The award is named after its sponsor, Professor Dr. Günther Zäpfel, who headed the Institute of Production and Logistics Management from 1974 to 2010, first under the name "Institut für Fertigungswirtschaft und Betriebsinformatik" and then under the name "Institut für Industrie und Fertigungswirtschaft" and finally under its current name. He has significantly shaped its quantitative, analytical orientation.

Outstanding master’s theses that were completed at the PLM Institute between May of the previous year and June of the award year and were graded “Sehr gut” can be nominated by the respective supervisor. The proposed theses must have a high scientific level, make a methodological contribution and be of practical relevance. The selection is made together with Professor Zäpfel.

• Jakob Berndorfer for his master's thesis titled "Modeling and Solving A Real-World Machine Scheduling Problem with Bounded Tardiness and Processing Set Restrictions" epub-pdf, opens an external URL in a new window

• Martin Hofwimmer for his master's thesis titled "Routing a Mixed Fleet of Battery Electric and Fuel-Cell Electric Vehicles - A Model Based Approach" epub-pdf, opens an external URL in a new window

• Agnes Ebner for her master's thesis titled "Evaluation of the Concept of Trailer Pooling for a Food Retailer using Mathematical Programming" epub-pdf, opens an external URL in a new window

• Xenia Haslinger for her diploma thesis titled "Das emissionsfreie Fleet Size and Mix Vehicle Routing Problem mit unterschiedlichen Reichweiten - ein metaheuristischer Lösungsansatz" epub-pdf, opens an external URL in a new window