Ducati and Dainese honoured with "Professor Ferdinand Porsche Prize" Awards

One of the world's most highly endowed prizes in automotive engineering has been awarded by Vienna University of Technology today. The prize goes to the first ground-breaking airbag rider protection system: An airbag jacket called D|Air®, originally designed by Dainese and enhanced to an integral protection system in association with Ducati. Federico Sabbioni (Ducati Motor Holding S.p.A.) and Luigi Ronco (Dainese S.p.A.) were the proud winners of this year's "Professor Ferdinand Porsche Prize".

D|Air® is a brilliant and revolutionary motorbike safety invention. The airbag jacket extends around the rider's chest, protects the back and limits inclination of the head in relation to the neck. The innovative airbag protection system communicates wirelessly with the vehicle, connecting itself automatically. A sensor unit with a special triggering algorithm software recognises dangerous situations, such as crashes into fixed or moving objects, rear-end collisions as well as crashes due to loss of traction.

The "Professor Ferdinand Porsche Prize" has been presented for the 19^th time this year. Worth 50,000 Euros, it is one of the world's best endowed awards for outstanding research achievements in automotive engineering. The first award was donated in 1977 by Louise Piëch, Professor Ferdinand Porsche's daughter. The prize money is being jointly offered by Porsche Holding, Salzburg, and Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, Stuttgart.