2026 Hermes Award entry period open

The entry submission period is open through February 15 for the Hermes Award and Hermes Startup Award. Deutsche Messe will present the Hermes Award on April 19, 2026, during the official opening of Hannover Messe. All participating companies and institutions are eligible to submit entries. At the same time, the Hermes Startup Award will be presented, which specifically honors young, innovative companies.

An independent jury chaired by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Holger Hanselka, president of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, will nominate three products each for the Hermes Award and the Hermes Startup Award from among the submissions. The respective award winners will then be selected from those nominees. The degree of technological innovation, benefits for industry, the environment and society, as well as cost-effectiveness and implementation maturity are decisive criteria in assessing the entries.

In 2025, the Hermes Award went to Siemens. The award-winning entry centered around AI-driven industrial copilots, designed to enhance workforce efficiency by eliminating repetitive tasks and boosting productivity. For instance, the industrial copilot for Siemens' TIA Portal engineering framework, used by more than 120,000 professionals worldwide, enables engineers of all experience levels to write precise, reliable code significantly faster. Siemens offers a suite of industrial copilots tailored for use in industry, covering the entire industrial value chain from design and planning to engineering, operation and maintenance. This award winner makes generative AI accessible to a wide range of companies. Both cloud-based and on-premises versions are available, with the latter operating directly on the shop floor to meet diverse requirements.

Munich-based Ecoplanet won the 2025 Hermes Startup Award with its intelligent energy management system.

Schunk won the 2024 Hermes Award for its 2D Grasping Kit.

In 2023, Bosch Rexroth won the Hermes Award for its Smart Flex Effector.

Sumitomo Cyclo Drive Germany won the 2022 Hermes Award for its completely integrated drive system.

The Hermes Award 2021 was awarded to Bosch Rexroth for the world's first electrical actuator for controlling process valves under water.

The 2020 Hermes Award went to Trumpf's omlox open location standard as a global and location-technology independent solution.

Hannover Messe will include around 4,000 exhibiting companies from the electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, digital and energy sectors. The main exhibition areas are Automation & Digitalization; Energy & Industrial Infrastructure; and Research & Technology Transfer. The topic artificial intelligence is a common thread through all exhibition areas. A diverse conference program will complement the fair. The next edition runs in Hannover, Germany, April 20-24, 2026. Brazil is the 2026 Partner Country.