Frans Schaeken, a cathode assembler in Panalytical's X-ray tube factory in Eindhoven (NL), has been awarded the 2006 Noordhof prize in recognition of his exceptional craftsmanship in engineering
This Dutch prize, named after the late vice-president of Philips, is designed specifically to award and promote excellent craftsmanship.
The criteria are tough indeed.
Besides being a craftsman, candidates must have been active in their profession for at least ten years.
In addition to being a team player, a contender must also be recognized by colleagues as a mentor and coach.
Commenting on the award, Maarten van Andel, general manager of Panalytical's tube factory said: "I am pleased to add my congratulations to Frans on this exciting success.
"Everyone at Panalytical knows that he meets all the required criteria, and more.
"We value very highly the skills and achievements of all of our teams and are delighted when individual effort and achievement is recognised so publicly.
"In addition, this prize also honors the skill of our whole team, as Frans himself promptly remarked on receiving the trophy".
Panalytical has more than 50 years experience in the development of X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) instrumentation and software.
Many different industries are end users of Panalytical systems and the company's systems are at home in advanced research environments too.
Panalytical says it is the only analytical X-ray company with in-house X-ray tube research, development and manufacturing capabilities.
