Bremen (September 11, 2025) – The Bremen-based company “b.r.m. IT & Aerospace GmbH” was honored yesterday evening in the Hanseatic city with the title “2025 Motor of the North Winner of the Year.” Christian Meyer-Hammerström, Managing Director of Osterholzer Stadtwerke and spokesperson for the Powerhouse jury, together with Bremen’s Mayor Dr. Andreas Bovenschulte, presented the award to company founder Harald Rossol and his nephew and co-managing director Markus Rossol in front of approximately 120 invited guests at the Weserstadion.
The company was honored for its contributions to the development of a national control system for civilian unmanned aerial vehicles, the expansion of the Hatten airfield (Oldenburg district) into a national drone test facility, and the organization of “Drone Days” as an industry gathering with international appeal at the Hatten site. b.r.m. IT & Aerospace was nominated by the District Administrator of Oldenburg, Dr. Christian Pundt. The company had previously been honored as a local “Engine of the North” in the Oldenburg district, thereby qualifying for the selection as the annual winner, where it prevailed over nine competitors.
“With the ‘Motor des Nordens’ Innovation Award, we aim to recognize companies, institutions, clubs, associations, and networks that are particularly innovative and forward-looking and thus help drive the region forward,” explained Sepp Thiele, a member of the executive board of Powerhouse Nord. The evaluation criteria include the degree of innovation, regional impact, sustainability and forward-looking approach, cooperation and networking, as well as the awardee’s role as a role model.
“Motor of the North” is an innovation award sponsored by the Powerhouse Nord regional alliance, which has been presented since 2024 in collaboration with the municipalities in the Ems-Elbe region. The award is non-monetary. Each spring, Powerhouse Nord invites the district administrators and mayors of the Ems-Elbe region to nominate their local “Motor of the North” to Powerhouse Nord. “Ten municipalities participated this year,” reported Thiele. The local winners were honored in their respective municipalities over the past few months. Bremen was selected as the venue for honoring this year’s winner in late summer, following Wilhelmshaven in 2024.
Other local winners—and thus contenders for the 2025 annual title—included:
- Runden Group GmbH & Co. KG of Damme (Vechta district),
- AG Reederei Norden-Frisia of Norderney (Aurich County),
- Kronsdobben GmbH of Friedeburg-Etzel (Wittmund County),
- SciReef GmbH of Wilhelmshaven,
- German Institute for Food Technology, Inc., based in Quakenbrück (Osnabrück district),
- Hotel Peter in Wingst (Cuxhaven district),
- DFDS Germany ApS & Co. KG, based in Cuxhaven,
- Climate Cooperation Fishing Port in Bremerhaven as well as
- POLARIS Raumfahrzeuge GmbH of Bremen.
The five-member jury received detailed dossiers on each candidate, including descriptions of their projects. Based on these documents, the jury members rated the candidates in the five categories on a scale of 1 to 10. This resulted in five numerical scores for each candidate, which were then added together to produce a total score. The candidate with the highest score is the winner.
In addition to Christian Meyer-Hammerström, the jury includes:
- Prof. Dr.-Ing. Manfred Weisensee, President of Jade University of Applied Sciences Wilhelmshaven/Oldenburg/Elsfleth,
- Tanja-Vera Asmussen, co-chair of Powerhouse Nord e.V. and vice chair of the board of Landessparkasse zu Oldenburg,
- Karin Beckmann, State Commissioner for the Lüneburg Administrative District and Director of the Lower Saxony Office for Regional Development there, as well as
- Prof. Thomas Albert, Artistic Director of Musikfest Bremen gGmbH