Photo above: The winning team of Abacus Diagnostica. Production Manager Tommi Alanko (pictured left), Director of System Development and IPR Piia von Lode, CEO Erno Sundberg, R&D Project Manager Jiri Vainio, Research Manager Antti-Heikki Tapio and Device and Software Manager Janne Holopainen. Missing from the picture is Production Technician Tiina Parviainen.
Photo below: The winning team of Creanex. Product Development Engineer Juha Silen (pictured left), Chief Engineer Harri Niemi, CEO Markku Pusenius and R&D Manager Timo Mustonen. Missing from the picture is Product Development Engineer Jukka-Pekka Rajala.
The last few years have been a time of rapid growth for Creanex, a Tampere-based company that develops simulator technology for work machinery. This growth has prompted the company to look for new talent. It will dedicate the 30 000 euros of the Finnish Engineering Award to the training of young engineers by sponsoring theses related to real-time simulation or virtual technologies.
– It all comes down to our desire to raise awareness of how the technology we share with the game industry can also be applied in more traditional products in the manufacturing industry, says CEO of Creanex Markku Pusenius.
Abacus Diagnostica, which has developed an easy-to-use, rapid PCR test for COVID-19, will donate the prize money to the University of Turku. Both the technology of the Turku-based company and most of its employees have their roots in the university. The founders of the company originally developed their PCR test system at the biotechnology unit of the University of Turku.
– GenomEra is an excellent example of the fact that working in the life sciences requires persistent efforts, funding and faith before commercial success can be achieved, says CEO of Abacus Diagnostica Erno Sundberg.
The Academic Engineers and Architects in Finland TEK and Tekniska Föreningen i Finland TFiF present the annual award to an individual or a team for their remarkable work of engineering or architecture.
This autumn, TEK is celebrating its 125th anniversary, which had to be postponed due to COVID-19. In honour of the anniversary, TEK and TFiF decided to break with tradition and grant the Finnish Engineering Award to not one, but two teams.
– The people behind the simulator technology of Creanex have demonstrated truly outstanding engineering skills. The company's persistent, customer-oriented product development reflects in its financial performance, which has improved strongly even during the pandemic. Technology that is based on exceptional competence will allow this positive development to continue in future simulation solutions, says Expert on Sustainable Technology Society Jussi-Pekka Teini, coordinator of the award at TEK.
– The faster and less expensive PCR method developed by Abacus Diagnostica from Turku is a major innovation that has advanced technical competence in Finland. The company's growth is impressive, and the COVID-19 pandemic has shown the benefits and importance of technology in society, says CEO of TFiF Annika Nylander.
Creanex increased its revenue by 30%
The team at Creanex has developed simulator technology for work machines and vehicles. Customers can use the company’s product development simulators to automate the testing of the control systems of their machines, for example. Training simulators, on the other hand, allow customers to learn to operate forest and mining machines or rail vehicles.
Creanex has so far delivered more than 600 training and product development simulators around the world. In the last financial period, Creanex increased its revenue by 30 percent to 4.7 million euros.
Abacus Diagnostica increased its revenue tenfold
The team at Abacus Diagnostica has developed a rapid PCR test for COVID-19 that is quick, easy to use and does not require cleanrooms. The company develops, manufactures and sells tests for laboratories and hospitals.
Abacus Diagnostica operates in the highly competitive diagnostics market, but still managed to increase its revenue almost tenfold in 2020, to 6.6 million euros. The company is now a part of Uniogen, established towards the end of 2021 when Abacus joined forces with two other Turku-based life science companies, Kaivogen and Labrox.