The winners of the 2021 Science2Start ideas competition:

First place: 3D-printed endoscope optics

Dr. Simon Thiele and Nils Fahrbach are developing a new class of endoscopes for medical applications. The performance of conventional endoscope optics is usually limited by spherical or hemispherical lenses. Using additive manufacturing techniques, also known as 3D printing, the researchers can produce completely different shapes and designs that open the door to new functions and miniaturisation. The idea offers huge innovative potential for medical technology that the company founders would like to commercialise through their start-up, Printoptics GmbH i.G., which is based at the University of Stuttgart.

Second place: CyaPlas – sustainable bioplastic from sunlight and CO2

Prof. Karl Forchhammer from the Interfaculty Institute of Microbiology and Infection Medicine at the University of Tübingen and Dr. Moritz Koch are researching the polymer PHB (polyhydroxybutyrate), which exhibits excellent biodegradability and processing characteristics. The polymer is obtained from cyanobacteria, also known as microalgae. By genetically modifying these bacteria, the scientists have been able to increase their intracellular PHB content to more than 80 per cent of dry cell mass. CO2, water and sunlight are almost the only other components that would be needed to produce bioplastics both efficiently and at low cost when using this process.