FEMFAT Academic Award​​​​​​​

​​​​​​​Who can participate?

All students and graduates whose theses/dissertations were approved or completed no more than 3 years before the start of the competition submission period.

Submission period

The submission period begins on October 1, 2024 and ends on January 31, 2025.

Where do I make my submission?

Submissions should be made electronically via the upload link at femfat.magna.com.

Conditions for submission

Submissions should take the form of an extended abstract (max. 5 pages) in English or in German. The participant’s CV should also be provided. The abstract should include the following information in particular:

• Improvement in expected fatigue life
• Industrial applicability
• Expansion of scope of application to include new materials and/or joints 

If evaluations, marks or awards for the thesis/dissertation exist, these can be included with the abstract.

By submitting their abstract, participants agree to abide by the rules for deciding the award winner. Participants note in particular that the decision of the jury is final, and that the jury is not required to provide any justification for decisions against individual participants.

Participants note that the data provided to ECS in the course of sending in their submission will be processed and stored electronically, including:

• Name
• Address
• Electronic contact details (phone no., e-mail address)
• CV including photo of participant
• Participant’s university/higher education institution 
• Participant’s field of study
• Title and abstract of thesis/dissertation 
• Thesis/dissertation supervisor 
• Thesis/dissertation completion date
• Non-disclosure notice (yes/no)  

Participants note that in order to receive the prize money the submission must be presented at the Magna ECS Simulation Conference (participation is free, but travel costs are to be borne by the prize winner). ECS is entitled to print out handouts of the abstract presentations for the Meeting.

Submissions subject to a non-disclosure notice are also eligible for our competition. The abstract will be treated confidentially, and in the event of uncertainty the jury members reserve the right to request further details. 

The name of the prize winner and the title of the winning thesis/dissertation will be published on the femfat.magna.com homepage.  

​​​​​​​What are we looking for?

We are looking for abstracts “of particular interest” for simulating the fatigue life of components. This open wording was deliberately chosen to give the jury the largest possible scope for discretion in their judgements. The general criteria for jury evaluation include, but are not limited to: 

• Degree of innovation 
• Technical level 
• Scientific specification and design 
• Independent thought (evidence of new, individual approaches) 
• Commercial benefit (competitive advantage, improvement for the development process)
• Other benefits/effects (e.g. lightweight design, optimisation, resources) 

The quality of the submissions determines whether a prize will be awarded, with a prize of € 5000 on offer. Other participants may be invited to attend the Poster presentation. 

The jury will vote to decide the winner and any other outstanding submissions for the Poster session (as mentioned above, the jury’s decision is final and cannot be appealed). 

Participants will be informed of the jury’s decision at the latest by the end of February of the respective year. The awards will be presented as part of the Magna ECS Simulation Conference.

Contact
Engineering Center Steyr GmbH & Co KG
Steyrerstrasse 32
A-4300 St. Valentin

Submissions:
DI Klaus Hofwimmer
Tel.: +43 (0) 7435 501 DW 2322 (Fax 9322)
E-mail: klaus.hofwimmer(at)magna.com

Jury representative:
DI Helmut Dannbauer
Tel.: +43 (0) 7435 501 DW 2310 (Fax 9310)
E-mail: helmut.dannbauer(at)magna.com