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European Inventor Award

Meet the 2023 Young Inventors Prize finalists

Shaping tomorrow with solutions in education, water and wildlife conservation

Meet the Tomorrow Shapers

European Inventor Award 2023 finalists announced

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Ceremony livestream: 4 July 2023

Tomorrow Shapers

What advice would you give to your younger self? Carmen Hijosa shares hers

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About the award

People with a passion for discovery drive innovation. Without their inquisitive minds and desire for new ideas, there would be no inventive spirit and no progress. The European Inventor Award pays tribute to inventors worldwide. It celebrates those who transform their ideas into technological progress, economic growth or improvements to our daily lives. Launched in 2006, the Award gives inventors the recognition they deserve and, like any good competition, it acts as an incentive for others.

More about the Award

The finalists 2023

Industry

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Pia Bergström, Annika Malm, Jukka Myllyoja, Jukka-Pekka Pasanen and Blanka Toukoniitty

Pia Bergström, Annika Malm, Jukka Myllyoja, Jukka-Pekka Pasanen and Blanka Toukoniitty, a team of inventors from the Finnish company Neste, have been part of developing a unique technology that enables a wide variety of wastes and residues to be transformed into premium-quality renewable products, such as fuel.

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Michiel Dusselier, Bert Sels

Michiel Dusselier and Bert Sels, professors at KU Leuven, developed a cheaper and more bio-friendly method to produce bioplastics that will contribute to a circular economy.

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Josef Faderl, Siegfried Kolnberger, Thomas Kurz and Andreas Sommer

Josef Faderl, Siegfried Kolnberger, Thomas Kurz and Andreas Sommer have developed a way to manufacture lighter galvanised steel car parts up to six times stronger than those made from conventional galvanised steel.

Non-EPO countries

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Kai Wu and team

Kai Wu and his team have pioneered a series of features to improve the safety and performance of Li-ion batteries, helping the shift to cleaner motoring.

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Thomas Oxley and Nicholas Opie

Thomas Oxley and Nicholas Opie invented the Stentrode, an implantable brain-computer interface (BCI) that enables patients living with paralysis to communicate through thought.

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Kripa Varanasi, David Smith and team

Mechanical engineers Kripa Varanasi and David Smith led the team that has invented frictionless coatings that prevent viscous substances from sticking to their surfaces, maximising product use and eliminating waste.

Research

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Harald Haas and team

Together with his team, German professor Harald Haas invented LiFi – a mobile wireless technology that transmits data through light sources such as LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) rather than radio frequencies.

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Thorsteinn Loftsson and Einar Stefansson

Thorsteinn Loftsson and Einar Stefánsson

Scientists Thorsteinn Loftsson and Einar Stefánsson have developed an eye drop that can deliver drugs to the back of the eye, replacing costly and invasive eye injections that are less accessible and require a medical professional to administer.

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Patricia de Rango, Daniel Fruchart, Albin Chaise, Michel Jehan, Nataliya Skryabina

Patricia de Rango, Daniel Fruchart, Albin Chaise, Michel Jehan and Nataliya Skryabina combined their expertise and interests to develop a method to store hydrogen more safely and sustainably with less energy.

Small and medium-sized enterprises

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Antoine Hubert and team

Antoine Hubert is a French biochemist noted for his work in creating sustainable by-products from insects. He led the team which has developed a new method of farming insects to produce food for plants, animals, pets and eventually humans.

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Luca Rossettini

Luca Rossettini, the founder of D-Orbit, has developed an autonomous system to safely remove old or broken satellites, commonly known as "space garbage," from Earth's orbit.

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Rhona Togher, Eimear O'Carroll

Rhona Togher and Eimear O’Carroll are Irish physicists who have developed a composite material to reduce noise. The material is thin, lightweight and cost-effective, making it suitable for applications ranging from aerospace to automotive.

Young Inventors Prize

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Fionn Ferreira

Twenty-two-year-old environmentalist Fionn Ferreira is tackling microplastics pollution with his magnet-based method, which extracts microplastics from water quickly, safely and without harm.

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Filipa de Sousa Rocha

Filipa de Sousa Rocha is a computer engineer and researcher on a mission to make digital learning more accessible to visually impaired children. Her ground-breaking work uses tangible objects to teach digital literacy through play, bringing a smile to the faces of young learners as they pick up skills such as computer programming.

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Richard Turere

Richard Turere developed Lion Lights™, an automated system that deters lions from attacking livestock in enclosures. His invention prevents human-wildlife conflict and is helping to boost the lion population in Kenya.

Search for past finalists

The world’s brightest ideas and sharpest minds all in one place. Use the filters to search by year, category, field, country or name

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Watch the online ceremony on 4 July

The 2023 ceremony will be streamed from Valencia. Register today and get ready for a spectacular show featuring the world’s sharpest minds.

Tue, 07/04/2023 - 12:00

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Young Inventors Prize

Our newest prize celebrates innovators aged 30 and under. The prize rewards individuals or teams who use technology to contribute towards the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals. It is also our only prize which offers the finalists and winners a cash incentive.

Popular Prize

Unlike the traditional Award categories and Young Inventors prize, the Popular Prize is decided by a public vote. In the Award’s history, only one inventor has won both their category and this prize. Can you guess which legendary inventor achieved this milestone?