Ernst Hahn (right) received the Hugo von Ritgen Medal from THM President Prof. Günther Grabatin. Ernst Hahn has been honored with the Hugo von Ritgen Medal of the TH Mittelhessen. The THM awards this award to personalities who have made a special contribution to the university.

At a ceremony THM President Prof. Dr. Günther Grabatin recognizes the great importance of this recognition. Ernst Hahn, a consultant in the Hessian Ministry for Economic Affairs, Energy, Transport and Regional Development, is only the fourth recipient of the Ritgen Medal since it was first awarded in 2005.   

In his welcoming address, the Hessian Economics Minister, Tarek Al-Wazir, described the professional and human qualities of his employee, who has worked in the ministry since 1981, is committed to promoting regional developments and also sees it as his task to provide support for young company founders.

In the laudatory speech, Vice President Prof. Dr. Frank Runkel received the award with Hahn's commitment to establishing the medical technology user center at the TH Mittelhessen. It was completed in 2011 and financed by funding programmes from the Hessian Ministry of Science and Art, the Hessian Ministry of Economic Affairs and the European Union. Laboratories have been built on the site on Gießen Gutfleischstrasse, half of which are used by young medical technology companies and half for cooperation projects between technical universities and business. Ernst Hahn provided invaluable help in developing concepts and applying for funding, repeatedly built bridges between science and business, thereby serving the entire Central Hessian medical industry and, in the process, earned the respect of everyone involved as a “silent creator”. Runkel summed up: “Everything that the idea of ​​our Hugo von Ritgen Medal contains is embodied in you.”

In his words of thanks, the honoree expressed his great joy, which he is happy to share with the team at the ministry and the cooperation partners at THM . Finally, he revealed his personal three-C indicator for good cooperation to the audience: “Heads, concepts and putty have to be right. In our case it worked very well.”