On 17 June 2008, Berthold Leibinger was awarded the German 2008 "Gründer" prize in recognition of his life's work. Rising from a mere apprentice to the owner of TRUMPF, Berthold Leibinger believed in the innovation that was the laser, he worked tenaciously to give lasers a substantial position in a mechanical engineering company that was steeped in tradition and in the process made the company the global market leader and revolutionized an entire industry.

In his 50-year career, Berthold Leibinger led the small Swabian mechanical engineering company founded by Christian Trumpf as it became an internationally-renowned high-tech company, TRUMPF GmbH + Co. KG, employing around 8000 people. Today TRUMPF's turnover is EUR 2 bn. Then aged 20, the school-leaver started work as an apprentice toolmaker. Following his studies in mechanical engineering and initial work experience in the USA, in 1961 he returned to TRUMPF as a development engineer and never left.

A impressive series of inventions helped Berthold Leibinger to develop the company into one of the world's leading manufacturers of machine tools and the world's largest laser specialist for materials processing. As early as the end of the 1970s, Berthold Leibinger, by then a director of the company, put his faith in the technical possibilities of the new laser technology. That it was even possible to handle sheet metal and other materials with lasers was one of Leibinger's brilliant ideas that revolutionized the entire industry.

American lasers were not suitable and the company began its own development. The first TRMPF laser only operated for around 90 seconds, but Leibinger believed in its success. Eighteen months' hard development work resulted in a compact and reliable laser that made TRUMPF a pioneer in the industry. By introducing laser technology for materials processing at the end of the 1970s and early 1980s, Leibinger brought about a huge leap in innovation. Today the company is the global market leader in industrial lasers and laser systems and the entire TRUMPF company is owned by his family.

TRUMPF also focuses on ongoing innovations in its other divisions: machine tools, electronics and medical technology. Around 7% of turnover is put into research and development each year. In November 2005, the 75-year-old Leibinger handed over the reins of the group to his daughter Nikola Leibinger-Kammüller and instead took a seat on the supervisory board.

As Berthold Leibinger always stresses in his speeches, work is a key component and inspiring moment in life. His credo was that ownership confers an obligation. Prof. Berthold Leibinger believes in business success, the spirit of innovation, social responsibility and cultural obligation in a way that few others can match. He was already awarded the "Werner-von-Siemens-Ring" for services to science and technology, one of the highest honors that can be given in this field, in December 2006. Now he has been awarded the 2008 German "Gründer" prize in the life's work category in recognition of his achievements.

Professor Berthold Leibinger
Chairman of the supervisory board of TRUMPF
((Source: Franziska Krug)