Jaap Haartsen

Together with Dr Klaus Hallermayer at Roche Diagnostics, German cardiologist Hugo Katus and his team at the University of Heidelberg developed a new type of blood test in 1994 which revolutionised the diagnosis of heart attacks ─ currently the leading cause of death worldwide. Their Troponin T antibody test brought a new level of accuracy to the detection of heart disease and is now the gold standard for cardiologists worldwide.

In the 1990s an Australian research team made up of John O’Sullivan, Terence Percival, Graham Daniels, Diethelm Ostry and John Deane created a technology for the high-speed wireless delivery of data between devices like computers and mobile phones over a network. Their invention made the wireless LAN as fast and powerful as the cabled solutions of the time, and is the basis for the wireless networking technology (Wi-Fi) now used in billions of devices worldwide. O'Sullivan and his team thus ushered in the age of high-speed, always-on wireless connectivity we enjoy today.

Aware of the drawbacks of traditional hearing-aid design, a team of Danish inventors from the company WIDEX created a new, computer-aided method to manufacture individually-fitted, comfortable hearing-aid devices. Their invention revolutionised the sector and is the design basis for nearly every in-the-canal hearing aid on the market today. It has increased quality of life for millions of people around the world.