The Hochschule Niederrhein has been providing apprenticeships for paint engineers for 100 years. The HSNR is one of the last three educational institutions in Germany and one of the few remaining in Europe that still prepares students for this profession.

One coatings engineer has now received a special honor: Dr. Philipp Knospe from Rees in the Kleve district. The graduate of the Master's Degree programme in Coatings Chemistry received the Innovation Award of 1000 euros from the coatings manufacturer Mankiewicz for his excellent dissertation.

In his work, the 30-year-old attempted to replace the toxicologically questionable components in a paint coating with significantly less harmful ones without impairing the properties of the coating. Among other things, he used vanillin in aqueous coatings as a blocking agent to stabilize coating compounds that would otherwise be incompatible with water.

He was also able to use the harmless urea as a reactive component for curing coatings and thus achieve good coating properties. Using enzymatic and chemical reactions, he developed novel and sustainable compounds for coatings. His dissertation was sponsored by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research.

For the Reeser, the Innovation Award is a nice confirmation of having achieved his personal goal: "To produce a good academic thesis whose contents are transferable to industry."

He would like to use the 1000 euros to go on a few days' trip with his family - as a thank you for the great support during his studies and doctorate.

Dr. Philipp Knospe now works half-time in teaching education at HSNR and half-time in industry at a specialty chemicals group. He is glad to have chosen the path of a coatings engineer. After all, paints and coatings can be found everywhere: on fingernails, cars, airplanes or as wall paint. Many companies, and thus potential employers after completing his studies, are located in North Rhine-Westphalia, especially in the Rhineland and the Ruhr region.