Infineon Austria and ORF announce “Women's Award for Digitalization and Innovation”

Vienna, Villach, 19 April 2022 - ORF, as Austria's largest media company, and the semiconductor company Infineon Technologies Austria, as a pioneer of digitalization, have launched the "Women's Award for Digitalization and Innovation". The aim is to motivate young female talents to deal with technical issues related to digitalization and innovation as part of their education, to promote their entry into technical professions and to get more young women interested in technology overall. Interested women can now obtain all the detailed information and register to take part at extra.ORF.at.

Dr. Sabine Herlitschka, MBA, CEO Infineon Technologies Austria: "As a technology company, it is important to us to show young people how exciting jobs in technology are. For women in particular, this broad field of work opens up attractive career paths. That's why we are delighted to be working with ORF to award this sponsorship award for the first time. With this initiative, we are drawing attention to women in technology and women to technology. We are bringing women before the curtain who, with their innovative ideas and work, are helping to shape the challenges of our generation, such as digital transformation and climate change. A special award in the 'Tech for Green' category specifically targets this relevant topic."

Dr. Harald Kräuter, ORF Director of Technology and Digitalization: "The digitalization offensive in the direction of a multimedia platform is a central focus of our corporate strategy. We also want to increasingly involve young, talented women, their know-how and their ideas in the process of implementation. With the 'Women's Award for Digitalization and Innovation', we are therefore offering these women a forum to present themselves and their outstanding skills and to promote their professional entry into this environment. I am particularly pleased to have found an ideal partner for this campaign in Infineon."

Dr. Clemens Pig, Chairman of the Management Board APA - Austria Presse Agentur: "Digital innovation is the basis of all services, products and projects we develop as a technology-oriented Austrian news agency. Equality and gender balance are not only a social necessity, they also open the space for more comprehensive and creative solutions. Being part of an initiative that specifically brings female digital experts and innovators to the forefront makes us as APA very happy and fits perfectly into our corporate culture."

The details
ORF and Infineon Austria invite women to submit their departmental, bachelor and master theses as well as dissertations from the years 2020, 2021 and 2022. The theses should cover the topics of information and communication technologies, semiconductor and nanotechnologies as well as engineering and natural sciences.

After pre-selection by an advisory board and subsequent shortlist presentations, a jury of prominent experts will evaluate and award the innovative potential, thematic originality, application relevance and possible contribution to sustainability and environmental protection ("Tech for Green") of the works.

The submission period starts on 19 April 2022 and ends on 31 May 2022 at 12:00 noon. The shortlist presentations as well as the award announcement and ceremony will take place on 27 June 2022 in Vienna.

The "Women's Award for Digitalization and Innovation" is endowed with EUR 10,000 (1st place), EUR 5,000 (2nd place) and EUR 2,500 (3rd place), and an additional prize is awarded for special attention to the requirements of "Tech for Green" (EUR 2,500). In addition, exciting internships at ORF Technik, Infineon Austria and APA Technik will be awarded. All information and details on the "Women's Award for Digitalization and Innovation" are now available at extra.ORF.at. Women can register to take part as of now via this page. Information is also available on ORF TELETEXT page 466 and at  www.infineon.com/presseaustria.

The "Women's Award for Digitalization and Innovation" was created - on the initiative of Thomas Prantner (authorized signatory in the ORF Directorate for Technology and Digitalization) - by Infineon Austria and ORF, and the APA is also a media partner. Doris Schmidauer, wife of the Austrian Federal President, the Austrian Federal Minister of Economic Affairs and Digitalization, Margarete Schramböck, the Austrian Federal Minister for Women, Family, Integration and Media, Susanne Raab, and the Governor of Carinthia, Peter Kaiser, will be the patrons of the event.

Infineon Technologies Austria AG is a group subsidiary of Infineon Technologies AG, a world-leading provider of semiconductor solutions that make life easier, safer and greener. Microelectronics from Infineon reduce the energy consumption of consumer electronics, domestic appliances and industrial facilities. They make a major contribution to the convenience, security and sustainability of vehicles, and enable secure transactions in the Internet of Things.

Infineon Austria pools competencies for research and development, production as well as global business responsibility. The head office is in Villach, with further branches in Graz, Klagenfurt, Linz and Vienna. With 4,820 employees from 73 countries (including 2,100 in research and development), in the financial year 2021 (ending in September) the company achieved a turnover of € 3.9 billion. With a research expenditure of 516 million euros, Infineon Austria is one of the strongest research companies in Austria.