Inventors behind 15 ground-breaking innovations announced as finalists for European Inventor Award 2016
- The European Patent Office (EPO) reveals short-listed inventors for prestigious award in the areas of automotive safety, biochemistry, communications, electronics, environment, nutrition and medical technology, whose work has improved our everyday lives and created economic prosperity
- Winners will be announced by the EPO on 9 June at the 11th edition of the annual award ceremony in Lisbon
-
The winner of
the Popular Prize will be selected by the general public via
online voting - EPO President Battistelli: "The European Inventor Award showcases a diverse group of inventors - men and women from a wide range of countries and disciplines, whose innovations have had a positive effect on millions of lives."
Munich, 26 April 2016 - They make our lives safer and easier, challenge us to scale new heights and allow us to communicate faster. The 15 finalists for the European Inventor Award 2016, announced today by the European Patent Office, have advanced technology, and helped generate economic value and employment in Europe and around the world. With this prestigious annual award, the EPO honours scientists, researchers and engineers in five categories whose inventions have been patented by the EPO and have contributed to technological progress, social development and economic growth.
The 11th edition of the award will be held in Lisbon, Portugal on 9 June, when the winners will be announced at a ceremony attended by prominent representatives of the worlds of politics, business, research and industry. One winner will be announced in each category, and once again, the public will select the winner of the Popular Prize, which will be decided by online voting in the run-up to the ceremony.
"The European Inventor Award showcases a diverse group of inventors - men and women from a wide range of countries and disciplines, whose innovations have had a positive effect on millions of lives," said EPO President Benoît Battistelli. "European patent protection helps foster this innovative diversity by maintaining conditions for inventors from around the world to realise their creativity, and ensuring that innovators, investors and entrepreneurs are able to benefit from their efforts."
The 15 finalists were selected by an independent international jury out of nearly 400 individuals and teams of inventors proposed for this year's award. The 2016 finalists hail from 13 countries: Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Lithuania, Sweden, the UK and the US.
Their
inventions cover a wide range of technological fields including automotive
safety, biochemistry, communications, the environment, electronics, nutrition
and medical technology. The inventions have all benefited from European patent
protection, which has helped recoup R&D efforts, and bring the innovations
to market.
The 2016 finalists in the five categories are:
Industry
Virna Cerne and Ombretta Polenghi (Italy): Gluten substitutes from corn
The food scientists working for Italian food producer Dr. Schär developed a method for deriving gluten-like proteins from corn to create gluten-free baked goods with the taste and texture of wheat-based products. Their method not only opens up more choices for people following a gluten-free diet, it is a boon for an estimated 1% of the population with coeliac disease.
Joan Daemen, Pierre-Yvan Liardet and team (Belgium, France): Secure smartcard encryption
A team of Belgian and French engineers and cryptographers at STMicroelectronics closed a possible back-door that left billions of smart cards vulnerable to fraud. Malicious exploitation of this loophole could have resulted in high costs for card issuers and considerable inconvenience for millions of bank and mobile phone customers. One of the world's leading minds in encryption algorithms and data security, Daemen is also co-inventor of the Advanced Encryption Standard used to protect highly sensitive data.
Bernhard Gleich, Jürgen Weizenecker and team (Germany): Magnetic Particle Imaging (MPI)
Leading a team at Philips Research Laboratory in Hamburg, Gleich and Weizenecker developed a magnet-based imaging method – in pre-clinical trials since 2014 – that could help doctors obtain instant, 3D images with unique features of medical complications, including cancer and vascular diseases. The technology promises fast mapping of coronary pathways and arteries. In addition to detecting cancers, it could provide live images during surgery, allowing real-time feedback for implant manipulation or drug injections.
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)
Tue Johannessen, Ulrich Quaade, Claus Hviid Christensen and Jens Kehlet Nørskov (Denmark): Ammonia storage to reduce NOx
The research team behind Danish company Amminex developed a method to safely store normally volatile ammonia in a compact, solid form. A 100-gram cube of ammonia salt can contain almost 50 grams of solid ammonia - the equivalent of 60 litres of pure ammonia gas. Their innovation enables ammonia to be employed as an effective diesel exhaust scrubber, neutralising NOx pollution. It also has potential for direct and indirect use in fuel cells and in hydrogen-powered vehicles.
Helen Lee (France/UK): Diagnostic kits for developing countries
The Cambridge University researcher developed cost-effective, easy-to-use diagnostic kits for diseases such as HIV, hepatitis B and chlamydia. Lee's tests are marketed through her university spin-off Diagnostics for the Real World and employed by several health organisations. Already used to test over 40 000 people for HIV, the tests' fast results and minimal reliance on supporting technology are crucial in impoverished areas.
Arminas Ragauskas (Lithuania): Ultrasound to safely measure brain pressure
Measuring brain pressure quickly and safely is essential for diagnosing traumatic brain injury and central nervous system tumours. Two medical devices pioneered by Ragauskas and a team of fellow Lithuanian scientists allow doctors to do away with higher-risk invasive procedures - previous methods involved drilling a small hole into the skull - and instead place a simple sensor on a patient's eyes. Doppler-wavelength-based technology gives an accurate and safe means to evaluate brain pressure and precious extra time to treat its cause.
Research
Alim-Louis Benabid (France): Treatment for Parkinson's disease
Cross-disciplinary neurosurgeon and physicist Benabid combined his two fields of study to develop a method of employing high-frequency electrical pulses to treat the muscle tremors associated with Parkinson's disease and other neurological illnesses. Already used to treat more than 150 000 patients worldwide since its approval, Benabid's deep brain stimulation technology allows people with Parkinson's to enjoy fulfilling, independent lives.
Elvira Fortunato and Rodrigo Martins (Portugal): Paper transistors
Fortunato, Martins and their research team, in co-operation with YDreams, a spin-off of the New University of Lisbon, invented paper-based transistors which offer not only a cost-saving and energy-efficient alternative to silicon chips, but also open up new applications for radiofrequency identification tags (RFID) in shipping and inventory management, as well as self-updating plane tickets, business cards and food labels.
Miroslav Sedláček (Czech Republic): Rolling fluid turbine
Sedláček put a new spin on hydropower, quite literally. Turning to a spinning vortex dynamic - the rolling fluid principle - which the civil engineer had studied for years, he created a small, efficient turbine that taps into the energy in lower-volume, slower-moving streams, brooks and even tidal currents to create power. Each of his little turbines creates enough power from slow-moving streams for several households to live entirely "off-grid".
Non-European countries
Hugh Herr (USA): Biomechatronic leg joints
Turning adversity into advantage, the biophysicist - who lost his lower legs in a mountain climbing accident at age 17 - dedicated his career to inventing intelligent prosthetic devices. His inventions enable thousands of amputees to walk, run and even dance with enviable grace and precision. Herr employed earlier generations of his prosthetics to not only climb again, but to advance to an elite level in the sport. His newer biomechanical devices now take prosthetic technology to new heights.
Robert Langer (USA): Targeted anti-cancer drugs
The chemical and biomedical engineer pioneered a new therapeutic approach to fighting cancer by encapsulating anti-cancer drugs within biodegradable plastics. The technique has proven to be an excellent weapon against aggressive cancers and a range of other diseases. Therapies derived from Langer's bioplastics, including drug-coated cardiovascular stents, have benefited more than a million people. Langer has founded more than 20 biotech companies and leads the world's largest biomedical research laboratory.
Arogyaswami Paulraj (India/USA) and team: Faster wireless connectivity
The success of fast mobile broadband relies on the contributions of many inventors, but few have had played such an integral role as Paulraj and his team at Stanford University. The university professor and former Indian Naval Commodore created a multiplexing technique that became known as MIMO, which splits radio signals into smaller parts that are transmitted and received by multiple antennae. MIMO opened the door for sending large amounts of data over frequencies with limited bandwidth.
Lifetime achievement
Alain Carpentier (France): Implantable artificial heart
Carpentier might quip that the subject of his 50-year career is in effect "just a pump", but few people could claim to have further advanced the surgical treatment of heart conditions more than this world-renowned cardiologist. Heart valve replacement techniques pioneered by Carpentier have become the gold standard. He went on to design the first fully implantable, self-regulating artificial heart, which promises to help the roughly 100 000 people waiting each year for precious few heart transplants.
Tore Curstedt (Sweden): Treatment to help premature babies breathe
For preterm infants, the first breaths of life can be fraught with danger. A condition known as respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) was once the leading cause of death for newborns. Thanks to the world's best-selling and most effective RDS medication developed by laboratory physician Curstedt and his fellow researcher Bengt Robertson (1935-2008), mortality rates have plummeted. Used to treat over 3 million infants since its launch, Curstedt's drug has come to the rescue of the tiniest of patients.
Anton van Zanten (Germany/Netherlands): Electronic stability control for cars
Life-saving innovations often go overlooked - sometimes by design. The electronic stability control (ESC) system developed by automobile engineer van Zanten is intended to run quietly in the background during normal driving and snap into action when needed. Yet, the tremendous impact of ESC on road safety shouldn't go unnoticed. ESC has prevented about 260 000 accidents in Europe, placing it second only to the seat belt in automobile safety advancements.
About the European Inventor Award
The European Inventor Award is one of Europe's most prestigious innovation prizes. This year marks the 11th edition of the annual award. Launched by the EPO in 2006, it honours individual inventors and teams of inventors whose pioneering inventions provide answers to some of the biggest challenges of our times. The winners are selected by an independent jury consisting of international authorities in the fields of business, politics, science, academia and research, who examine the proposals in terms of their contribution towards technical progress, social development, economic prosperity and job creation in Europe. The 2016 award ceremony will take place on 9 June in Lisbon. The general public is also invited to take part in conferring the award: the winner of the Popular Prize is chosen from among the 15 finalists by online voting on the EPO website in the run-up to the ceremony. Voting is open until 31 May 2016.
About the EPO
With more than 7 000 staff, the European Patent Office (EPO) is one of the largest public service institutions in Europe. Headquartered in Munich with offices in Berlin, Brussels, The Hague and Vienna, the EPO was founded with the aim of strengthening co-operation on patents in Europe. Through the EPO's centralised patent granting procedure, inventors are able to obtain high-quality patent protection in the 38 member states of the European Patent Organisation. The EPO is also the world's leading authority in patent information and patent searching.
Media resources
Additional information, photos and videos about the European Inventor Award 2016 can be found in the Media Centre. Smart TV users can watch the gala on 9 June 2016 live on Innovation TV.
Contacts at the EPO in Munich, Germany:
Jana
Mittermaier
Director
External Communication
Rainer Osterwalder
Press Spokesperson
European Patent Office
Tel. +49 (0)89
2399 1820
Mobile: +49
(0)163 8399527
rosterwalder@epo.org
press@epo.org