International competition offers prizes of up to €5,000 for unique polymer plain bearing projects

Small, corrosion-free and made of plastic: the plain bearing. An unimposing machine element, it is rarely in the limelight, so a joint initiative started by igus, the motion plastics specialist, awards up to €5,000 to the most exciting and creative plain bearing projects every two years. This year, 480 entries were received from 36 countries.

A miniature lawnmower the size of a puppy, a fully automated robotic miniature kitchen, a foldable dog car step and a 24/7 beer bottling plant are just four of the 480 applications for the 11th manus competition. “We received a colourful variety of entries again this year – from 36 countries around the world,” says Tobias Vogel, CEO Plain Bearings and Linear Technology at igus GmbH and a member of the manus award panel of judges. “The competition shows us how wide the range of applications for plain bearings can be and what problems their particular specifications solve.” From highly hygienic areas in medical technology to very dirty heavy-duty applications – there are a lot of different requirements for the plastic bearing. The panel of judges, consisting of experts from research, business and the specialist press, will now evaluate the entries. The winners will be selected based on five categories – idea, plain bearing function, savings, effect and differentiation. The final placing decision will be reached at a judge panel meeting in mid-March.

Awards ceremony at the Hannover Messe

Due to Corona, the last manus award in 2021 was presented as a digital live event to which the international specialist press and all manus award participants were invited. “We are very much looking forward to presenting the trophies again in 2023 as part of the Hannover Messe at the igus trade show stand on 19th April, and to celebrating the 11th manus award with the winners,” says Vogel.

Find out more about the winners of the last manus award at https://www.igus.eu/info/manus-award