innovation – Australian Science

The Winners of the European Inventor Award 2013

Editorial Board — Tue, 28 May 2013 11:58:05 +0000

European Inventor Award 2013 goes to outstanding inventors from Austria, France, Sweden, Switzerland, Spain and the US

· European Patent Office honours pioneering inventors of LCD technology, nano-capsules for cancer treatment, pyrosequencing, USB, and ‘Blumotion’ damper system for doors

· EPO President Benoît Battistelli: “These inventors have been truly exemplary, not only in coming up with ingenious solutions to the challenges of our time, such as healthcare and climate change, but also in improving people’s lives through the quality of the products and services that we are using every day, and by creating jobs to promote economic wealth”

Amsterdam, 28 May 2013 — The European Patent Office today announced the winners of the European Inventor Award2013, which honours outstanding inventors for their contribution to social, economic and technological progress.

Some 500 guests attended the award ceremony at the Beurs van Berlage in Amsterdam, including Her Royal HighnessPrincess Beatrix of the Netherlands, Sander Dekker, the Netherlands State Secretary for Education, Culture and Science, and Michel Barnier, the European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services.

The 2013 awards were presented in five categories, in addition to the Popular Prize:

· Lifetime Achievement: Martin Schadt (Switzerland), inventor of the world’s first flat-panel liquid crystal display, better known as LCD. Schadt’s technology has paved the way for the low-energy devices, such as flat screens, tablet computers and mobile phones, now used by millions of people worldwide.

· Industry: Claus Hämmerle and Klaus Brüstle (Austria) from Austrian manufacturer Julius Blum for their invention of a damper system for soft closing of furniture doors, drawers and wall cabinets. ‘Blumotion’ has seen enormous market success worldwide and has become an industry standard.

· Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises: Pål Nyrén (Sweden) for inventing pyrosequencing ─ a far faster, less complicated and cheaper method of sequencing DNA strands. Its combination of lower costs and greater speeds has revolutionised the study of the building blocks of life, and opened up new avenues for research into personalised treatments and cures for life-threatening diseases such as cancer.

· Research: Patrick Couvreur, Barbara Stella, Véronique Rosilio, Luigi Cattel (France, Italy), a team at Paris-Sud University, for their invention of nano-capsules – 70 times smaller than red blood cells and protected by a biodegradable coating – which destroy cancer cells without harming healthy tissue.

· Non-European Countries: Ajay V. Bhatt, Bala Sudarshan Cadambi, Jeff Morriss, Shaun Knoll, Shelagh Callahan (USA), for creating and developing Universal Serial Bus (USB) technology, one of the most important advances in computing since the silicon chip. An industry standard today, USB not only allows users to more easily connect devices to a computer, it also streamlines work for hardware and software developers. It is found in billions of electronic devices all over the world, from webcams to cell phones and memory sticks.

José Luis López Gómez (Spain), winner of the Popular Prize award on the stage of the European Inventor Award 2013

· The winner of the Popular Prize was José Luis López Gómez (Spain), whose invention to use a unique ‘independent guided’ wheel design rather than a standard axle on high-speed passenger trains makes those trains some of the most comfortable and safe in the industry. The new technology also helps to reduce energy consumption, premature wear and costs of maintenance. An electronic system monitors the speed at which the wheels are rotating. Due to the wheels’ slightly conical shape and the difference in length between the inner and outer tracks on a curved section of track, the system can determine the wheels’ exact contact point. Pneumatic struts attached to the wheels then move the wheels to the best position.

“Innovation holds the key to safeguarding quality of life and economic prosperity in Europe,” said EPO President Benoît Battistelli at the award ceremony. “All of the inventors honoured here today have been truly exemplary, not only in coming up with ingenious solutions to challenges of our time, such as healthcare and climate change, but also in improving people’s lives through the quality of the products and services that we are using every day, and by creating jobs to promote economic wealth. They demonstrate Europe’s creative drive and inventive spirit, and the role played by patents in supporting this.”

About the European Inventor Award

Launched in 2006, the European Inventor Award is presented annually by the European Patent Office. The Award honours inventive individuals and teams whose pioneering work provides answers to the challenges of our age and thereby contributes to social progress, economic growth and prosperity. Nomination proposals are submitted by the public, and by patent examiners at the EPO and Europe’s national patent offices. Fifteen finalists and, subsequently, the winners are chosen from among the nominees by a high-profile international jury which includes experts from business, politics, media, academia and research. The Award is presented in five categories: Industry, Research, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs), Non-European Countries, and Lifetime Achievement. This year, for the first time, the general public was invited to vote for the Popular Prize from among the 15 finalists.

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Science Expo: Enrich, Empower, Explore

Jessie — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 00:03:21 +0000

Students interact with enrichment exhibitors at Science Expo 2013: Derive and Integrate.

The Science Expo Youth Empowerment Group (SEYEG) is a student run, non-profit organization which aims to connect youth to innovators and enrichment opportunities in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). SEYEG was founded by five students who met at the Canada-Wide Science Fair in 2009. In 2010, the first Science Expo, a 2-hour conference held in Guelph, Ontario, brought together over 200 students, teachers and parents. Today, SEYEG includes a student and teacher outreach program, an alumni mentorship program (EXPOtential) and a creative competition (meriSTEM) in addition to an annual conference.
Science Expo 2013: Derive and Integrate, Science Expo’s fourth annual conference, took place this past Saturday at the Ontario Science Centre in Toronto, Canada. The conference brought together over one hundred high-achieving students from across the province interested in pursuing STEM enrichment opportunities. With guest speakers, networking workshops and STEM challenges, the day was a huge success and the delegates returned home with a renewed passion for discovery.
The morning began with a delightful science magic show, where Mr. Chamberlain and Mr. Oslinger showed off their impressive comedic and chemistry skills. A literal ice breaker followed, in which delegates were challenged to melt a bag of ice as fast as they could without using body heat. Students were even seen holding ice to light bulbs in the ceiling!
During lunch, delegates were given the chance to interact with exhibitors from various STEM programs. Youth Science Canada, Shad Valley, the University Ontario Institute of Technology, Engineers Without Borders and Australian Science are a few of the organizations with which students could get involved.
Guest speakers this year included:
• Dr. Steve Mann, the father of wearable computing
• Dr. Brad Brass, co-recipient of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize
• Paul Nazareth, business advisor
• Laura Suen, Canada’s Smartest Person, runner-up
Each presentation was inspirational and insightful, demonstrating important life lessons to attendees. Dr. Mann touched on the importance of thinking outside of the box when approaching a scientific concept, while Paul Nazareth and Dr. Bass illustrated the power of networking. Laura Suen mentioned the concept of happy accidents through the presentation of her past successes.

Delegates at Science Expo 2013 play with the Hydraulophone, a liquid instrument invented by Dr. Steve Mann.

The day also included presentations from the finalists of the meriSTEM competition. In its foundational year, meriSTEM is a competition that allows participants to create anything which captures an interesting aspect of STEM. Five finalists presented these creative projects, with the winner receiving a $500 scholarship.
For more information on Science Expo’s initiatives and how you can get involved, please send an e-mail to info@science-expo.org or check out their website at www.science-expo.org .

Cite this article:
MacAlpine J (2013-03-04 00:03:21). Science Expo: Enrich, Empower, Explore. Australian Science. Retrieved: May 06, 2024, from http://australianscience.com.au/news/science-expo-enrich-empower-explore/

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The Future of Energy

Kelly Burnes — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 00:09:18 +0000

The 7th Annual MIT Energy Conference held March 16-17 in Boston, MA, was an all-around inspiring event filled with conversations of hot topic scientific research and intense policy discussion. It was impressive, considering this event is entirely planned and executed by the student body, with well over 500 in attendance. From the scientific prowess of the professors working on new energy technologies, the caliber of executives leading the charge on the corporate front, to the undergraduate and graduate students pursuing their dreams to engineer a better tomorrow for society, we are indeed poised to see a radical transformation in both the technology and the policies of the energy sector.

‘Insight and Innovation in Uncertain Times’ could not have been a more appropriately named theme for the conference. The whole MIT community understands and embraces the challenges that lie ahead. And they are committed to finding solutions that include sustainable and renewable energy. The realization that we must commit to being better environmental stewards moving forward was a message that resonated throughout the panel discussions. It was enlightening to hear many of the large corporations such as BP, GE and Shell, understand the need to reduce their carbon footprint, lower their GHG emissions, and develop clean technology to power a changing world.

Biofuels, LNG, CNG, shale gas, nuclear, wind, solar, hydro – all these energy sources were highlighted throughout the day in conversations and presentations. Because it’s not just going to be one type of energy that we rely on for power; it’s going to be a combination of several, an energy portfolio that keeps the lights on and the cars rolling down the highway. And it may be different from one municipality, or a state, to another. Community planners have a big role to play in terms of energy. Many expressed the need for their seat at the table of discussion on global warming at the conference. It appears communities are starting to grasp that we must connect these three pillars – the social, economic and environmental. It is this type of holistic thinking and long-term planning, that will put not only the United States, but other countries who adopt these approaches, on the path to a secure, clean, energy future.

An energy policy is difficult to implement anywhere; to be sure, this is no small feat. But unless countries attempt to craft a decision-making framework for implementing an energy policy, progress will continue to be haltered. For the past 30 years, the US has not had a sound energy plan. Sure, the Energy Policy Acts of 1992 and 2005 were notable. But the time is ripe with the myriad of technologies we now possess to start implementing a comprehensive plan. The very nature of public policy is incremental and iterative; define the problem, identify criteria, list alternatives, analyze, evaluate, implement. If something doesn’t check out, repeat process. Mistakes will be made; it is the ability to think fast and correct those mistakes that we will learn and find the solutions needed to drive us forward. By 2050, the global population will be 9 billion. Think about that. We will have to figure out how to move that extraordinary number of people and the goods they require, safely and responsibly. Can we pull it off while being environmentally conscious at the same time? We really have no other option.

I believe that option will be met courtesy of universities such as MIT, along with corporations and policymakers partnering in innovative ways. I would also be remiss if I didn’t add it was refreshing to see so many women at the event, from students, to researchers, to corporate executives. The energy frontier is open for women to conquer, from the lab bench to the boardroom. From scientists, to policymakers, to venture capitalists, women can carve their niche in the sustainable energy field. You’ve heard the saying, “the future of tomorrow begins with today.

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