AIT Poster Award 2026

Vienna, May 28, 2026 – The AIT Poster Award, presented by the AIT Austrian Institute of Technology, is specifically designed to foster a spirit of innovation and entrepreneurial thinking among young researchers. The award focuses on research projects with high application potential, clear prospects for commercialization, and the opportunity to develop new technology-driven business models based on scientific excellence.

“Successful spin-offs emerge from excellent research when technological quality, market understanding, and strong partners in the ecosystem come together early on. Over the past three years, AIT has successfully launched seven spin-offs, with more already in concrete planning. This demonstrates how much entrepreneurial potential lies within our research—and how important close collaboration with industry, funding agencies, investors, and startup partners is,” emphasizes AIT Managing Director Alexander Svejkovsky.

This year, 17 master’s students, doctoral candidates, and junior scientists from seven AIT centers as well as from the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) presented their forward-looking projects at the 2026 Poster Award—with potential for applications in areas such as digitalization, sustainability, mobility, and life sciences. The best submissions were honored on May 28, 2026, at a festive award ceremony.

This year, 17 master’s and doctoral students and junior scientists from seven AIT centers as well as the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) presented their forward-looking projects at the 2026 Poster Award—projects with potential for applications in fields such as digitalization, sustainability, mobility, and the life sciences. The best submissions were honored at a festive award ceremony on May 28, 2026.

A key factor in the award’s success is the long-standing collaboration with the Lower Austrian startup incubator accent Inkubator and the venture capital fund tecnet equity, which have supported the competition since its inception in 2010. “The AIT Poster Award demonstrates the immense potential of application-oriented research. When AIT researchers consider the commercialization, market, and startup aspects of their projects early on, this generates important momentum for future spin-offs and technology-driven companies. It is precisely at this intersection that tecnet equity supports projects on their journey from research to the market,” emphasizes Doris Agneter, Managing Director of the venture capital fund tecnet equity.

Both partners contribute valuable entrepreneurial expertise and create direct links for the further development of research projects into marketable products and successful startups. “For us as a high-tech incubator, this is precisely what matters most: supporting AIT researchers in developing concrete startup plans and marketable business models from technologically strong ideas. The AIT Poster Award provides an important impetus for embedding entrepreneurial thinking early on in the research process,” adds Michael Moll, Managing Director of accent Inkubator GmbH.

“The AIT Poster Award impressively demonstrates that young researchers are increasingly approaching their work with an eye toward application, commercialization, and societal impact. This is precisely the perspective we want to promote: combining scientific excellence with entrepreneurial thinking to lay the groundwork for marketable innovations at an early stage,” said Svejkovsky.

First Place: Innovative Simulation Solution in Wire-Based Additive Manufacturing (WAAM)

This year’s first place in the AIT Poster Award goes to Juan Esteban Arjona Rodriguez from the Center for Transport Technologies at the LKR Light Metal Competence Center in Ranshofen. He was recognized for his innovative poster project on the development of a “Fast Additive Manufacturing Simulation” for wire-based additive manufacturing using an electric arc (Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing, WAAM).

The goal of the concept is to enable highly complex thermal and mechanical simulations to be performed in a matter of minutes rather than several days. The jury was particularly impressed by the poster’s holistic approach: in addition to the technological vision, Juan Esteban Arjona Rodriguez also analyzes the solution’s economic potential. The project highlights the rapidly growing European and Austrian demand in the field of additive manufacturing—particularly in the defense tech sector—and addresses key questions regarding target audiences, market entry, IP strategy, and revenue potential.

He is currently working at the LKR Light Metal Competence Center Ranshofen of the AIT Austrian Institute of Technology on analytical and numerical simulations of hydrogen tanks in European research projects.

Second Place: High-Durability Aluminum Composite for Aviation and Hydrogen Infrastructure

Behzad Sadeghi from the Erich Schmid Institute for Materials Science at the Austrian Academy of Sciences took second place with an innovative aluminum composite material. This material was specifically developed for applications where material fatigue plays a critical role.

Thanks to its low weight and high durability, the material is particularly suitable for use in aviation and hydrogen infrastructure.

Third Place: Use of Large Language Models in Security Operations Centers to Improve the Analysis of IDS Alerts

Third place went to Alina Schärmer for her work on the use of Large Language Models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT and Gemini in Security Operation Centers (SOCs). The study examined the automated interpretation and classification of alerts from Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) to more quickly distinguish real attacks from false positives and assign them to known attack techniques.

The study analyzed both network- and host-based IDS alerts and demonstrated that additional contextual information—such as log data, configuration details, or “few-shot” examples—can significantly improve classification quality. At the same time, the results highlight that costs, model reliability, and the handling of sensitive data remain key challenges for deployment in security-critical environments.

Spin-offs as a Driver of Technological Value Creation

For AIT, spin-offs are an important transfer pathway for translating research results into economic and societal impact. The range of topics spans from life sciences and the digital platform economy to intelligent tools for urban planning, demonstrating the breadth of market-oriented research at AIT.

Key factors for success include close collaboration with national research institutions, funding agencies, and financing and startup partners. In addition, AIT is embedded in a broad Austrian spin-out ecosystem: As part of the new Academic Spin-out Alliance, AIT works together with BOKU, MedUni Vienna, ISTA, TU Vienna, the University of Vienna, Vetmeduni, WU Vienna, and XISTA, as well as in collaboration with the Vienna Business Agency, to accelerate academic spin-offs and strengthen Austria as an international deep-tech hub.