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2009-05-21 Czech: European Inventors of the year awarded in Prague

Outstanding European inventors were presented this year in the capital of the Czech Republic. The ceremony took place at Prague Castle in the presence of the Head of the Czech Parliament Miloslav Vlcek and over 400 guests. The competition, organized by the European Commission and the European Patent Office, was launched in 2006. It is meant to honour those, who through their patented inventions contributed significantly to the technological progress of Europe.

The inventions in four different disciplines were chosen. This year’s winners are:

Lifetime achievement: Adolf Goetzberger (Germany) – commercial use of solar energy as an alternative for fossil fuels

Industry: Brian Druker (USA) – effective drug for chronic myelogenous leukaemia, providing unprecedented rates of recovery

Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs)/research: Joseph LeMer (France) – heat exchanger for inexpencive and enery-efficient heating systems

Non-European countries: Zhou Yiqing (China) – anti-malaria drug based on a herbal agent – saved hundreds of thousands of lives

The competition is of a purely prestigious significance and is not associated with any cash prizes or material awards. Its main concern is prompting commercially successful inventions which strengthen the European economy.

Kamila Klamecka
source: http://europa.eu