Raphael Hartner wins the ÖWGP Doctoral Award 2026

A special milestone for our co-founder: Raphael Hartner has won first place in the ÖWGP Doctoral Award 2026. He presented his dissertation at the ÖWGP autumn meeting at TU Wien on 20t October 2026. The research behind it laid the scientific foundations for our software, jora.twin.

Research with the whole production line in view

His dissertation, End-to-End Modeling and Predictive Control for Polymer Extrusion Lines, explores how to anticipate and control the behaviour of extrusion lines. The work combines data-based models with physical knowledge and connects the individual process stages in an end-to-end approach. The methods were validated on two industrial pipe extrusion lines. Through the developed methods relevant process variables could be forecasted up to two hours ahead and dominant process fluctuations could be reduced up to 62%.

From scientific foundations to jora.twin

For us at jora.tech, this award is also a moment to look back at where our work began. We founded the company to bring research in predictive process optimization into everyday industrial production. Raphael's dissertation is a central part of that foundation.

With jora.twin, we are translating these methods into software that helps production teams understand process behaviour, anticipate changes and choose suitable set points. The goal is to make complex extrusion lines more stable and use material and energy more efficiently. This requires bringing models, process knowledge and the realities of each production line together.

A milestone to celebrate

We are delighted that the research underpinning our work has received this recognition. Congratulations, Raphael! Our thanks also go to the scientific and industrial partners who contributed to the research.

Want to understand the approach behind jora.twin? Read our introduction or talk to us about your production line.

Further reading

• Raphael's post on LinkedIn
• TU Wien: first place in the ÖWGP Doctoral Award
• FH JOANNEUM: award announcement and ceremony date

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