https://new.epo.org/en/node/meet-the-finalists?year%5B52736%5D=52736&search_api_fulltext=&sort_by=last_name&items_per_page=15
Meet the finalists
The European Inventor Award honours the individuals whose inventions impact our lives. Thanks to these pioneers, our world is becoming safer, smarter and more sustainable.
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Spanish inventor Jorge Blasco and his company Diseño de Sistemas en Silicio (DS2) developed Powerline Communications (PLC), an innovative technology that lets people connect to the internet via standard electrical outlets.
Molecular biologist Désiré Collen from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium is responsible for major advancements in understanding the formation of blood clots, together with revolutionary approaches to treatment.
New medications featuring so-called Anti-VEGF antibodies now provide a highly targeted approach that stops the blood supply of cancerous tumours, thanks to an innovation pioneered by Napoleone Ferrara and optimised by researchers Manuel Baca, James Wells, Leonard Presta, Henry Lowman and Yvonne Chen at US pharmaceutical company Genentech in 2004.
Scientists at the French Medical Research Institute (INSERM) developed a minimally invasive procedure to kill off prostate cancer cells without damaging nearby tissue. Marketed by medical company EDAP TMS, the procedure is used to treat cancer patients all over the world.
Conserve water – save the planet! To stop wastage from bathroom and kitchen taps without compromising on the comfort we have come to expect, German engineers Hermann Grether and Christoph Weis at Neoperl invented a water-jet regulator, marketed internationally by the German-Swiss company.
Devices with Global Positioning System (GPS) navigation have become part of everyday life. Through their innovative GPS chipset design, American engineers Sanjai Kohli and Steven Chen are major contributors to the success – and mass popularity – of GPS technology today.
German nuclear physicist Wolfgang Krätschmer broke new ground with a procedure that allowed for the production of research quantities of "fullerenes", a new group of carbons. The tiny nano particles can now be fully investigated and are used in a wide range of industries.
Vast amounts of sensitive financial data pass through the World Wide Web every second. This data is secured by an intrinsic set of encryption methods, many of which have been developed by pioneer cryptographer Peter Landrock from Denmark.
The metrology industry took a quantum leap with the invention of powerful hand-held 3D scanning systems by engineers Albert Markendorf and Raimund Loser. Their scanners are now successfully marketed worldwide by Leica Geosystems.
German researchers Jürgen Pfitzer and Helmut Nägele at the Fraunhofer Institute for Chemical Technology (ICT) invented a plastic material made of "liquid wood". Turned into products by Fraunhofer spin-off company Tecnaro, the material has the potential to save fossil fuel and natural resources.
Italian engineer Benedetto Vigna is a pioneer in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) at STMicroelectronics. The Swiss company manufactures the sensors for the popular Nintendo Wii console, among other things, and has become a global player in the MEMS sector.
Thanks to the inventions of Canadian engineers Ben Wiens and Danny Epp, electrochemical fuel cells are now a commercially successful alternative to fossil fuels. Ballard Power Systems, based in Vancouver, BC, sells the sustainable fuel cells around the world as a source of reliable backup electricity and of power for public buses.