as a cross-sectional technology. "We want to stimulate many more impulses," said Dr. Udo Gommel, head of the Electronics and Microsystems Technology division and chairman of the jury, at the award ceremony. Contaminations are now recognized in many industries as damaging influences on products, systems, or even people—whether employees or consumers. The extent and thus the need for action vary greatly, so individual solutions are necessary. "We want to promote this diversity," Gommel explained, "and present the best solutions to the public." Following the very positive response to the currently Germany-focused call for entries, Gommel announced that next year the applicant pool will be expanded through an international call for entries.