New focus on sustainability and innovative technologies

The Dyckerhoff Sponsorship Award, which was first awarded in 2016, was refocused last year on sustainability topics such as clinker-efficient cements and concretes and their application in the context of the energy transition, building material recycling or innovative processes for optimizing cement-bound building materials. It has also been significantly expanded - from four universities of applied sciences in Hesse to over 20 German universities and colleges. On Friday, April 11, 2025, the “new” Dyckerhoff Sponsorship Award, endowed with a total of 3,000 euros, was awarded for the first time.

Of the nine high-quality Bachelor's and Master's theses submitted by professors from eight colleges and universities, two applicants shared the top spot after being assessed by the eleven jury members: Moritz Nicolai, a graduate of Bauhaus University Weimar, and Marius Schmitt, a graduate of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (Karlsruher Institut für Technologie – KIT). In addition to the jury members, employees from the research, quality and technology departments at Dyckerhoff and other guests were also present.

Following the welcome address by Dyckerhoff Managing Director Patrick Klein and introductory words on the new edition and evaluation by jury chairman Dr. Thomas Sievert, each of the two prize winners took the opportunity to present their work in a short presentation.

Moritz Nicolai's master's thesis dealt with “Factors influencing the performance of calcined clay”. In particular, he focused on the reduction of the clinker factor in cements based on tests on various binder systems and the use of locally available raw materials. He furthermore showed how the results of his investigations can be put into practice.

The topic of Marius Schmitt's master's thesis, which was awarded the second prize, was “Experimental investigations into the influence of the composition of processed crushed sand as a concrete additive on the long-term behavior of concrete” and is important in terms of conserving primary resources and reducing the clinker factor in cement. In his investigations, he looked at properties relevant to durability and the long-term behavior of recycled concretes but also highlighted the limits of the application of these concretes.

After both the awards had been presented, Prof. Dr. Frank Dehn from KIT expressed his thanks on behalf of all the professors from the participating universities for the opportunities that Dyckerhoff offers students on Master's and Bachelor's programmes with its sponsorship award, the interesting tour of the Wilhelm Dyckerhoff Institut conducted by Dr. Stefan Hainer and Dr. Marcus Paul before the award ceremony, and looked forward to the new round of applications. Dr. Thomas Sievert, who heads the Quality and Technical Consulting department at Dyckerhoff, supplemented his remarks from the beginning of the event with an outlook on the next call for applications, which is due to start in summer. In contrast to this year, the company would like to split the prize between bachelor's and master's theses in future, provided that enough submissions are received.

Dyckerhoff would like to intensify cooperation with colleges and universities with this sponsorship award, which is unique in Germany with regard to sector and scope. We are honoring students and graduates from faculties related to building materials for outstanding achievements that make building with cementitious building materials more environmentally friendly. We are convinced that the dialog between research and practice provides important impulses for the development of sustainable building materials and innovative processes in order to successfully master the current and future challenges on the way to a climate-neutral construction industry.

Cover photo – Jury, award winners and the management at the presentation of the new Dyckerhoff Sponsorship Award (from left): Dr. Matthias Müller (for Prof. Dr. Horst-Michael Ludwig), Bauhaus University Weimar; Prof. Dr. Manuela S. Killian, University of Siegen; Dr. Thomas Sievert and Dr. Marcus Paul, both Dyckerhoff; the award winners Moritz Nicolai and Marius Schmitt, Patrick Klein and Dr. Stefan Hainer, both Dyckerhoff; and Prof. Dr. Frank Dehn, KIT

Pictures: Dyckerhoff