2006 The first European Inventor of the Year awards ceremony took place at the
AutoWorld Museum in
Brussels,
Belgium on 3 May 2006. Prizes were presented in six categories. The 2006 winners were: • Industry:
Zbigniew Janowicz (Poland) and
Cornelis Hollenberg, (Germany) who invented a method for making
proteins in
Pichia (Hansenula)
yeast. • Research:
Peter Grünberg for his discovery of the
giant magnetoresistance (GMR) effect. • Non-EPO countries:
Larry Gold and
Craig Tuerk, who discovered that
nucleic acids can bind a protein to potentially intercept other proteins that cause diseases like age-related
macular degeneration (AMD). • SMEs:
Stephen P.A. Fodor,
Michael C. Pirrung,
J. Leighton Read, and
Lubert Stryer who invented the
DNA microarray (DNA chip). • New EU member states:
John Starrett,
Joanne Bronson,
John Martin,
Muzammil Mansuri, and
David Tortolani, for their prodrugs of phosphonates. • Lifetime Achievement:
Federico Faggin, for inventing the
microprocessor.
2007 The second European Inventor of the Year awards ceremony took place at the
International Congress Center in
Munich,
Germany on 18 April 2007. Prizes were presented to inventors - individuals and teams - in five categories. The 2007 winners were: • Industry:
Franz Lärmer and
Andrea Urban,
Bosch GmbH (Germany), for their
Bosch process for
microfabrication. • Research:
Catia Bastioli and her team at Novamont S.p.A. (Italy), for inventing
biodegradable plastics made from starch. • Non-EPO countries:
Joseph P. Vacca and the team at Merck Research Laboratories (USA), for Crixivan, a
protease inhibitor. • SMEs:
Catia Bastioli and her team at Novamont S.p.A. (Italy), for inventing biodegradable plastics made from starch. • Lifetime Achievement:
Marc Feldmann, Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology (United Kingdom), for identifying the role of
cytokines in treating
autoimmune diseases.
2008 The third European Inventor of the Year awards ceremony took place in
Ljubljana,
Slovenia on 6 May 2008, marking Slovenia's presidency of the EU Council in the first half of 2008. Prizes were presented to inventors - individuals and teams - in five categories. The 2008 winners were: • Industry:
Norbert Enning,
Ulrich Klages,
Heinrich Timm,
Gundolf Kreis,
Alois Feldschmid,
Christian Dornberg and
Karl Reiter,
Audi (Germany) for revolutionising automotive manufacturing by making car frames lighter and safer through the use of aluminium. • Research:
Douglas Anderson,
Robert Henderson, and
Roger Lucas of Scotland's SME Optos (United Kingdom) for developing a new
laser scanning technology for the eye which allows powerful but pain-free examination of the
retina. • Non-EPO countries:
Philip S. Green,
SRI International (USA) for developing a robotic surgical system that has helped to improve surgery in Europe by allowing surgeons to perform complex procedures with the highest precision. • SMEs:
Douglas Anderson,
Robert Henderson, and
Roger Lucas of Scotland's SME Optos (United Kingdom) for developing a new laser scanning technology for the eye which allows powerful but pain-free examination of the retina. • Lifetime Achievement:
Erik De Clercq, University of Leuven (Belgium) for landmark contributions to antiviral treatment, including developing the drug cocktail for
HIV/AIDS which has become the therapy gold standard of the early 21st century.
2009 The European Inventor of the Year awards ceremony took place at
Prague Castle, in
Prague,
Czech Republic on 28 April 2009. The 2009 winners were: • Industry:
Jürg Zimmermann (Switzerland) and
Brian Drucker (USA) for inventing an effective drug to combat chronic
myelogenous leukaemia. • Research:
Joseph Le Mer (France) for inventing a
heat exchanger of such a brilliantly simple design that it makes heating systems both inexpensive and energy-efficient. • Non-EPO countries:
Zhou Yiqing and his team (China) for an anti-
malaria drug based on a herbal agent, which has been instrumental in saving hundreds of thousands of lives. • SMEs: Joseph Le Mer (France) for inventing a heat exchanger of such a brilliantly simple design that it makes heating systems both inexpensive and energy-efficient. • Lifetime Achievement:
Adolf Goetzberger (Germany) for his work on the commercial use of
solar energy, helping to make
solar cells a viable alternative to
fossil fuels.
2010 Renamed the European Inventor Award, the 2010 awards ceremony took place in
Madrid,
Spain on 28 April 2010. The ceremony at the
Eurostars Madrid Tower Hotel was attended by Their Royal Highnesses
Prince Felipe and
Princess Letizia of Asturias. The 2010 winners were: • Industry:
Albert Markendorf (Switzerland) and
Raimund Loser (Germany), whose portable 3D scanning and measuring system opened up a new level of accuracy in industrial measuring systems and revolutionised the field. • Research:
Jürgen Pfitzer and
Helmut Nägele (Germany), who made a breakthrough by developing an easily formable,
biodegradable organic
polymer. • Non-EPO countries:
Sanjai Kohli and
Steven Chen (USA), whose work paved the way for
global positioning systems (GPS) that became used commercially and are a part of our everyday lives (joint winners). • Non-EPO countries:
Ben Wiens and
Danny Epps (Canada), who developed electrochemical
fuel cells which are now a commercially successful alternative to fossil fuels (joint winners). • SMEs:
Jürgen Pfitzer and
Helmut Nägele (Germany), who made a breakthrough by developing an easily formable, biodegradable organic polymer. • Lifetime Achievement:
Wolfgang Krätschmer (Germany), who discovered a whole new field of research in physics.
2011 The 2011 award ceremony took place at the historic
Hungarian Academy of Sciences in
Budapest,
Hungary. The 2011 winners were: • Industry:
Ann Lambrechts,
Bekaert (Belgium). Her invention opened up a world of new architectural possibilities by improving the bending strength of reinforced concrete structures. The steel fibre elements that she developed greatly increase the tensile strength of concrete, reduce construction time, and have enabled many spectacular new structures such as the Gotthard tunnel. • Research:
Christine Van Broeckhoven, Vlaams Interuniversitair Instituut voor Biotechnologie (Belgium). Her pioneering method for identifying disease genes in Alzheimer's sufferers paved the way for developing modern drugs and treatments to combat Alzheimer's disease. Each of the genes and proteins that Broeckhoven has identified acts as potential "target" for researchers working to develop treatments for neurodegenerative diseases. • Non-EPO countries:
Ashok Gadgil,
Vikas Garud,
University of California,
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory,
WaterHealth International (USA/India). Using gravity and a carefully planned hydraulics design to ensure even water flow, their
ultraviolet (UV) disinfection device requires only a 40 watt UV light bulb to disinfect 1,000 litres of water per hour. The
water purification device has been installed in more than ten countries worldwide, delivering clean water to over two million people. • SMEs:
Jens Dall Bentzen, Dall Energy Aps (Denmark). His special low-emission furnace burns
biofuels with a moisture content of up to 60% and is thus ideal for eco-friendly, highly efficient and hence inexpensive power generation from
biomass in factories and production plants. • Lifetime Achievement:
Per-Ingvar Brånemark (Sweden). He is the pioneer of osseointegration, now a widely practised medical method based on titanium implants, which creates a stable connection between the implant and bone. Today it is a standard implant technique among dentists and is widely used in reconstructive surgery. Millions of people worldwide have benefited from his landmark method.
2012 The 2012 award ceremony was held in Copenhagen at the Royal Danish Playhouse in the presence of Their Royal Highnesses Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark. The 2012 winners were: • Industry:
Jan Tøpholm,
Søren Westermann, and
Svend Vitting Andersen (Denmark), for their tailor-made hearing aid. • Research:
Gilles Gosselin,
Jean-Louis Imbach, and
Martin L. Bryant (France), for their new drug for hepatitis B treatment. • Non-EPO countries:
John O' Sullivan,
Graham Daniels,
Terence Percival,
Diethelm Ostry, and
John Deane (Australia), for their contribution to wireless
local area networks (LAN) for high speed data transfer (
Wi-Fi). • SMEs:
Manfred Stefener,
Oliver Freitag, and
Jens Müller (Germany), for their portable direct methanol fuel cell. • Lifetime Achievement:
Josef Bille (Germany), for his device for laser eye surgery.
2013 The 2013 award ceremony was held in Amsterdam at Beurs van Berlage in the presence of Her Royal Highness Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands. The 2013 winners were: • Industry:
Claus Hämmerle and
Klaus Brüstle (Austria) from Austrian manufacturer
Julius Blum for inventing a
damper system for soft closing of
furniture doors,
drawers, and wall
cabinets named Blumotion. • Research:
Patrick Couvreur,
Barbara Stella,
Véronique Rosilio,
Luigi Cattel (France, Italy) for inventing
nanocapsules which destroy cancer cells without harming healthy tissue. • Non-EPO countries:
Ajay V. Bhatt,
Bala Sudarshan Cadambi,
Jeff Morriss,
Shaun Knoll,
Shelagh Callahan (USA), for creating and developing
Universal Serial Bus (USB) technology. • SMEs:
Pål Nyrén (Sweden) for inventing
pyrosequencing, a far faster, simpler, and cheaper method to sequence DNA strands. • Lifetime Achievement:
Martin Schadt (Switzerland), inventor of the world's first flat-panel
liquid crystal display (LCD). For the first time, the public was invited to vote to select the winner of a
Popular Prize from among the 15 finalists. The winner in this category is José Luis López Gómez (Spain) from
Patentes Talgo, 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.
2014 The 2014 award ceremony was held in Berlin at Deutsche Telekom's Berlin Representative Office (Former Kaiserliches Telegrafenamt) on 17 June. The 2014 winners were: • Industry:
Koen Andries (BE),
Jérôme Guillemont (FR),
Imre Csoka (FR),
Laurence F.F. Marconnet-Decrane (FR),
Frank C. Odds (UK),
Jozef F.E. Van Gestel (BE),
Marc Venet (FR),
Daniel Vernier (FR) for their invention: the drug against multi-resistant tuberculosis • Research:
Christofer Toumazou (UK) for his microchip for quick DNA testing • Non-EPO countries:
Charles W. Hull (US) for inventing
3D printing (stereolithography) • SMEs:
Peter Holme Jensen,
Claus Hélix-Nielsen,
Danielle Keller (DK) for their energy-efficient
water purification • Lifetime Achievement:
Artur Fischer (DE) for his wall plug, synchronised flash, and many more. • Popular Prize:
Masahiro Hara,
Takayuki Nagaya,
Motoaki Watabe,
Tadao Nojiri,
Yuji Uchiyama (JP) for developing the
QR code.
2015 The 2015 award ceremony was held in Paris at
Palais Brongniart (La Bourse) on 11 June. The 2015 winners were: • Industry:
Franz Amtmann (AT), et al., and
Philippe Maugars (FR), et al., who invented
near field communication (NFC) technology • Research:
Ludwik Leibler (JP) for inventing
carbon nanotubes • SMEs:
Laura J. van 't Veer, et al. (NL) for their gene-based breast cancer test • Lifetime Achievement:
Andreas Manz (CH) for his microchip-sized analysis system • Popular Prize:
Ian Frazer (AUS),
Jian Zhou† (CN) who developed the
HPV vaccine 2016 The 2016 award ceremony was held in Lisbon on 9 June. The 2016 winners were: • Industry:
Bernhard Gleich,
Jürgen Weizenecker, and their team (Germany) for inventing
magnetic particle imaging (MPI) • Research:
Alim-Louis Benabid (France) for his work on a treatment for Parkinson's disease • Non-EPO countries:
Robert Langer (USA) for his work on targeted anti-cancer drugs • SMEs:
Tue Johannessen,
Ulrich Quaade,
Claus Hviid Christensen,
Jens Kehlet Nørskov (Denmark) for their ammonia storage to reduce nitrogen oxides (
NOx) • Lifetime Achievement:
Anton van Zanten (Germany/Netherlands) for his
electronic stability control system • Popular Prize:
Helen Lee (UK/France) for inventing diagnostic kits for resource-poor regions of the globe.
2017 The 2017 award ceremony was held in Venice on 15 June. The 2017 winners were: • Industry: Jan van den Boogaart and Oliver Hayden (Netherlands/Austria) for inventing a rapid blood test for malaria • Research: Laurent Lestarquit, José Ángel Ávila Rodríguez, Günter W. Hein, Jean-Luc Issler and Lionel Ries (France, Spain, Germany, Belgium) for inventing radio signals for better satellite navigation (
Galileo (satellite navigation)) • Non-EPO countries:
James G. Fujimoto, Eric A. Swanson and
Robert Huber (USA, Germany) for their work on medical imaging with
optical coherence tomography (OCT) • SMEs: Günter Hufschmid (Germany) for his supersponge for oil spills • Lifetime Achievement:
Rino Rappuoli (Italy) for his next-generation vaccines against meningitis, whooping cough and other infections • Popular Prize:
Adnane Remmal (Morocco) for boosting antibiotics with essential oils
2018 The 2018 award ceremony was held in
Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Paris, on 7 June. The 2018 winners were: • Industry: Agnès Poulbot and Jacques Barraud† (France) for inventing an auto-regenerating tyre tread • Research:
Jens Frahm (Germany) for inventing faster, real-time MRI • Non-EPO countries: Esther Sans Takeuchi (US) for inventing batteries to reset the heart • SMEs:
Jane ní Dhulchaointigh (Ireland) for inventing Sugru, the multi-purpose mouldable glue • Lifetime Achievement:
Ursula Keller (Switzerland) for inventing ultrafast pulsed lasers • Popular Prize: Erik Loopstra and Vadim Banine (The Netherlands/Russia) for inventing extreme ultraviolet lithography
2019 The 2019 award ceremony was held in Vienna, Austria, on 20 June. The 2019 winners were: • Industry: Klaus Feichtinger and Manfred Hackl (Austria) for inventing higher-performance
plastic recycling • Research:
Jérôme Galon (France) for inventing
Immunoscore®, a clearer cancer test • Non-EPO countries: Akira Yoshino (Japan) for inventing the lithium-ion battery and its evolution • SMEs: Rik Breur (the Netherlands) for his marine antifouling fibre wrap • Lifetime Achievement:
Margarita Salas Falgueras (Spain) for inventing DNA amplification for genomics • Popular Prize:
Margarita Salas Falgueras (Spain) for inventing DNA amplification for genomics
2020 The 2020 award was deferred to the following year due to the pandemic.
2021 The 2021 award ceremony was held digitally on 17 June. The 2021 winners were: • Industry: Per Gisle Djupesland (Norway) for inventing a device for better nasal drug delivery • Research: Robert N. Grass and Wendelin Stark (Austria/Switzerland) for their DNA-based data storage • Non-EPO countries: Sumita Mitra (India/USA) for restoring smiles with nanomaterials • SMEs: Henrik Lindström and Giovanni Fili (Sweden) for inventing flexible solar cells for portable devices • Lifetime Achievement:
Karl Leo (Germany) for his lifetime work in
organic semiconductors • Popular Prize:
Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic (Serbia/USA) who dedicated her career to advances in
tissue engineering 2022 The 2022 award ceremony was held digitally on 21 June. The 2022 winners were: • Industry: Jaan Leis, Mati Arulepp, and Anti Perkson (Estonia) for the optimization of curved graphene, a material used to make highly-efficient supercapacitors • Research:
Elena García Armada (Spain) for the world's first adaptable robotic exoskeleton for children • Non-EPO countries: Donald Sadoway (Canada/USA) for inventing liquid metal batteries for storing renewable energy • SMEs: Madiha Derouazi (Switzerland), Elodie Belnoue (France) and their team for inventing a therapeutic vaccine platform to treat cancer • Young Inventors Prize • Joint 1st Prize and €20,000: Victor Dewulf and Peter Hedley (Belgium/UK) for AI-driven waste management • Joint 1st Prize and €20,000: Erin Smith (USA) for AI to detect Parkinson's disease earlier in patients • 2nd Prize and €10,000: Rafaella de Bona Gonçalves (Brazil) for biodegradable pads and tampons to combat period poverty • Lifetime Achievement:
Katalin Karikó (Hungary/USA) for her lifetime work on modified mRNA for lifesaving vaccines and therapies • Popular Prize:
Elena García Armada (Spain) for the world's first adaptable robotic exoskeleton for children
2023 The 2023 award ceremony was held in
Valencia,
Spain. The 2023 winners were: • Industry: Pia Bergström, Annika Malm, Jukka Myllyoja, Jukka-Pekka Pasanen and Blanka Toukoniitty (Finland) for converting waste and residues into high-quality renewable solutions. • Research: Patricia de Rango, Daniel Fruchart, Albin Chaise, Michel Jehan and Nataliya Skryabina (France) inventing a safe and sustainable way to store hydrogen. • Non-EPO countries: Kai Wu (China) on Li-ion batteries • SMEs: Rhona Togher and Eimear O'Carroll (Ireland) on reducing noise with an advanced acoustic material. • Young Inventors Prize • 1st Prize and €20,000: Richard Turere (Kenya) for his affordable light system to save both livestock and predators better known as
Lion lights • 2nd Prize and €10,000: Filipa de Sousa Rocha (Portugal), for her accessible programming for visually impaired children • 3rd Prize and €5,000: Fionn Ferreira (Ireland) for removing
microplastics from water • Lifetime Achievement:
Avelino Corma Canós (Spain), a chemist, pioneer in the field of catalysts • Popular Prize: Patricia de Rango, Daniel Fruchart, Albin Chaise, Michel Jehan, and Nataliya Skryabina (France) inventing a safe and sustainable way to store hydrogen. ==Juries==