manus® award 2025

12th competition for plastic bearing applications

Participate now and win €5,000!

We received more than 480 exciting, unique entries from 36 countries, from corrosion-free plain bearings and drylin linear guides for an exoskeleton with a high-pressure cleaner to a wheelchair with maintenance-free plain bearings that enable users to roll while standing up.

The panel of judges, consisting of industry and economy experts and representatives from the specialist press, was once more spoilt for choice. The four winners were selected in a multi-stage voting process at the beginning of March. This year, a green manus award will again be presented for a sustainable project.

Take part in the manus contest now!

What are we looking for?

We talk to engineers every day and often hear that the pressure is constantly increasing. It's not just about cost efficiency, but also about continuously improving the CO₂ balance of products, for example, by dispensing with lubricants. In a recent study with RWTH Aachen, we were able to prove for the first time how plastic bearings tackle both challenges successfully.

That is why, as part of the 12th manus award, we are especially interested in finding out how the use of these bearings affects your company.

What technical problems were you able to solve by using plastic bearings?
How did polymer bearings improve the sustainability of your application?
What effects will the change have on costs?

Sequence

You have the opportunity to submit your application for the manus award until 17th January 2025.

Jury session

The jury will meet on 19th February to vote on the winners of the manus® 2025. The selection is based on five categories: idea, function of the plain bearing, savings, effect and differentiation.

Award ceremony

The date of the award ceremony will be announced in good time. All award winners will be informed in advance.

This is what you can win:

All winners can look forward to prize money, a manus trophy and a marketing package worth €10,000. The in-house igus agency will produce a user report in an industry medium (DACH and international) and professional video material of the application.

The golden manus

Prize money of €5,000

The silver manus

Prize money of €2,500

The bronze manus

Prize money of €1,000

The green manus

Prize money of €3,000

Register now for the manus 2025

Seize the chance to win up to €5,000, a manus trophy and a marketing package worth €10,000.

Participate now and win!

2023 manus award winners

What has become of the manus winners?

The manus award is a joint initiative which the plastics specialist igus announces every two years. More than 3,000 contestants from across the globe have entered the competition in recent years, which honours the creative use of polymer plain bearings in industrial applications. This year, the manus award celebrates its tenth anniversary. A good reason to look back: what has become of the last nine winners and their projects?

Winner 2003 - Bottle cleaning machine bearings
Winner 2005 - Inspection device for a drilling riser
Winner 2007 - Splitting machine for leather production
Winner 2015 - Robot for cochlea implant surgery

All applications from manus 2023

The manus competition awards innovative and bold applications with plastic bearings, which distinguish themselves through technical and economic efficiency, creativity and surprising results. There were quite a few of them again this year. We received 480 entries from around the world for the 11th manus. In our PDF, you can take a look at all these applications.

View now