The 23rd SaMoTer Innovation Awards presented ahead of SaMoTer, the earthmoving, site and construction machinery industry show in Verona, Italy, saw 13 winners recognised for their machines and solutions in several categories.
The jury, which comprised industry experts, announced the 13 winners this year in the following categories: hydraulic excavators, wheel loaders, telehandlers, attachments, software applications, plant, cranes and industrial applications. In addition, three special mentions and a Design Prize were also awarded.
Among the winners list were Wacker Neuson for mini hydraulic excavators, Kobelco for midi hydraulic excavators and Hidromek for construction grade hydraulic excavators, while Bobcat’s Advanced Selectable Auxiliary Control also won the Special Applications award for hydraulic excavators. Merlo and Magni were awarded prizes for their compact and high-capacity telehandlers respectively, while Hyundai was declared the winner in the medium wheeled loader category for its HL960A and Liebherr won the Special Applications for Wheeled Loaders category for its Active Personnel Detection for Accident Prevention feature. Simex was the winner in the attachments category while Doosan won the award for software applications wit hits X-Center site estimation and mapping solution.
The winners received their awards during the SaMoTer B2Press networking event involving exhibiting companies and the trade press, part of the run-up to the 31st edition of the show. According to the organisers, the SaMoTer Innovation Award “has the dual objective of acknowledging investments by companies to develop cutting-edge machinery and technologies at the same time as providing sector operators and the technical press an opportunity to keep abreast of innovations and stay up to date with the technical construction developments involving site machinery”.
In focus this year were hybrid and electric machinery developed for earthmoving and various applications in the world of hoisting and lifting. Also in focus were technologies that make a difference on construction sites by improving operator safety and comfort, along with new IT systems and software ensuring better production process efficiency.
“I was delighted to see that the SaMoTer Innovation Award attracted impressive participation even by leading global manufacturers, who are always keen to gain ground in terms of competitiveness,” said Costantino Radis, sector journalist and chairman of the jury for the SaMoTer Innovation Award.
“This once again confirms SaMoTer’s vocation as a platform for international promotion capable of accompanying and supporting progress in the sector. The success of the 2020 Awards is the result of teamwork involving not only the organisers of SaMoTer but also all the members of the jury who, thanks to their skills and authority, helped keep interest among machinery builders very much alive.”
The jury, which included university professors, researchers, technicians and experts in the sector of proven experience, comprised Costantino Radis (specialist journalist and chairman), Massimo Bardissone (mechanical engineer), Elena Lovera (entrepreneur), Michela Magnanimo (nuclear engineer), Jean Noël Onfield (technical journalist), Sebastiano Pelizza (emeritus professor), Marco Prosperi (specialist in the rental sector), Massimiliano Ruggeri (researcher), Alberto Seco (industrial designer) and Lucas Manuel Varas Vilachàn (technical journalist).
The 23rd edition of SaMoTer, Italy’s most important exhibition dedicated to earthmoving, site and construction machinery, will take place from March 21-25 at the Veronafiere in Verona, Italy.
